What Garden Plants Are Used In Marinades

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

When my mother cooks soup, I remember the disputes between Westerners and Slavophiles at the end of the 19th century. Westerners did not like the capital for the persistent smell of sour cabbage soup in its courtyards, but over the capital of St. Petersburg at that time, the noble aroma of coffee and freshly baked French bread reigned. In our time, both capitals have become equal: go into any entrance, and the tart smell of sourness, escaped milk and fan pipes will hit your nose.

As for my mother, she also contributed to the reconciliation of the two capitals. Do you know how she cooks cabbage soup? She throws meat, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, salt, tomato paste into a pot of cold water. All this puts to cook for the whole day on the slowest heat. The same disgusting provincial bourgeois "aroma of cheap tavern", which was so disgusting in Moscow to the refined St. Petersburg aesthetes, is beginning to quietly spread around the district.

I will note right away that the way to a man's heart is not through the stomach, but through the sense of smell, i.e. anyone will come running to the smell, or rather, to the aroma, and then it will be clear whether it is worth feeding him. Seriously speaking, in the eastern, especially in the most ancient culinary of the world - Vedic, special attention has always been paid to spices, which give dishes a unique appetizing aroma. It was not for nothing that Christopher Columbus set off on such a dangerous journey to India for pepper, obviously, his wife made him a brew in the spirit of my mother.

Now no one rushes to the East for spices, and spice mixtures come to Russia from Poland and Holland, however, they are tinted with synthetic dyes, the taste is given by the monodium glutomate, and the smell is from phenols. So we have to preserve aromas, as we preserve cucumbers and tomatoes, or rather, all this can be combined, as they say, "in one bottle."

Who said that apart from cloves and black peppercorns, nothing can be added to the marinade! Not true, it is possible and necessary! Ask the supermarket how much balsamic vinegar costs. Be surprised. How good a French perfume! Of course, there is no dispute, wine vinegars, which, like expensive wine, are aged for many years in old barrels of different woods, are worth their money, but often they ask us a lot of money for a beautiful bottle of ordinary vinegar, into which just a sprig of basil was thrown …

But we ourselves have a mustache. You can, after all, pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, cauliflower and other gifts of our northern garden, add different spices, so much so that you can then pour a fragrant marinade on a salad and a herring, and refine the soup, and meat for barbecue in withstand it.

Best of all, making a rich marinade is a creative process. There are a lot of components, choosing mixtures to our liking, we create a kind of picture in which colors replace aromas. This is a very interesting, and most importantly, healthy activity. I will try to list only a small part of the spices available to us, northerners, that can be put in a marinade.

Currant leaf. It is better if it is a wild black currant, but at worst any cultured one will do. One sheet is enough for a 0.5 liter can. The aroma of currants is coldish, autumnal, very subtle, suitable for all vegetables.

Cherry leaf. Twigs can also be used. The aroma is summer, delicate, tart. Cherry gives a bitter taste and preserves the strength of cucumbers and tomatoes, two leaves are enough per liter jar.

Amaranth. Amaranth leaves and inflorescences will add a slight sourness, will look beautiful in a jar. Plus, don't forget that they contain so much calcium!

Calendula, or marigold. Only flowers are used. Gives a very delicate velvety aroma, suppresses pathogenic microflora, stimulates the entire gastrointestinal tract.

Tagetes golden, or marigolds. Only flowers are used. They look very nice in the bank. Hindus throw them in all dishes, it is believed that they contribute to the preservation of masculine strength.

Nasturtium. Young shoots and green seeds are pickled. They taste like cucumbers and are great for decorating dishes in winter, especially when combined with olives.

Fenugreek. He is the famous Shambhala. Only seeds are used. One teaspoon is enough for a 1 liter can. Gives an appetite-inducing bitterness. It is considered a cure for all diseases. It removes heavy metal salts from the body even better than amaranth.

Corn. Many northerners plant corn. In a bad summer, she does not have time to ripen, and her young, barely set ears can be pickled with cucumbers, it turns out very tasty. Basil. For the marinade, use basil with green leaves. Its aroma is similar to the aroma of bay leaves, but it is much richer.

