Spice historical language

Spice from the word meaning of demolition, can be understood as "aroma seasoning". But it was actually used very widely, from mummies used in the production of materials, medicinal herbs to heal the disease, to the tribute to heaven witchcraft to drive the cup of goods, can prove that people love and attach importance to the spice.

China as early as the "Zhou Li", Li Sao has been cooking with spices recorded after the Qin and Han dynasties, the use of spices is more widely used, varieties due to the introduction of overseas has become more abundant, such as caraway, rosemary, bay leaves and so on. Until now, there are more than a hundred kinds of spices commonly used in traditional dishes all over China.

Europe and the United States in the history of the use of spices, as early as the ancient Roman and Greek times, there are historical records can be traced. The Bible has many records of cinnamon, garlic, onions, cloves, frankincense, myrrh and other spices.

A variety of spices, although different qualities, but all contain alcohols, phenols, ketones and other volatile compounds, a wide variety of external, but also developed a multi-flavored mixed spice formulas, and have a unique ratio of insights, the group of dragons have a head, that is, in the variety of organic arrangements and combinations of each type of spice in different portions of the specific gravity of the mixture, but also produced a very different flavor changes, and how to achieve harmony and thus set off the dish to enhance the flavor, will need to be accumulated for several generations of experience. The experience of several generations is necessary to achieve harmony and enhance the flavor of the dish.

Entering the world of spices is like visiting a world expo. Through the square characters, one can imagine how a seed wanders, and why the people of the ancient century were tempted by the fragrance of that little bit of fragrance, provoking the conquests and wars of the heavens. And how the talented man and the beautiful woman traced the love of their past lives with the memory of the smell, as Shakespeare said in Hamlet: "Rosemary! It's a clue to help you remember.

Spices are defined as "any dehydrated plant used primarily for flavoring" and include tropical aromatic compounds (pepper, cinnamon, cloves, etc.), leafy herbs (basil, mint, mint orchids, etc.), spice seeds (sesame, poppy, mustard, etc.), and dehydrated vegetables (onion, garlic, etc.), and blends such as curry, chili powder are also all part of spices.

In the past, "spice" referred only to tropical aromatic compounds, while "herb" referred to the specialized leaves and seeds of plants from temperate regions. Spices are made up of different parts, such as flowers (cloves, saffron) or fruits (cardamom, cayenne) or berries (black pepper, juniper) or seeds (aniseed, coriander, celery), caraway stems (ginger, turmeric) or roots (angelica, wasabi, solanum) or leaves (bay leaf, mint leaf, cuttlefish) or kernels (nutmeg) or arils (scepter) or bark (cinnamon) or bulbils (garlic. onion) or any spice plant, onion) or any other part of the spice plant.

The joy of spices is in their versatile use, which is intended to enhance the flavor of a dish, not to rob it of its character. How do you store and use spices correctly to keep them fresh and to get the most out of them? After reading this booklet, you will realize that only through a thorough understanding of spices can you cook the best food with a full range of flavors.

Part I: Spices

English (Spice), French (Epice), Italian (Spezie), Spanish (Especia), and German (Gewure)

Spices, which are strong and pungent in odor, are taken from the fruits, flowers, buds, roots, and bark of plants. In ancient China, there were many pungent spices, the important ones being pepper, ginger, juju medicine, fujian vine, cinnamon, pepper, mustard spice, and chili pepper. These spicy seasonings not only for the food to add flavor, more irreplaceable therapeutic role, especially for many diseases have unexpected good prevention and treatment effects.

(Main origin) India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, China

(Purchase and preservation) spices are generally dry products, because of its aroma and stimulation are better and more intense than fresh products. When choosing, it is better to choose the one that is fully dried and has a strong flavor.

(Use) the use of stimulating spices should be noted that each spice is not the same spicy ingredients, the use of natural differences. Among them, chili pepper has the strongest spicy flavor, which is characterized by a hot, burning sensation in the mouth, but almost no flavor at all. The pungency of chili peppers is not diminished by heat, so they go well with a wide variety of foods. Other spicy ingredients such as pepper and ginger remain stable even when exposed to heat, but horseradish (horseradish), whose spicy ingredients are produced by enzymes, cannot be used with heated foods***.

