NEWSLETTER: Winter 2005
- Setting the record straight!
- New Spice Blends
- We're thinking Chillies
- Australian Capers
- Deluxe-ah! Laksa
Setting the record straight!
Over the last eight years, Australian cooks have become more knowledgeable about, and more comfortable with, all sorts of spices, and we’d like to think that these newsletters have had a hand in that. So we beg to set a common misconception straight - Middle Eastern food is not Moroccan! So often one hears or reads about “Moroccan” food and spices which have been sadly misplaced in the culinary world. Sumac is from areas like Turkey and Syria – look on your map, it’s a long way from Morocco in North-West Africa. Za’atar is Middle Eastern, not Moroccan. Dukkah is Egyptian. Tell a Turk that he’s Moroccan and see how long it takes for your black eye to heal.
And on the subject of misinformation, please be aware that an aniseed is not a star anise, and that you don’t actually cook with a “star anise seed”, which is sometimes found inside the star points of a star anise. The seed of the anise plant is a small brown seed, about the size of a flea. The star anise is the seed pod of a tree related to the magnolia family. Because the pod has a star shape and an aroma similar to anise seed, it has been called star anise. They are not interchangeable – in fact, the flavour of star anise is closer to licorice than to aniseed.
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New Spice Blends
The change of season has brought on a rush of creativity, and a new Lamb Roast and Barbecue Crust Mix has just seen the light of day. This is something that our customers have asked about for some time, and we’ve obliged with a tasty mix for everything from meatballs to chops to roasts. To the amalgamating ingredients of coriander seed and sweet paprika, we’ve added sumac, salt, rosemary, ginger, sugar, pepper, garlic, mint and allspice. Are you breathless with excitement? You should be!
A couple of months ago we were approached by Plated, the Sydney events catering company, who asked us to create a special and unique sweet blend for their signature orange-almond ambrosia cake. We came up with a blend of Fragrant Sweet Spices that combines the usual sweet spices of coriander seed, cassia, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice with surprising ingredients such as poppy seeds, ginger, cardamom and rose petals. While you will still need traditional Mixed Spice for your rich fruit cakes, puddings and shortbreads, you will find the new Fragrant Sweet Spices ideal for macaroons, orange cakes and puddings, pancakes and meringues. We love Plated’s orange cake so much we have put it on the back of the pack for you to try. It freezes very well, which is a plus if you’re a plan-ahead person.
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Now that it’s chilly outside, we’re thinking chillies! After a bit of a shake-up, we’ve dropped some of our chillies: White (yoghurt marinated) chillies are virtually impossible to get into the country; and Cascabel chillies are, frankly, pretty uninteresting. Dropping those has given us room to introduce some exciting new Mexican chillies – firstly, Guajillo chillies, necessary for a good mole sauce; and powdered Pasilla, which is a delicious, not-too-hot powder which can be used like paprika for a rich, fruity flavour.
Also on chillies, if you’re a frequent Peri Peri user, you will notice a difference. The original peri peri was simply a blend of very hot chillies, however we felt that the profile could be changed to better showcase the flavours found in a good peri peri sauce. So you’ll find that in addition to the dominant hot chilli, there is paprika, cumin, salt, ginger and lemon. Delicious! And the final chilli change – due to unavailability of the hot little Bird’s Eye chillies, we have replaced them with a hot Pequin chilli . Same size, same heat, different name.
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Australia has a new and very young agricultural industry as a caper producer. We were very excited when we saw their first produce, and have added Australian salted capers to our range. You will see on the pack that they are described as “non-pariels”, which is the industry term for the smallest baby capers. Just rinse the salt off and use them in salads and sauces. We have put a classic tartare sauce recipe on the back of the pack so you can treat yourself to something so much better than what you’ll find on the supermarket shelves.
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Our foodie girls, Kate and Jacqui, have been busy creating some fabulous back labels for more and more of our products. Have you tried the Chocolate Wattleseed biscuits yet? Also look for the great Biscotti recipe on the Lucknow Fennel packs. Dukkah takes on a whole new personality when you make the Dukkah Crusted Fish, and you can discover Zhug on the back of the caraway seed pack. (What is Zhug? You’ll have to make it to find out!) And for some real retro-excitement, try the fantastic “Olde English” Bread Sauce recipe on the back of the Cubeb Pepper with your next roast chicken. Kate was also inspired to make the following deluxe version of laksa, which is too magnificent to fit on a back label, so it’s especially for our newsletter readers:
- 20 green prawns, peeled & butterflied; tails on
- 1 tsp Herbie’s Szechuan spice mix
- 3 tsp tamari or dark soy
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp rice wine
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 medium brown onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- 4 tbsp Herbie’s laksa mix
- 300ml chicken, fish or vegetable stock
- 600ml coconut milk
- 300g baby bok choy
- 300g rice noodles, cooked and drained
- 150g enoki or button mushrooms
- 150g bean sprouts
- 2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp mint & coriander leaves
- 1 lime, quartered
Sauté onion in peanut oil until transparent then add laksa mix and make a paste; stir for 2 minutes. Add stock, coconut milk and fish sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, then add bok choy and mushrooms for a further 5 minutes.
Heat a small pan and fry prawns until opaque.
Divide cooked noodles between 4 bowls and pour laksa evenly into bowls. Top each bowl with bean sprouts, prawns, mint and coriander. Place a lime wedge on top and serve immediately. Serves 4.
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Enjoy! Winter is so much more enjoyable with nicely spiced food!
Herbie and Liz
