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The Epoch Times
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The Fresh Flavors of Spain: Herbs in Spanish Cuisine
Spanish cuisine is
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just ‘hot and spicy’
By THERESA O’SHEA
From The Herb Companion
In Spanish cooking, almost all
dishes require a generous pinch of
chopped herbs or a dash of spice,
but the resulting flavors are subtle
and delicate, and only rarely blowyour-taste-buds-off hot.
Parsley: Perejil
Perejil is the most widely and
abundantly used of all the hierbas
aromáticas (aromatic herbs). This
is always the flat (also known as
Italian), not the curly, variety. It
adds zip to grilled fish and meat,
salads, and vegetable dishes with
its bright color and taste.
Chopped parsley can be added
at the last minute, as with mushrooms sizzled in garlic and white
wine. For other dishes, the herb
is pounded with other ingredients using a mortar and pestle to
form a majado (a paste) or aderezo (dressing) to be added after
cooking.
One aderezo typically drizzled
onto grilled fish and seafood is
made by blending chopped garlic
and parsley in extra virgin olive oil.
It’s fine to leave this sauce chunky;
blend it for a smoother texture.
Either way, the deep green mixture
is buenísimo—very good indeed.
It also is super-healthy, as parsley
is an excellent source of vitamin C
and other antioxidants.
selves into aromatic kebab sticks,
and even the stove on which the
meat is grilled may be fueled by
rosemary wood. (It makes my nose
twitch just thinking about it!)
Then there is paella. The traditional Valencian paella is made
with chicken, rabbit, and haricot
beans. This already delectable dish
is more complex with the addition of a sprig or an infusion of
rosemary while the rice is cooking. The rosemary does wonders
for a purely vegetarian paella and
is added to many potato- and vegetable-based stews.
Thyme: Tomillo
Nothing grows in the rocky
Mediterranean scrub quite like
rosemary—except perhaps thyme.
Hence the old saying: Romero
y tomillo, en el campo lo pillo.
(“Rosemary and thyme, in the
country you’ll find.”)
Thyme is an essential seasoning for olives, and for flavoring oils
and vinegars. Aromatic oils made
by steeping thyme, rosemary, parsley, and other herbs in extra virgin
olive oil are excellent allies if you
cine, either in tisanes or inhaled
in steam to alleviate coughs, sore
throats, and catarrh. Sometimes,
medicine cabinet and cookbook
coincide: My father-in-law used to
swear by eating gallons of sopa de
tomillo, or thyme soup, at the first
hint of a cold.
Bay: Laurel
Spanish cooks use masses of
bay. A leaf or two can be added
to pasta and rice during cooking.
It can also spice up an otherwise
bland béchamel (white) sauce. And
there are very few slow-cooked
casseroles that do not require a
hint of its sweet, spicy flavor.
Moths, however, are not so enamored of bay’s strong perfume.
Drying your bay can do double
duty—try drying branches of bay
leaves in your clothes drawers and
closets to keep away moths.
Oregano: Orégano
The esteem in which this aromatic herb is held is reflected in the
popular saying: No todo el monte
es oregano. (“Not all the hillside is
oregano.”) In other words, life isn’t
ROSEMARY: A great herb used in Spanish cooking. PHOTOS.COM
have high blood pressure and need
to reduce your salt intake.
Long appreciated for its antibacterial and antiviral qualities, thyme
is widely used in popular medi-
always a bowl of cherries.
Spaniards use generous
amounts of oregano in salads,
tomato sauces, and cheese and
egg dishes. A quick supper fix that
‘Modern Spice’ by Monica Bhide
By JENNIFER A. WICKES
There is nothing more satisfying than an exotic meal that
touches all the senses, is made
from fresh ingredients, and that
is innovative yet still grasping
onto tradition. In “Modern Spice:
Inspired Indian Flavors for the
Contemporary Kitchen,” Monica
Bhide does just that. Her passion for cooking and her delightful stories make this a wonderful
book packed with sophisticated,
yet simple recipes overflowing
with flavor.
Monica Bhide is from New
Delhi, India. After living in the
Middle East, she came to the
Washington, D.C., area as an
engineer, and eventually switched
professions to become a food
writer. She is the perfect person
Nothing adds color and depth
to Spanish rice dishes, sausages,
and hot-pots like pimentón. It
comes in two varieties, sweet and
spicy. In English, we would think
of these as paprika and cayenne
pepper.
Visit any market spice stall or
delicatessen and see vast strings
of garlic bulbs intercalated with
corresponding strings of dried
peppers. It is from these that mild
paprika is made, the hotter variety
deriving from crushed guindillas,
or chilies. Paprika is used liberally and cayenne pepper sparingly,
but with most recipes one can be
partially substituted for the other,
according to how hot you like your
food.
One trick for jazzing up leftover
vegetables and potatoes is to fry
them lightly in olive oil, garlic, and
either sweet or spicy paprika or a
mixture of the two.
Serves 2
Cookbook Review
Inspired Indian Flavors
for the Contemporary
Kitchen
Paprika and Cayenne Pepper:
Pimentón Dulce and Pimentón
Picante
Spicy Sizzling Prawns: Gambas
Pil-Pil
Rosemary: Romero
Rosemary evokes the very essence of the Spanish countryside.