Pepper (Pepper)

Sanskrit name "flavor Cui Zhi", also known as the ancient moon, black Chuan, Shirakawa, perennial vines, native to tropical Asia, the berry is spherical, yellowish-red, according to the degree of ripening and baking of the different and green, black, red and white four, there are powdered, crushed granules and the whole three kinds of grain. Used in three forms: powder, crushed grain and whole grain, in cooking, it has the function of removing fishy and suppressing shame, enhancing flavor and aroma. Generally the whole pepper used in meat, soup, fish and pickled foods such as flavoring and preservation, adding spices and marinades with more powder.

Pepper taste pungent and warm and aromatic, can warm the middle dispersal of cold, gas, pain, diarrhea, appetizer, detoxification, can cure the pain of cold stomach, cold diarrhea, loss of appetite. Selection of attention to uniform particles, full, clean, dry is good, pepper and its products pepper, should be placed in a dry and air circulation, avoid moisture. Powdered pepper's pungent odor is easy to evaporate, so the preservation time should not be too long.

Pepper (Chinese Pepper)

Pepper is a brassica spice shrub or small tree plant, the fruit is red, black seeds, the fruit is pepper, containing volatile oil, hot, pungent flavor, as China's unique spices in the late Ming Dynasty before the introduction of chili peppers into China, pepper has been with ginger, juju cai and known as the three major Chinese folk spicy seasoning, pepper tree because of the fruits, the fragrance, so by the ancients, the pepper tree is the most important thing. Strong aroma, so the ancients regarded as a symbol of good fortune, and use it to worship ancestors, welcome the gods, drive away epidemics, pepper according to its color green, hemp taste stronger, there is a special flavor of hemp, more for hemp-heavy dishes, such as "hot pot" "boiled fish" "Mao Blood Want" and so on, red robe pepper belongs to the larger crowd and the most widely used one, dog pepper because of its color, aroma, hemp taste are worse, containing more seeds, so generally do not use or use less.

Pepper flavor pungent temperature, can warm the dispersal of cold, in the cooking has the effect of odor increase flavor, but also with chili, salt and other seasonings to form a spicy and mellow composite flavor. Pepper in addition to taste good as a seasoning, its medicinal properties are also very important, such as appetite, spleen, gas, diarrhea, roundworms, treatment of rheumatism, arthritis, vomiting, diarrhea, colds, toothache, a variety of bacteria have a significant inhibitory effect, can be locally anesthesia pain, can promote the role of the sexual function, anti-aging, and enhance the endocrine glands, and so on.

Selected peppercorns attention to grain size and uniformity, the smell of hemp aroma rich, less seed or seedless all dry products for the best. Purchase pepper, buy whole than to buy powder is better, because ground into powder pepper flavor easily lost. Whole in the use of the first in a dry pot with a minimum of fire heat frying, pepper in the oil due to heat evaporation out, and then crushed or ground to cook dishes.

Pepper is most avoiding moisture, it is appropriate to use a good breathable burlap bags exist in a dry and ventilated place, particles in the sealed state can be stored for 2 years.

San Pepper (Japanese Pepper)

San Pepper is a Japanese specialty pepper, the unique spicy ingredients are not in the seeds, but exists in the rind. The powdered young leaves and unripe fruits, known as "no buds," are used to flavor and add aroma to soups.

Ginger (Ginger)

Also known as ginger, the original perennial herb, annual cultivation, native to Indonesia, the fibrous root is not developed, the tuber is large, irregular palm-shaped, gray or yellow, can be used as a vegetable, seasoning, and can also be used as a medicine, ginger, open the aroma, the source of volatile oils in the composition of the components of the spicy component of the gingersnapogenin, the age of the vegetarian different, the proportion of gingersnapogenin is also different. The proportion of curcumin is also different, resulting in ginger and dried ginger taste different. Ginger utility in favor of sweating, stop composting and detoxification, dried or sun-dried ginger can be warmed to disperse cold, the summer production of ginger is ginger shoots, suitable for shredded raw food.

