heavy cream

Heavy cream, also called heavy whipping cream, is whipping cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent. Whipping cream will double in volume when whipped. Heavy cream is not the same as the British double cream. Double cream has 48% butterfat, 8% higher than the highest-fat cream available in the United States.

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to store: All cream, unless ultrapasteurized (briefly heated to 149°C/300°F and then cooled), is highly perishable and should be kept in the coldest part of the refrigerator.

How to prepare: Unpasteurized, unhomogenized cream whips much easier than pasteurized or pasteurized & homogenized cream. The colder cream is to start, and the colder it stays as you whip it, the easier and better it whips. If it is not cold enough, it doesn’t "whip," it "churns" (no air is incorporated) which makes butter. When whipping cream, add the sugar when the cream is mostly whipped, and the cream will whip to a higher volume. Adding the sugar at the beginning results is lower volume.

Substitutions: To equal 1 cup of heavy cream, use 3/4 cup milk + 1/3 cup melted butter. Not for whipping, only for cooking.

Paneer Cheese

Panir is the Indian name for cheese. Panir is a fresh unripened cheese. It is akin to farmer cheese, pot cheese, cream cheese, and some forms of cottage cheese. However, these cheeses cannot be sustituted for panir in recipes. Panier is made from whole cow's or buffalo's milk and curdled with lemon or lime juice or with whey from a previous batch.

Ethnicity: Indian Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to prepare: Ingredients 1 quart homogenized milk Juice of 1 lemon, squeezed Direction Bring milk to a boil and add lemon juice. The milk will start to curdle. Turn off the heat, let sit for a few moments, then bring it back to the boiling point; remove from the heat. When half-cool, strain curds from whey through any fine cloth such as a piece of muslin or several thicknesses of cheesecloth. Put a colander, lined with cloth, in the sink, and pour the curdled milk through it. As soon as most of the moisture has drained, gather the top of the cloth, tie it together with anything handy, and hang until all the water has dripped through. This usually takes an hour. Note: Under no circumstances squeeze the bag or try in any other way to lend the nature a hand. It removes the flavor along with the water, and also tends to make the panir tacky. Remove from the cloth, place in a plastic bag, and keep in the refrigerator. This will keep nicely for a couple of days. After that, it will start to smell.

salt

Most recipes that call for salt are referring to table salt, which has additives like iodine (to prevent thyroid disease) and an anti-caking agent to prevent lumping in humidity. Many chefs prefer kosher salt (additive-free, coarse-grained) for cooking and sea salt for table use because they have a softer flavor than table salt. Kosher salt is made by compacting granular salt, producing large, irregularly shaped flakes which allows the salt to easily draw blood when applied to butchered meat (koshering process). The structure dissolves easily and provides flavor without oversalting because of it's large surface area. Hawaiian sea salts (red or black) are specialty finishing salts. The red variety has an iron taste and is used to add color. The black variety has a sulfuric aroma from the addition of purified lava. Black salt (kala namak or sanchal) is more tan than black, and has a very strong, sulfuric flavor. Black salt is available in Indian markets, either ground or in lumps. Pickling salt is free of the additives that turn pickles dark and pickling liquid cloudy. Sel gris is a gray salt from France, and fleur de sel is a by-product of sel gris created when sel gris is allowed to bloom into lacy flowerlike crystals in evaporation basins. Maldon sea salt is a British finishing salt similar to fleur de sal. It has a light delicate flavor that is obtained by boiling sea water to form delicate pyramidal crystals. Rock salt is used to make ice cream. Salt comes either from salt mines or from the sea. Most of today's salt is mined and comes from large deposits left by dried salt lakes throughout the world. Salt preserves foods by creating a hostile environment for certain microorganisms. Within foods, salt brine dehydrates bacterial cells, alters osmotic pressure and inhibits bacterial growth and subsequent spoilage. The word "salary" was derived from the Latin term "salarium" which was the name for a soldier's pay in the army of ancient Rome. The pay included a large ration of salt, which was a spice of high value and also a medium for exchange; thus the origin of such expressions as "salt of the earth" and "worth your salt."