With its needle-like leaves and
violet-blue flowers, it spreads and
blooms and pushes skyward, its
pungency tempered by sweetsmelling lavender and not-quiteso-bitter thyme growing nearby.
In Spanish cooking, rosemary is
used judiciously to season chicken,
game, and lamb. Many restaurants
convert the stripped twigs them-
I picked up from one of my 10
Spanish sisters-in-law is simplicity
itself: an omelette sprinkled with
oregano and a little grated cheese.
Try this with pan con tomate—
bread rubbed with fresh tomato
pulp and drizzled with olive
oil—and your taste buds will think
they’ve gone to heaven. Along with
paprika, the versatile herb also is a
key ingredient in marinades used
to flavor bland, meaty fish, such as
cod, pollock, swordfish, and tuna.
This is one of the few genuinely
spicy Spanish dishes. It is traditionally cooked in a shallow clay
pot or ramekin, but a heavy-bottomed skillet will do just as well.
Serve with plenty of bread and a
green salad to cool things down;
it makes a truly delicious lunch or
supper dish.
• 1 pound prawns
• 1 head garlic (or more)
• 1 chili pepper
• 3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
SPICY PRAWNS: Use herbs to make mouth-watering Spanish dishes like
spicy sizzling prawns. RICK WETHERBEE
• Pinch of chopped parsley
(optional)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons paprika and
cayenne pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. Peel prawns and pat dry. Slice
garlic cloves finely. De-seed and
chop chili pepper.
2. Cover bottom of pan with olive oil and fry garlic and chili until
garlic starts to turn golden.
3. Add prawns and parsley.
Sprinkle with paprika and cayenne
pepper.
4. Cook over medium heat for
approximately 3 minutes, or until
prawns turn pink and start to curl
slightly.
5. Remove from heat and serve
sizzling in pot.
Tip: The Spanish use so much
garlic that they have lots of tricks
for peeling it faster. Either flatten
the clove with a bread knife so the
skin splits and the garlic pops out,
or soak the cloves in water for 30
minutes before using.
Excerpted from The Herb
Companion magazine, a national
magazine dedicated to growing, cooking and healing with
herbs. Read other articles at www.
HerbCompanion.com or call 800456-5835 to subscribe. Copyright
2009 by Ogden Publications Inc.
Indian Mulligatawny Soup
By JENNIFER A. WICKES
Serves 4
to author an Indian cookbook as
she understands Americans’ taste
buds as well as the products available to us, after having lived here
for 15 years.
Having already penned two
other cookbooks (“The Spice Is
Right,” Callawind Publications,
2001; and “The Everything
Indian Cookbook,” Adams
Media Corporation, 2004), Bhide
has done an even better job
perfecting her craft of making
delicious recipes and engaging
the reader like she is there in the
kitchen with you, guiding you
through each recipe.
New to Indian cuisine? Not
to worry. “Modern Spice” helps
you build your kitchen pantry.
Of course, many readers will not
live in a metropolitan area, so
Bhide has provided readers with
online venues so it is easier to
build a cupboard full of exotic
ingredients!
Unsure which brand is best or
how to store your new product,
or perhaps how to use it? Again,
Monica is a lifesaver in helping
to guide you on your path. Spices
are the secret to success in the
kitchen, and her guide to using
spices is invaluable.
She also dispels myths about
Indian cuisine originating from
British rule, as she explains with
curry powder, and the evolution of traditional foods in any
culture.
The recipes are easy-to-understand and packed with flavor. Some examples of her tasty
recipes are Tilapia Curry with
Roasted Spices; Red Chile,
Garlic and Basil Chicken; PanFried Zucchini and Yellow
Squash with Cumin; Chile Pea
Puffs; and Saffron-Cardamom
Macaroons.
This book is exciting and a
must-have for Indian cuisine enthusiasts, the curious, and for the
people wanting to travel and eat
out more but cannot afford to in
this economy. With four pages of
color photos, you will be glad to
have made this buy.
THE EPOCH TIMES
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• 2 tablespoons safflower oil
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground
black pepper
• 4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 4 teaspoon dried minced
onion
• 8 whole dried red chilies
• 10 curry leaves*
• 2 teaspoon turmeric
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 cups tomato juice
• Juice of 8 limes
• 2 cups water
• Salt to taste
• Cilantro, chopped
Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, over
medium-high heat, heat the
oil. Add the pepper, cumin,
mustard, chilies, curry
leaves, onion, turmeric,
and garlic. When the garlic
is golden and the chilies are
dark, lower the heat.
2. Add the tomato juice, lime
MULLIGATAWNY SOUP: A spicy, tangy soup with cumin seeds and
dried red chilies. LORI MAFFEI
juice, water, and salt. Bring
to a boil, and then simmer
for 10 minutes.
3. Garnish with cilantro.
* If you can’t find curry leaves,
try bay leaves.
Jennifer A. Wickes is a freelance
food writer, recipe developer, food
styler, and cookbook reviewer who
lives on the East Coast. Her blog,
Food Pursuit, has been one of the
Best 100 Culinary Sites.