Ginger contains volatile ginger oil ketone and ginger oil phenol, can drive away poisonous evil, warm the midgut, with the appropriate blood, dispel cold, dehumidification, sweating and other functions, in addition to the stomach, vomiting, fishy smell, edema effect, so the medical and folk proverb that "the family prepared a small ginger, a small disease does not panic", the best way to store is to buy back the fresh ginger washed, buried in a salt shaker, can be kept in the salt shaker, and the best way to keep it. The best way to store is to buy fresh ginger after washing, buried in a salt shaker, can keep a longer period of time does not dry, but be careful, rotting ginger contains toxic substances safrole, which is harmful to the liver, so once you find the ginger rot must not be eaten.

Magic: 1, fresh ginger juice can relieve gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer pain after eating.

2, traveling, chewing ginger before departure or stick a piece in the navel, can also be put next to the nose smell, there are anti-seasickness and seasickness effect.

Capsicum (Chilies)

The Solanaceae perennial woody plants, native to Central and South America and western India, the 15th century into Europe, the Ming Dynasty into China, and now the world's tropical regions are planted, a large number of species, more than 200 kinds of well-known, is the most widely distributed spice plants. Chili pepper is a representative of spicy seasoning, in addition to the spicy flavor, almost no other flavor, the most spicy part is the seeds and the white veins next to them, as for the degree of spiciness, depending on the variety. Peppers are green when immature, but turn red, apricot, yellow, and purple when ripe, and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and lengths, with the finger-sized bright red ones being the most commonly eaten. Mature chili peppers can be prepared and eaten in a variety of ways. In addition to raw or fried food, chili peppers can be pressed into coarse crushed after drying, flake, powder, made of cooking spices, such as chili powder, chili oil, chili sauce and other processed products, with sterilization and deodorization effect.

Capsicum is pungent in flavor, warms the middle and lowers the qi, appetizer, dispels cold, disperses wind and activates blood circulation, and is uniquely effective in warding off climate-induced illnesses such as dampness and temperature, and exposure to cold.

When shopping for chili peppers, take the mature, dry, hard, heavy body, smooth and flawless surface as the high quality, and save it by washing and blow-drying the chili peppers and wrapping them in paper towels and putting them in the refrigerator, where they can be stored for two to three weeks.

Clove

The earliest origin is Moluccas, Indonesia. Also known as chicken tongue and clove, it is a spice made from the buds of the clove tree, which are picked before they bloom and dried. Clove is very suitable for sweet or strong flavor of food, Americans often used to sprinkle on the barbecue food: and Europeans like to cloves in citrus, tied up with ribbons hanging in the closet in order to incense clothing; Africans drink coffee, like to add cloves with the boil. These are not the only uses for cloves, as they are used in cooking meats, pickling vegetables, baking pastries, and making liqueurs, all of which can be spiced with cloves.

The essential oil can be used as a disinfectant and pain reliever, and diluted clove oil can be used as a gargle, or rubbed on the gums to relieve toothache.

Buying cloves, it is best to buy whole, because the powdered cloves of the fragrance is very easy to oxidize and dissipate, it is not easy to save, buy whole can remove these shortcomings, the best quality appearance of the clove is usually a large grain, round fat, dark brown with reddish-yellow, rich in oil, stalks not more than 0.5 inches for the best.

Nutmeg

From a tropical evergreen tree, the central kernel portion of the fruit is the nutmeg, which gives off a sweet and pungent aroma and a slightly bitter, exotic flavor.

By the sixteenth century, nutmeg was not only one of the main commodities between Europe and Asia, but was also used in China and Arabia as a remedy for digestive disorders. Whole nutmeg, when crushed with a vegetable peeler, was a common flavoring for meaty foods such as hamburgers, and was also suitable for Western-style pastries. Nutmeg has a hard kernel that keeps for a long time, and its strong aroma makes it a flavorful addition to dishes. Generally speaking, nutmeg powder can be stored for up to 8 months, while the original granules can be stored for more than 2 years.