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

Substitutions: 1/2 tsp. rock salt = 3/4 tsp. kosher salt = 1 tsp. table salt

paprika

A red powder made from grinding dried sweet red peppers; used as a garnish and seasoning. The color varies from bright orange-red to deep red, depending on the peppers used. Most commercial paprika comes from Spain, South America, California and Hungary. Hungarian paprika is thought to be the finest, and will be labelled as from the Szeged region. In Hungary there are six classes or types of paprika ranging from delicate to hot. To maintain the stronger taste that consumers expect, some spice companies add cayenne to heat up Hungarian paprika. Commercial food manufacturers use paprika to add color. If a food item is colored red, orange or reddish brown and the label lists "Natural Color," it is likely paprika. Paprika releases its color and flavor when heated. Thus, sprinkling ground paprika over colorless dishes may improve their appearance, but does little for their flavor. Similarly, if you want to color the contents of a dish, stir the paprika into a little hot oil before adding.

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to store: Paprika deteriorates quickly, so it should be purchased in small quantities and stored in a cool, dark place for no more than 6 months.

Matches well with: cauliflower, chicken, crab, fish, goulash, lamb, potatoes, rice, shellfish, stroganoff, veal

masala

The Indian term for spice blend, masala can be any simple or complex combination of spices. The principal blend is garam masala for which there are countless variations.

Ethnicity: Indian Ingredient

Season: available year-round

coriander Powder

Dried seeds of the cilantro plant. Sold whole or ground with a flavor similar to a blend of lemon, sage, and caraway. (Some countries refer to the cilantro as coriander, so any references to "fresh coriander" or "coriander leaves" are meant as cilantro.)

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

Matches well with: curry, fish, ham, lamb, lentils, pork, stuffing, tomatoes, turkey

coriander

Dried seeds of the cilantro plant. Sold whole or ground with a flavor similar to a blend of lemon, sage, and caraway. (Some countries refer to the cilantro as coriander, so any references to "fresh coriander" or "coriander leaves" are meant as cilantro.)

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

Matches well with: curry, fish, ham, lamb, lentils, pork, stuffing, tomatoes, turkey

yogurt

Dairy product, made by the ripening of milk with a bacteria culture (usually bifidus). Consistency can range from very thick and creamy (Greek and Turkish yoghurt) to almost fat-free and thin.

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to store: Store in fridge. Can be stored at low temperatures (less than 5 degrees C) for several weeks. Do not attempt to freeze.

How to prepare: Goes well with: almost everything; can be used in a variety of recipes, from sweet deserts to spicy side dishes, entrees and mains.

Matches well with: apples, bananas, blueberries, carrots, coconut, cucumbers, granola, honey, mint, nuts, oats, onions, peaches, radishes, raspberries, strawberries

tomato

Tomatoes are a fruit and part of the nightshade family (like potatoes and eggplants), but they are served and prepared as a vegetable, which is why most people consider them a vegetable and not a fruit. Tomatoes come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes: large red beefsteaks are slightly irregular; globes are red, medium-size and round; plum tomatoes are egg-shaped and red or yellow (grape tomatoes are baby plums); cherry tomatoes are small and round, etc. There are many heirloom varieties that are not marketed widely but come in red, yellow, green and even purple, as well as striped. Native to South America, and brought to Europe by Spanish explorers, the tomato took some time to be accepted because tomatoes were thought to be poisonous, like other members of the nightshade family. It was not until the 1900s that tomatoes started to gain popularity in the US.

plural: tomatoes

Ingredient

Season: June - September

How to select: Available year round, but at their peak in June to September. The most flavorful are ripened on the vine, not in the store as most are sold. Choose firm tomatoes, richly colored and noticeably fragrant.

How to store: Ripe tomatoes should be stored at room temperature and used within a few days. Never refrigerate tomatoes as the cold temperature kills the flavor and turns the flesh grainy.

How to prepare: bake, broil, fry, grill, raw, saute, stew

Matches well with: anchovies, arugula, basil, bread crumbs, cheese, chiles, chives, cucumbers, eggs, garlic, lemon, marjoram, mint, mushrooms, olive oil, olives, onions, oregano, parsley, pasta, pepper, peppers, saffron, salt, seafood, shallots, sugar, tarragon, thyme, vinegar

Substitutions: 1 (14.5 oz) can tomatoes, drained = 2 cups chopped tomatoes

garlic

Known as the stinking rose. The edible bulb is made up of sections called cloves, that are encased in a parchmentlike membrane. Three major varieties are available in the US: the white-skinned strongly flavored American garlic; Mexican and Italian garlic, which have mauve-colored skins and a somewhat milder flavor; and the white-skinned, mild flavored elephant garlic, which is not a true garlic, but a relative of the leek. Green garlic, is young garlic before it begins to form cloves; resembling a baby leek, with a long green top and white bulb. Garlic's essential oils remain in the body long after consumption, affecting breath and even skin odor.

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to select: Choose firm, plump bulbs with dry skins. Avoid soft or shriveled cloves and garlic stored in the refrigerated section of the produce department.