Tarhun. Use twigs for marinade. It is very good to keep the meat in such a marinade later.

Hyssop. It is good to add a sprig of hyssop to the marinade along with a sprig of tarragon. Helps with colds.

Coriander. It is best to add dry seeds to the marinade, but fresh inflorescences can also be added, however, these are two different flavors.

Kinza is an oriental exotic, the main thing is not to overdo it, 5-7 seeds per can is enough.

Parsley. Leaves, seeds, and root will go into the marinade, you can do everything at once, but a little bit. If you use greens, then curly is better, it looks more beautiful in a jar.

Celery. If it is not, then lovage will do. All goes too. Amazing plant! It was not for nothing that heroes were crowned with celery and parsley wreaths in ancient Rome. It maintains masculinity and protects our kidneys.

Dill. Only faded panicles are used.

Nettle. Finely chop it along with the duck, grate the carrots, beets, zucchini and marinate in a light marinade on a Korean salad grater. I don't know anything better for filling soups in winter, especially during Lent.

Grapes. This southern plant in our northern lands is no longer a curiosity. The vine has to be pruned annually, and the leaves should not be thrown away. Pickled grape leaves are used to make dolma. Even one leaf in a jar of cucumbers changes their taste for the better.

Garnet. The grains are used for beauty, and the crust pieces are used to flavor the marinade with balsamic vinegar. Moreover, you can use not only purchased fruits, the tiny fruits of a room pomegranate look great in a jar.

Barberry. Dry berries are well marinated with bell peppers and zucchini. It turns out very tasty if you then add this marinade when cooking pilaf.

Juniper. The ripe berries of this amazing plant give the marinade in a glass jar the flavor and aroma of a good old barrel. Sometimes even pieces of wood and sawdust are added. They say it saves you from the evil eye, enemies and accidental injuries.

Oak. If you don't have an oak barrel in your cellar, put a piece of oak bark in a jar of cucumbers, you won't regret it.

Mustard. Hungarians are very fond of adding mustard seeds to their pickles and it is believed to enhance the flavor.

Horseradish. Both leaves and root pieces are used. Add to taste. Horseradish helps to maintain the strength of vegetables in the marinade and gives them a unique crunch.

Ginger. The aroma of ginger root is difficult to compare with anything. The root is washed and cut into circles; three circles are enough for a liter jar, which can later be used to decorate dishes. Pickled ginger is an essential attribute of Japanese cuisine, and you will definitely find it on your plate if you are served sushi. It is believed to be good for colds.

Bow. A few onion rings will brighten any marinade.

Garlic. It is best to add buds to the marinade, which we cut off in the beds to get a large head. You can use arrows, but the cloves change their aroma in the marinade, but then who likes that.

Capsicum red pepper. What a marinade without pepper! One dry pod must necessarily be in a jar with any vegetables, it gives a piquant taste and drives lymph, which saves us from colds.

Paprika. We use dry powder to color the marinade in an attractive red color. In such a marinade, for example, chicken eggs look very beautiful.

Turmeric. Colors the marinade in a bright and appetizing yellow color. It is nice to see zucchini and cauliflower in such a marinade.

Karkade. The Sudanese rose flowers, which we brew like tea, can be used to give the marinade a deep pink color.

You can list for a long time what other representatives of the flora there are worthy to spend the winter in the same jar with our favorite cucumbers and tomatoes. I would be very grateful if one of the readers would share their experience and tell what he brings from the forest to put in a jar with homemade preparations. Our ancestors knew many secrets, we would like to make them the property of all Petersburg housewives.

On my own behalf I will add that instead of salt I often use Vegeta seasoning, and I prefer to mix table vinegar with apple and wine vinegar, or even replace it with citric acid. There are less cucumbers in my jars than there are various additives, but I do not pour the fragrant marinade, but add to the soup, so in my entrance it always smells of oriental spices, and not a cheap tavern.