Mace

The dark red reticulated aril that covers the black shell of the nutmeg is the mace, which is sun-dried and used as a spice like nutmeg, and has a very similar flavor, but the mace is much lighter and is often used in ground meat, sausages, doughnuts and other foods.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon, also known as cinnamon, tanqueray, or cinnamon bark, was one of the earliest spices used by humans. There are hundreds of species of cinnamon trees around the world, and two of the leading and commercially valuable species are Ceylon cinnamon and Chinese cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon is softer, sweeter, and has an excellent flavor, and its bark is light brown and thin.

Chinese cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) has a more pungent aroma, fatter bark, darker color, and is slightly less aromatic than its predecessor. Cinnamon has an aromatic and mild flavor and is suitable for sweet and strongly flavored dishes, especially for cooking lamb, and for candied fruits (especially pears), chocolate desserts, pastries and beverages. Cinnamon is sold as cinnamon oil, in addition to the so-called cinnamon sticks and cinnamon powder rolled in the bark. Fresh ground cinnamon has a much stronger aroma than cinnamon sticks, so if you don't want to overpower the flavor when cooking or don't want powdered cinnamon particles in your food, you can use cinnamon sticks and discard them after cooking. For those who love the smell of cinnamon, you can make your own cinnamon tea by steeping about 1 gram of shredded cinnamon bark in 250mls of boiling water for 10 minutes.

Bought cinnamon, whether bark or powder, can be kept sealed in a dry, cool, dark and ventilated place for 1 to 2 years without the quality and aroma escaping.

Garlic (Garlic)

Garlic is a plant of the lily family, native to central Asia, and its reproduction method is not to use the seeds, but to use garlic cloves to reproduce into a garlic bulb with an outer membrane. Garlic is pungent and warm, with a strong odor and taste, and can be used as a vegetable, seasoning dish or spice, and has the effect of promoting appetite, and the allicin it contains has the effect of sterilization and deodorization. After the bulb of garlic is dried, the odor and irritation are not as strong as fresh garlic, and the aroma can be preserved for a long time, and it is convenient to use. It can be processed into garlic slices, coarse garlic granules, garlic powder, garlic paste and other products, which can be used separately according to needs.

Dandelion 2006-4-6 03:30

Part II Seed Powder (Seed)

English (Seed) French (Graine) Italian (Seme) West (Semilla) German (Same)

This category of spices are taken from the seeds or fruits of the plant, because of the aromatic odor, can be used as a spice, and therefore categorized in the seed powder. Some spices have both leaves and seeds that can be used, but it is the seed part that is primarily described here.

(Purchase and Preservation) Seed powder spices should be harvested only when the seeds are ripe, and as far as possible before the seeds fly apart, picked off impurities, dried and stored in a cool, dry place, preferably in an airtight container.

Purchase should pay attention to the packaging materials of the spices, usually in brown glass bottles optimal, followed by cartons, iron box and the next, spices to granular most to maintain the flavor of its original plant; powder the finer, easy to moisture, mold, lumps, so it is not easy to save, the aroma of the ingredients are easy to lose. After purchase, storage should be away from light, moisture, heat and other harsh environments to ensure the best quality.

(Usage) Most seed spices are inherently aromatic because they contain volatile essential oils, such as fennel, witch hazel, cardamom and dill. But some seeds are not, like sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, etc., contain a large number of non-volatile vegetable oils, must wait until the heat treatment to achieve the effect of aroma. Moreover, many seed spices can be used directly in cooking, but also can be extracted to utilize the oil, such as sesame seeds, sunflower seeds. Some can be extracted essential oils to be used to make a variety of spices, and even become a part of the flavor of the girl's favorite perfume, celery seed is an example.

Star Anise Fruit

Star anise is close to fennel in flavor, but it does not belong to the same family of plants as fennel, and its scent is slightly aromatic with cloves and licorice, and its taste is slightly bitter, sweet, and star anise plays a very important role in Chinese food, and it is mostly used to remove fishy smells and increase aroma, and usually used to improve the flavor of stewed or simmered dishes, and it is also a major part of the Chinese Five Spice Powder. In Southern Europe, in addition to the cooking of various soups, star anise is also used as a large number of desserts and drinks to add flavor.