How to store: Store fresh garlic in an open container in a cool, dark place. Unbroken bulbs can be stored up to 8 weeks. Once broken from the bulb, individual cloves will keep 3-10 days.

How to prepare: Crushed, chopped, pressed, pureed, minced or roasted

Matches well with: beans, beef, beets, cabbage, chicken, eggplant, fish, lamb, lentils, mushrooms, pasta, pork, potatoes, rice, shellfish, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini

Substitutions: 1 clove = 1 teaspoon chopped garlic = 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic = 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder = 1/2 teaspoon garlic flakes = 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic = 1/2 teaspoon garlic juice

ginger

A subtropical plant grown for its nobby root (rhizome or underground stem). The root has tan skin, ivory to pale green flesh, and a peppery, slightly sweet flavor. Ginger is planted in August or September using the previous year's crop. Ginger takes about nine months to reach maturity. After the flowers appear, the tops begin to die, leaving the ginger rhizomes ready to harvest Ginger is a mainstay of Asian and Indian cooking and is used grated, ground and slivered. Ginger juice is the juice of the root. Candied or crystallized ginger is ginger cooked in a sugar syrup, while preserved ginger is in a sugar-salt mixture: both of these are used primarily for sweets and desserts. Pickled ginger, used as a palate cleanser with sushi, is ginger preserved in sweet vinegar.

plural: ginger

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to select: Look for smooth skin (wrinkles indicate that the root is dry and past prime) with a fresh spicy aroma. Also available dried and ground in the spice section. Specialty or Asian markets carry ginger juice, pickled ginger and preserved ginger.

How to store: Unpeeled and tightly wrapped ginger will keep in the refrigerator for 3 weeks; frozen for 6 months.

How to prepare: For older roots, it may be necessary to remove the thick outer skin before cooking.

Matches well with: carrots, chicken, chocolate, fruit, ham, ice cream, melon, onions, pork, pumpkin, rice, tomatoes.

Substitutions: 1/8 tsp ground ginger = 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger (though the flavor of ground ginger can be significantly different from fresh).

cardamom

Cardamom is a spice native to the Middle East, North Africa, and Scandinavia. There are three types of cardamom; green cardamom, black cardamom and Madagascar cardamom. It is best to buy cardamom still in the pods, which are removed and discarded. You can also buy cardamom seeds however; they lose much of their flavor. Ground cardamom has even less flavor than the fresher ones. Most recipes usually call for green cardamom. Cardamom has a strong, unique spicy-sweet taste, which is slightly aromatic. Cardamom is more expensive than average spices. A little goes a long way. If a recipe calls for 10 pods that would equal 1 ½ tsp ground. Ground cardamom is readily available and found in grocery stores.

Ethnicity: Scandanavian, East Indian Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to select: Purchase in the pod or ground.

How to prepare: Grinding the pod yourself will result in a fresher, stronger representation of the spice.

Matches well with: chicken, coffee, curries, duck, lentils, meat, oranges, peas, rice, squash

cinnamon

The inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree, harvested during the rainy season when piable and then dried into curls sold as sticks or ground into a powder.With its warm, sweet flavor, cinnamon is one of the biggest workhorses on the spice shelf. Cooks often use it to flavor baked goods and drinks, but cinnamon also works wonders in stews and sauces. The best cinnamon is Ceylon cinnamon = canela = Sri Lanka cinnamon = true cinnamon. Indonesian cinnamon has a similar taste, but larger quills. Much of the cinnamon sold in the United States is cassia cinnamon, which isn't as well regarded.

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

Matches well with: apples, berries, chicken, chocolate, coffee, custards, fruit, lamb, oranges, pears, rice

Substitutions: One cinnamon stick yields 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; nutmeg or allspice

onion

There are two main classifications of this underground bulb: green onions (also called scallions) and dry onions, which are mature versions of the former. Onions come in a wide range of colors, shapes and flavors. Boiling onions are small versions (up to 2" in diameter) of yellow, white or red onions. When cooked, onions will become translucent.

plural: onions

Ingredient

Season: available year-round

How to prepare: bake, boil, braise, fry, grill, raw, roast, saute, steam

Matches well with: apples, bacon, butter, cheese, cinnamon, cloves, cream, mushrooms, nutmeg, paprika, Parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper, raisins, sherry, thyme, tomatoes, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, beef, rice, taco mix

Substitutions: 1 tbsp dried minced onion = 1 med chopped onion; 1 tsp onion powder = 1 med chopped onion