Archive for Ingredient Spotlights
Savory Ingredient Spotlight: Saffron
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From the stigma of the beautiful purple saffron crocus flower, saffron may possible be the world’s most romantic, desired, and expensive spice. What makes it so coveted? Difficult to cultivate, and grown only in region specific altitudes and regions, it takes from 70,000 to 250,000 flowers to produce one pound of saffron spice. The flowers are only fully open once a year in autumn, and must be hand picked and harvested during this small window of time.
From the fields of Italy, Greece, Switzerland, France, Spain, and Iran, saffron in history is know for it’s medicinal healing powers, as a medium and paint dye for artist’s paintings, as a makeup for Cleopatra, and ancient fragrant perfume. Alexander the Great was known to have used the magical spice to heal his troops battle wounds. Saffron has even provoked a 14 week long war in the 1300′s, provoked by a theft of a large shipment of the precious spice en route from Rhodes (Greece) to Northern Europe.
Saffron, continued to be cherished and coveted herb in the culinary world today, is used in cooking a multitude of recipes, from rice, paella, soups tea, and pastries, . The flavor? Described as haylike and slightly bitter, many culinary experts and chefs are at a loss for words when pressed to describe it. The reddish gold threads may be used in their entirety as threads, or ground at home, or bought as a powder. There are known stories of adulterated, unpure saffron on the market, both it thread and in powder form, so it is strongly advised to buy from a reputable source.
Watch the video as Margaret Rohmeder, a Swiss saffron expert, discusses the flower and the harvest.
Here are a few chef recipes featuring saffron to inspire you:
Dungeness Crab Cake with Saffron Aioli from SF chef Marc Dommen
Saffron Risotto from chef Anna Venturi
Saffron Shrimp-Leek Soup from chefs Marcel Biró and Shannon Kring Biró
Saffron Lasagnetta with Lobster Sauce from chef Mark Militello
If you have any favorite saffron recipes to share, please let us know in the comments below.
Savory Ingredient Spotlight – All About Asiago Cheese
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to our second edition of the Savory Ingredient spotlight, featuring…drumroll please…Asiago cheese!
If Asiago had human personality traits, I would call it vibrant, outgoing, multifaceted, and cheerful, strong, and sincere. If you don’t know Asiago personally, consider befriending it, you may just fall in love.
Asiago is officially known and certified as Asiago D.O.P, which stands for Denominazione di Origine Protetta, in english, Protected Designation of Origin. By European law, the certified cheese is only produced in specific areas of Italy, which are the provinces of Trento and Vicenza, and the town of Asiago. Asiago is made with cow’s milk, and raw unpasteurized milk is typically preferred among cheese enthusiasts, as it tends to have a deeper, more complex flavor. Asiago is know as a mountain cheese, (as are Emmentaler and Gruyere), and the high alpine meadows upon which the milk cows graze contain specific grasses, plants, and flowers, all which contribute to the distinct flavor of certified Asiago cheese.
Asiago has two main varieties, fresh and ripened. The Asiago “Pressato” is the fresh variety, is made with whole milk, and aged for 20-40 days. Pressato has a softer, sweeter, nuttier taste than its older relative, “d’Allevo”. The more mature, ripened Asiago d’Allevo is produced with skim milk, and aged for up to two years. Asiago d’Allevo is firmer and slightly granular in texture, and has a stronger, more acidic, savory flavor.
When purchasing Asiago, look for the D.O.P designation, and choose cheese that is amber rather than brown in color. The presence of small holes is an indicator of a top quality Asiago.
In the following film clip, Lou DiPalo of DiPalo Selects, an online supplier of Italian specialty foods, visits master cheesemakers in the town of Asiago Italy, and they discuss the qualities of the superior DOP cheeses, and observe the making of Asiago Pressato. Give it a view!
Savory Ingredient Spotlight: The Truffle
Posted by: | CommentsSavory Tv will always be dedicated to recipes, although our goal is to help you learn about delicious ingredients as well. Savory ingredient spotlights will focus on the origins and history of gourmet foods found in nature, so that you can prepare meals including these ingredients with knowledge and complete confidence.
We are thrilled to honor the delicious truffle in our first ingredient spotlight post.
Known as “the diamond of the kitchen”, the truffle is a highly coveted and sought after gem. They are a subterranean fungi known as a tuber. Because they are difficult to cultivate and are found underground, they are often hunted for with specially trained dogs, and occasionally female pigs. The scent of the truffle has is know to have a compound that is similar to the male pig pheromone’s, hence the female pig attraction. Because pigs tend to eat the truffles, the dogs are a more favored choice.
The highly prized nature of the truffle and labor intensive hunting has driven truffle prices into the sky. The most expensive known truffle sale to date has been the sale of 3.3 lb white truffle found near Pisa in Tuscany, Italy, which sold at auction to a Macau casino owner for $330,000. Another impressive sale involved a 2lb and 10oz Italian white alba truffle, which sold for 95,000 Euros (approximately $140,000) in 2005.
In this video, Australian celebrity chef Benjamin Christie hunts for black truffles with dogs at a truffle farm outside of Camberra, and they find a few diamonds!
Visit Chef Benjamin and watch more of his videos here.
Looking for recipes including truffles or truffle oil? Here are several:
Truffled Egg Toast with Fontina Cheese from Inoteca restaurant in NYC
Truffled Macaroni and Cheese from NYC Chef Patrick Vaccariello
The World’s Most Expensive Grilled Cheese from Gilt Restaurant in the Palace Hotel NYC
