Using herbs and spices

medtran49 said:
We really liked this char siu. Regardless of what she says about the red food coloring not making a difference in flavor, it does so use it.

I know that because there's an American Southern cake called Red Velvet cake that uses red food coloring. I started to make 1 once not realizing I was out of red food coloring until I started making it. Went ahead and made it without. The cake was still good, but didn't taste like a Red Velvet cake should.

We use spice blends we mix up all the time. Some our own and some like Emeril's Creole seasoning from 1 of his old cookbooks before he started selling them commercially.
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Don't freak out, but FYI: You're eating bugs

McCormick's red food coloring isn't made from bugs, but apparently some still is. I quit eating Yoplait strawberry yogurts years ago because they used the red dye from bugs
 
medtran49 said:
We really liked this char siu. Regardless of what she says about the red food coloring not making a difference in flavor, it does so use it.

I know that because there's an American Southern cake called Red Velvet cake that uses red food coloring.
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I looked up the ingredients in the link...brown sugar ,oyster sauce, garlic, cornstarch...and the red colour...those seem to differ from the previous list...
62048

That is so interesting, that it influences the taste, it is logical when I reflect upon it, just hope it is not bugs derived.
It does look superb...
 
I think the natural bug dye is probably healthier than chemical dyes. But beets and other foods could make natural dyes. All of this would affect flavor perhaps.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Don't freak out, but FYI: You're eating bugs

McCormick's red food coloring isn't made from bugs, but apparently some still is. I quit eating Yoplait strawberry yogurts years ago because they used the red dye from bugs
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I use McCormick's.

But, dont you freak out, we are all eating bugs to some extent. The FDA allows up to a certain percentage of bug parts in processed food. There was a discussion about it either on here or another foodie forum quite a while back.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I think the natural bug dye is probably healthier than chemical dyes. But beets and other foods could make natural dyes. All of this would affect flavor perhaps.
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Did you know that apparently beets were used first to make Red Velvet cake.
 
Timenspace said:
I looked up the ingredients in the link...brown sugar ,oyster sauce, garlic, cornstarch...and the red colour...those seem to differ from the previous list...
That is so interesting, that it influences the taste, it is logical when I reflect upon it, just hope it is not bugs derived.
It does look superb...
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I actually used shaoxing/xiaoxing wine instead of the sherry because we have it in our pantry, but dry sherry is a substitute for it.
 
medtran49 said:
I use McCormick's.

But, dont you freak out, we are all eating bugs to some extent. The FDA allows up to a certain percentage of bug parts in processed food. There was a discussion about it either on here or another foodie forum quite a while back.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I knew that. I'm ok with it. Remember when we were kids and we used to find weevils in cereal? I'm sure i ate some without noticing.
 
I always get a kick out of the stories about "did you know this is in your food?!?! :eek:"

There are several veg* folks in my family, and the more militant ones like to send me shock articles to scare me out of eating this or that. One they sent me was about a dye that apparently comes from lab rat anal glands or something equally as crazy.

I figure once something has reached the dye stage, I can safely say it's no longer an anal gland or whatever. :laugh:
 
I agree about the herb ns spice confusion and am in it. I forgot the actual difference but I think it was one is on the plants and the other is in the roots or seeds, something like that.

T
 
Just picked up on this thread, and I thought I´d just add a few thoughts, because (a) I work a lot with herbs and spices and (b) it´s important to distinguish between "spices", "spice mixes", and "herbs".
You can look for a definition of "spice" in the web, and simply get confused, but I think in principle, it´s a seed, dried flower, bark, seed pod, etc. used to condiment food. A spice is also potent in flavour, so needs to be used with caution.
A herb is usually the leafy part of a green plant, again used to flavour food. Did you know that the largest "Herb" plant in the world is the banana tree?? Ok - let´s forget that bit. :laugh: Herbs can generally be used more abundantly than spices ( think tabboulé, mint sauce,Indian mint/cilantro mixes,chimichurri or pesto), but that doesn´t mean some of them are not "potent" as well.
A spice mix, which is a combination of a number of different spices, could be something typical of a national cuisine ( garam masala, Chinese 5-spice, panch puran, ras-el-hanout, etc) or could be a commercial blend (Mexican Chile powder, curry powder, Creole seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, etc.), which is generally sold in a jar!
In my humble opinion, the best way to enjoy the full flavour of spices is to buy whole spices and keep them in a cool, dark place. I´ve got a fridge especially for them. If you buy ready ground spices, you´ve got two problems. 1) you don´t necessarily know when they were ground. 2) When you grind spices, the flavour will disappear within 4-6 months. With herbs, they´re far better fresh, although I´ve always got some dried ones just in case.
Not everyone, however, has the luxury that I do of being able to work from home 95% of the time - which is why I grind all my spices when I´m making a dish (thanks to my wonderful spice grinder and original molcajete).
 
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