Anise is pungent and warm in nature. It belongs to the liver, kidney, spleen and stomach meridians. It is used for warming yang, dispersing cold, regulating qi and relieving pain. Used for cold hernia abdominal pain, kidney deficiency lumbago, stomach cold vomiting, cold pain in the epigastrium. It also has the efficacy of appetizing, lowering qi, dispersing cold, expelling worms, and exciting the nerves.

The seeds of star anise are contained in the pods, which consist of eight pods arranged in the shape of a star on the center axis, hence the name "star anise". Its color to brown-red, bright and shiny as good, large full grain, pod side cracks larger, can see the pod seeds, star anise complete and not broken for the best. The complete original form of star anise can be sealed and stored for about 2 years, and in the case of star anise powder, it can be stored for about 8 months to 1 year. Due to the strong flavor of star anise, it is rare to use the whole star anise, and it is usually enough to put only 1 to 2 slices in it.

Cardamom (Cardamom)

Also known as cardamom, round cardamom, ginger family perennial herb. Native to southern India and Sri Lanka region of the tropical rainforest. Nordic countries, the Middle East, India cuisine often use cardamom, due to the cultivation of cardamom can only be well-drained, appropriate shade, but not in the barren land or land with strong winds, subject to a number of conditions, making the cardamom yield is not high, coupled with its drying process is also very complex, so it belongs to the more expensive one of the spices, less used in our country.

Cardamom's aroma is sweet and stimulating, pungent and slightly bitter flavor, has the effect of curing motion sickness, insomnia, bad breath, weight loss and enhance sexual function. In the baking process because of the color treatment and have different colors, green cardamom for the natural air-dried, white cardamom to sulfur dioxide bleaching, and southern India and Sri Lanka and other places of origin to natural light sunshine cardamom, so the color is light yellow. In the aroma quality of green cardamom can maintain the flavor of this raw material, the original aroma with lemon aroma show elegant, and yellow and white color cardamom smell similar.

The three-colored cardamom retains its best aroma for 8 to 12 months when it is left unshelled and kept in an airtight container.

Anise

An annual herb in the coriander family, native to Egypt and the Middle East and India, it was one of the embalming spices used by the Egyptians for mummification and an oral aromatic used by the Indians for chewing. Fennel has a special flavor similar to licorice, with the effect of removing phlegm, suppressing cough, promoting appetite and aiding digestion. Asians like to add fennel in soups or stews, Europeans are often in cakes, cookies and sweet breads with it to add sweetness, if the fennel into wine or added to the coffee, the smell is extraordinary.

The fennel is easy to taste when stored for a long time, and should be crushed and finely ground when used. Store it in a cool, dry place.

Dill

Also known as earth fennel, cumin, watercress, annual herb, native to the Mediterranean coast, India, now planted around the world. dill means sedative.

Dill leaves are bright green, feathery, the seeds are small round flat, pungent and sweet flavor, with a unique watercress family of stimulating flavor, like a burnt pungent flavor. It can be used directly or ground into a powder to make sauces, the most common use is sprinkled on fish cold cuts and smoked salmon to remove fishy flavors or as a plate decoration, and can also be added to kimchi, soups, or sauces.

The leaves of dill have a somewhat different level of pungency than the seeds, which have a stronger odor and taste and are better suited for pickling or bringing out additional flavors in certain dishes, such as cucumber pickles, potatoes, meats, rye breads, curries, and grilled fish; the leaves have a milder odor and taste and are suitable for fish, seafood, vegetables, and sauces.

To store dill, wrap it in a plastic bag and place it in the refrigerator, where it can be stored for several days. Or chop it up and mix it with a little water and store it in small containers.

Caraway

Also known as artemisia, caraway and fennel, it is a biennial herb in the parsley family, native to Asia, northern and central Europe, and is now widely planted around the world, but in terms of consumption, the Netherlands and Germany are at the top of the list. Kudzu looks like dill, but tastes like cumin, making it a very confusing spice, especially in Asia, where it is often used in combination with cumin, so that even chefs can't figure out which is which. In the spice market trade, kudzu is also known as "foreign cumin," and the similarities can be seen.

