… bitter, and pungent (yes it’s one of the six tastes) and GOOD for you! Spice adds a full measure of health to your diet, and is much more exciting than salting your food. In fact, you could substitute the salt with a very generous pinch of cumin and pepper seeds that have been ground together, says Bharat Aggarwal, whose passionate plea that you spice your cuisine for taste and health, follows in this book review.
Usually we think of spice as those colored powders you buy to sprinkle over food for some extra zip. Putting it that way, you would think that we generally don’t use much spice, or know much about it, and that’s a pretty fair statement. Americans are however quite used to spice, as Aggarwal points out, from the “cannisters of oregano and hot pepper that adorn tables in every pizza parlour” as he notes. What’s interesting here is that he considers dried oregano, a spice, very much like hot pepper flakes are seen as a spice. Well-known spices like oregano, thyme, rosemary, and sage, being dried leaves, have a concentration of flavor not found in the same amount of fresh leaves or herbs. Of these four herbs, thyme offers the most varieties in flavor and as Aggarwal notes, some very interesting health benefits.
I first tasted Za’atar in a Mediterranean restaurant with pita bread and yellow lentil soup on a cool winter evening. The spice was simple with a clean salty lemon flavor over sesame seeds. I couldn’t help dipping numerous chunks of pita into the silky olive oil and za’atar blend that made a wonderfully layered pairing with pea soup. In fact, the term Za’atar can refer to the spice, thyme, in the Arabic language, or to a recipe which uses it for its earthy flavor, according to Ana Sortun (Chef, Oleana and author of Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. / — to be reviewed here, next!). And it turns out that Za’atar can be made up according to chef’s preference; described by herb and spice expert Jill Norman it’s a combination of sumac, sesame seeds and dried thyme. Cooks often add chopped tomato or onion that gets scooped up with the spices and drizzled with oil, adding a fun dimension to a simple meal.
If you know your thyme, it’s one herb in a family of antioxidants that typically season Mediterranean cuisine. Along with oregano, rosemary, and sage, the taste of thyme with onion and tomatoes is superb. Thyme is one of author Aggarwal‘s signature herbs because it fits his definition of a healthful spice, one that is reputed to possess healthful benefits in the literature of science and research. He calls thyme “anti-microbial” and “pro-health” for good reason since thyme is characteristic of a preventive substance, one that assists the body in resisting disease.
In Healing Spices, each of the fifty herbs features a recipe that presents the spice for American tastes, but with an appealing flair. There are “Spice Mixes and Rubs from Around the World”, “Currying Flavor”, and “Hot and Healthy” sections to bring out the adventurous in your spice pantry. Here’s one you can dip olive-oil-dunked bread into: it’s called Dukkah, a spice mix from Egypt, and it’s made with sesame, coriander, cumin and fennel seeds, black peppercorns, hazelnuts, dried mint leaves and dried thyme. And it’s different from Za’atar in that once the spices are lightly dry roasted, ground and mixed together, they’re used as is, with the olive oil and bread making a dip together into the dry mixture.
For spice pairings, he shows a table of those complementary, and lists foods and specific recipes most likely to be successful with the taste of the spice. He wants you to use the spice! for health and disease prevention because of the evidence of those benefits. The last section of each spice entry is dedicated to details about how to use the spice, and Aggarwal notes ways you can add thyme to your regular salads, in melted butter, with garlic and tomatoes, in vinaigrette dressing, in olive oil without the extra spices for a simpler effect, and more.
Healing Spices is a great reference book to have on the cookbook shelf, especially if you’re not concerned with evaluating the medical literature for the names of studies on spices and their benefits, which are not included in the text. Arranged alphabetically by common name, the reader can easily locate a particular spice without having to refer to a table of contents or index. The health benefits and facts about disease prevention that begin each entry are testimonial to the value of a spice beyond its significance as an agent of flavor in a recipe.
The book is divided into Parts. Part One is a brief guide to the main text; an encyclopedic handbook of the 50 spices, informs Part Two. Part Three consists in recipes for combining spices. And Part Four gives an explanation of the use of spices as medicines. A general index to recipes, tastes and names of spices is found in Part Five along with Resources and buying guide.
Follow
