[Sca-cooks] Spices

[A F Murphy]

Yes, grains of paradise was the one that slipped my mind.

Blade mace just isn't ground up. The galangale is cracked, thanks for
the warning, though. (If it had been whole, that's just the kind of info
I was looking for.)

A suribachi (sorry) is a Japanese mortar, made of ceramic, with ridges
in it. My regular mortar and pestle are wood, so it might be better for
things like the galangale - don't know. It's actually used for mixing
pastes into liquid, and some pureeing, but I've used on for all sorts of
things lo these 25 years - got my first at the United Nations shop, with
no idea of traditional use, but a strong eye for possibilities. (Doesn't
everyone take one of these to a dorm? Doesn't everyone's mother take
them to the UN shop to look for kitchen equipment? Mom seemed to think
that the years I was beginning to cook, when I didn't yet "know how
things are done" was the ideal time to learn to play with ideas...)

I know I won't grind them in advance, keep fresher whole, just wanted to
know if there was anything I should use whole, and I gather there isn't,
much. I broke one of the long peppers - it is actually a seed pod, with
little seeds in it... neat.

I do a lot of fairly simple rice and bean dishes, with vegetables added
by What Looks Good, or What's On Hand...  (Even here in the city, this
is summer squash season.) Seem ideal for experimenting with seasoning. I
mean, I already know what I like in a pilau, or split peas, or
whatever... so I'll recognize a new flavor. Then I'll try various meats,
to see how they interact. I haven't been Really Cooking much for a while
- this will nudge me back into it!

Anne
seeing many possibilities...


Mark S. Harris wrote:

> Anne asked:
>
>> So I went to the Pepperer's Guild, and now I have Long Pepper, cubebs,
>> galangale, blade mace, and I don't remember what else... So now what do
>> I do? :-\
>
>
>
> What is "blade mace" and how does it differ from regular mace? Or is this
> just another name for the same thing?
>
>
>> I remember Phlip, I think it was, suggesting using them in simple every
>> day dishes to get an idea of the flavor, which I think is a great idea,
>> and which I will try.  But these are all whole spices. Any suggestions?
>> Should I be grinding them up, or cooking them whole at the beginning of
>> the process (the way I do cumin and black mustard seeds, for example)?
>
>
>
> Most you will probably want to grind up as you use them. One advantage
> of doing it this way rather than grinding them further ahead, is that
> you may want to grind some coarse and some fine depending upon how they
> are used in a recipe.
>
>
>> What kind of foods are they most apt to complement? How much am I apt to
>> want in one dish? (I'm usually cooking single servings, just to
>> complicate matters... I look at the long pepper and wonder if I need to
>> start with little pieces thereof.)
>
>
>
> You can always add more later, even at the table.
>
> For instance, you might try some of the Long Pepper on scrambled eggs or
> with mashed potatos and gravy. These are often fairly bland dishes so
> they shouldn't cover up the flavor of the spices.
>
>> Do I best grind them all in a mortar
>> and pestle (don't worry, I have one, and a suribachi, too, if anything
>> needs a little more, um, persuasion) or does anything need different
>> treatment (as, for example, nutmeg?)
>
>
>
> All of these should work well in the mortar and pestle. The only warning
> I heard of is to be careful of using whole galangale in most spice
> grinders. See the galangale-msg file in the Florilegium for more details.
> I'm not sure what a suribachi is, so I can't tell you whether that will
> work with galangale or not.
>
>
>> Mace and (real) stick cinnamon are not totally unfamiliar, so I'm not as
>> concerned about them. But I haven't the first clue what the others are
>> like. All suggestions welcome!
>
> You might check the spices-msg file in the Florilegium for more
>
> information on these particular spices.
>
>
> Did you not get any Grains of Paradise? There is this file on those:
>
> G-of-Paradse-msg  (66K)  8/ 2/00    History and use of the spice
> Grains of
>                                        Paradise.
>
> --
> THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
> **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
>
>
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