The brown seeds of kudzu are about 1 1/2 inches long, narrowing at the end to resemble a curved moon. With a fruity, sweet aroma and the pungent bitterness of lemon peel when crunched, kudzu is often used as an edible flavor and is a good appetizer. Its distinctive aroma is ideal for removing meat odors, and when combined with fruits and vegetables, kudzu produces a slightly lemony flavor. Kudzu is a digestive, anti-microbial, antiseptic, appetite enhancer, astringent, carminative, diuretic, menstrual stimulant, phlegmatic, refreshing and invigorating, stomachic and tonic, and insect repellent. It is generally non-toxic and non-allergenic, but excessive use may cause skin discomfort. The shelf life of Kudzu is about 18 months for the original capsules and 6 to 8 months for the fine powder.

Coriander

Coriander, also known as caraway and cilantro, is an annual or biennial herb in the watercress family, native to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and is now cultivated worldwide. Coriander's English name, Coriander, is derived from the Greek word for "bedbugs" because before the seeds of coriander mature, the smell of the stems and leaves is similar to the smell of beetles, which is not very pleasant, and when the fruits are ripe, they turn into a pungent flavor similar to fennel. The smell of coriander is difficult to tolerate on first contact, especially in Western countries where it is less commonly used. However, it is very popular in China and Southeast Asia. Not only are coriander leaves eaten raw, but they are also often used in food or sauces as a deodorizing and flavoring spice, and coriander seeds are one of the ingredients in Indian curry, making it an all-purpose spice. It is also commonly used in Mexican cuisine.

Coriander flavor mild sweet and sour, slightly spicy, similar to the flavor of orange peel, and slightly unquality fragrance, as well as pepper flavor. When the stems, roots, and leaves of coriander are heated by stir-frying, etc., they seem to have a citrusy flavor, but the flavor is severely lost compared to before they are heated. Coriander seeds in granules have a very thin shell, so they should be stored in their original granules for up to a year. If ground into a fine powder, the aroma is only valid for 6 months.

Celery Seeds

Celery, also known as Dutch duck celery, is a biennial plant in the umbelliferae family. Ancient herbal records show that humans have been cultivating celery for at least 3,000 years, especially in Ancient Egypt, and China in the 5th century B.C. had long known how to use celery. Celery has been used as a vegetable since ancient times, and the parts that are generally used are the fruit, root and leaves. Very often, however, the whole plant and the seeds were used as medicine.

Celery has very small flowers, from which the seeds are taken, and thus the seeds are very small, ovoid, brown or dark brown in color, with a pleasantly strong aroma and a slightly pungent, bitter taste. It is well suited for use in vegetable dishes, especially in tomato juice where a small amount of celery seed can be added to counteract each other's raw green flavor. Celery seed is a good spice in soups, stews, sauces, baking and other dishes.

Celery seed is warm, sweet and non-toxic. It contains a variety of active ingredients, on the wind temperature, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, hyperuricemia, etc. have a soothing effect, but also an excellent diuretic, the central nervous system has a calming and tranquilizing effect, can be soothing flatulence and indigestion, but also play a role in lowering blood pressure, lowering the role of blood sugar.

Fenugreek (Fenugreek)

Also known as bitter beans, vanilla, annual herbs, for the legume Rong Luba seeds. China's Anhui, Sichuan Henan and other places are cultivated. Fenugreek can be used to make curry powder, but also can be extracted from its seeds in the fenugreek vegetables whole plant has a fragrance, in addition to the seeds, young leaves can also be used for cooking.

Seed road is rhomboid, yellowish brown or reddish brown surface, slightly gray short hairs, each side has a deep oblique groove, the two grooves are connected for the umbilicus. The texture is hard, fragrant, slightly bitter flavor. The seeds can be dried and used directly in raw form, or used in a subtle way. When ground, the seeds have a bitter, caramel-like flavor and a sweet, celery-like aroma. The caramel-like flavor is more pronounced when the seeds are slightly roasted and then ground, but this flavor is purged if the seeds are placed in boiling wine and then removed and dried. Fenugreek is warm and bitter in flavor. It warms the kidneys, dispels cold and relieves pain. It is used for kidney deficiency and coldness, cold pain in the abdomen, hernia in the small intestine, cold and damp feet.

Poppy Seeds

An annual herb of the poppy family, native to Asia, is now cultivated in Europe and the Americas. Poppy seeds are the seeds of the pods on the poppy plant, which have a slightly nutty flavor and can be used in a wide variety of dishes. In Europe and the Middle East, poppy seeds are used in breads, cakes, stuffed buns, cookies, etc.; in Turkey, they are usually ground and used in desserts; in India, they are also ground and mixed into sauces; and in Germany, Slavic peoples, they are usually used in pasta, vegetable, and fish dishes.

The average common poppy seed is dark blue with gray (looks very much like black and is smaller than a sesame seed), hard and round, with a light kernel flavor. Poppy seeds used for baking are no longer toxic after drying and roasting; however, in Taiwan, poppy seeds are still on the drug control list due to the possibility of germination and cultivation of seeds that have not been fully dried and roasted.

Sesame (Sesame)

Also known as hu ma zi, for the fat hemp family of annual herbaceous plants fat hemp mature seeds, sesame according to the color of its seed coat, can be divided into black sesame, white sesame and yellow sesame, China's common is the black and white two kinds of yellow sesame due to the world's production is not much, and therefore very expensive. Sesame is very nutritious, containing fat oil, protein, sucrose, lecithin and other nutrients, raw chewing, frying, grinding sauce, oil or cake candy ingredients can be. Fragrant sesame seeds or make snacks to eat, or squeeze the oil consumption, are not bad. Usually eat white sesame is good, medicinal use of black sesame is good.

Black sesame seeds are flat ovoid, black surface, sweet flavor, oil aroma. Black sesame is more aromatic than white sesame, but the oil content is lower than white sesame, mainly used in the production of pastries, sesame sauce.

White sesame is a variety of white seeds, its oil content is the highest among sesame seeds. In addition to cooking, the main supply of oil extraction.

Yellow sesame seeds are golden yellow, also known as "golden sesame", is the most aromatic varieties of sesame seeds.

Sesame is flat, sweet and non-toxic. It can tonify the liver and kidney, benefit the essence and moisten the dryness of the intestines, and can prevent and control dizziness, tinnitus and deafness, premature whitening of the beard and hair, hair loss after illness, and nourish the blood to increase breast milk. When preserved, it should be stored in a ventilated and dry place, and it is advisable to put it in a cool place when it is hot to prevent the oil from going away.

Mustard (Mustard)

Also known as mustard seed, mustard seed, beard mustard. Belongs to the cruciferous family, annual herbs, native to Asia. Mustard has black, white, brown three colors, of which the black mustard taste more pungent and stimulating, white mustard pungent taste relatively mild and aromatic, usually said mustard that is black mustard that is black mustard and white mustard two shrubs of the seeds; brown mustard is mainly produced in India.

Mustard seeds can be used directly or pounded into powder after use, dry mustard seeds are not spicy, need to add water to react to the spicy substances, the more time into the more spicy, but left too long, the fragrance and spicy will be lost. Adding warm water accelerates the enzyme activity and makes it even spicier. The same goes for powdered mustard, which loses its flavor when it dries out, but if you mix the mustard with water to make a sauce, it will give off its pungent flavor. Mustard can be used in a variety of culinary cuisines, and white mustard in particular is widely used. Such as beef, pork, lamb, fish, chicken, bird, salads, sauces, desserts, etc., used to remove the fishy flavor, but also can be used for pickles or put into the boiling water in the pot to cook vegetables. It can also be used to make sausages, hams, salad dressings, pastries and so on.

To preserve mustard for a long time, it can be prepared with lemon juice, liquor or wine to make it acidic, which is quite effective.

Sunflower seeds (Seeds of sunflower)

Also known as sunflower, for the Asteraceae annual herbaceous plants, China are cultivated throughout the country. Sunflower is a medicine, its seeds, disk, stem and leaves, stem pith, roots, flowers, etc. can be used as medicine. Sunflower seed kernel is rich in nutrients and does not contain any unfavorable nutritional or toxic substances. The fat oil contained in more than 50%, of which linoleic acid accounted for 70%, has a good lipid-lowering and prevention of chronic hypercholesterolemia. In addition to food can also be used exclusively for oil extraction. Sunflower seeds and oil and moisturize the effect of hair.

Sunflower seeds taste sweet, warm, flat. There are spleen and intestines, rest the liver wind, remove heat and poison, dysentery, treatment of ulcers and swelling effect. Can also cure eye loss, enhance memory, on the prevention of cancer, hypertension and neurasthenia have a certain role. Pumpkin seeds can be a substitute for sunflower seeds, this food is especially suitable for those patients suffering from prostatitis. Shelled and fried sunflower seeds can be used as a drink, chopped can also be added to salads to eat. Sunflower seeds are generally processed by frying, roasting, steaming and boiling, similar to melon seeds.

The elderly should not eat sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds contain high oil content, eating too much will make the elderly liver burden, there may be through the hepatitis. It will also increase blood pressure or make hypertensive patients symptoms intensify, and in severe cases, it will also lead to stroke or angina pectoris. Eating more is not suitable. Sunflower seeds after frying warm and dry, easy to eat after dry mouth, mouth sores, toothache and other symptoms of fire, it should be noted.

Melon seeds (Seeds of watermelon)

Alias watermelon seeds, black melon seeds, melon material annual herbs. Native to central Africa, now cultivated around the world.

Melon seeds skin color black, melon seeds kernel rich in fat, protein and a variety of vitamins, but also contains a saponin substances, with lung, laxative, and in the middle, quenching thirst, blood, stomach, lowering blood pressure and other effects. In addition to frying and eating, melon seeds can also be used as fillings for Chinese dim sum.

Identify the purchase of a look at the slice type, to the slice grain uniformity, the board is straight and good, and vice versa is inferior. Second look at the shell surface, the shell surface bulging sub-nut full, shell concave yellow rupture for the second. Third taste flavor, the teeth high easy to open, the nuts gall thick and crisp, flavor and fresh for the best, and vice versa inferior. The flavor of the seeds is thick and crunchy, and the flavor is fragrant and fresh.

Dandelion 2006-4-6 03:32

Part III Herb

The English word -ERB is derived from the Latin word HERBA, which means herbs or greens. Therefore, the word "Herb" does not only refer to the herb, but also to the leafy grass, weeds, and even cosmetic ingredients, which has a wide range of meanings.

Herb generally refers to plants that dry up after blooming and can't become a tree, some of which have medicinal or horticultural value, but not necessarily edible, because some plants contain toxicity, and this article only describes edible herbs that can be used as spices. Most herbs have a refreshing aroma, smell fresh and pleasant, and have a sweet flavor. They can be used in cooking to deodorize and add flavor to dishes.

(Purchase and preservation) Spices are worthless without flavor, so fresh, strong aroma is the life of the herb. As for the quality of the flavor, and the content of the aromatic components have a close relationship with the different harvesting period, the quality will follow the changes, so try to avoid harvesting in the immature or overripe. Sometimes the leaves are too lush and become almost devoid of flavor, so be careful when buying and selecting those with a strong flavor.

(Processing application) There are many different kinds of herbs, with different characteristics and uses, so there are naturally differences in their use. For example, bay leaf or thyme, must be heated for a long time, the aroma and flavor will be fully emitted, but if it is basil or aniseed, a long time heating will make the flavor lost. So when using must fully grasp the nature of each kind of grass, in order to play the best efficacy, to achieve the purpose of use.

In cooking, herbs have a variety of uses, can be used as a color decoration, can be used as a color decoration, or chopped to make sauces, can also be added to the stewed and poured roasted food to enhance the flavor. In addition to cooking, it is also commonly used in desserts.

Basil

Basil, also known as basil, is an annual mint plant that grows in the warmer regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. Basil's original name comes from the Greek, meaning "royal oil", is native to the Pacific Islands, and was introduced to Europe from Asia in the sixteenth century. There are about 150 species of perilla around the world, and the leaves have