The Beginner's Guide to Cooking with Spices (with Testing)

When we make a recipe, we are constantly told to do a series of techniques, but often we are not even told why we do them and today I wanted to explore the question of applying heat to

spices

because learning how

spices

work is one of the most important lessons. powerful things you can learn. I can learn as a home cook, for example, does it really do anything when I roast whole spices and grind them before adding them to the sauce or can I just use some pre-ground or optionally should I bloom my spices and oil first or can I just add them to the sauce at the end and if they do anything, the real question is how much difference does it really make?

Is this something I should incorporate all the time or is it more like yes if I have it's time to do it but if not it's probably no big deal so what better way to practice than with a chicken curry where I did four different experiments with the help of another legendary food YouTuber and a flavor tester willing to see what we can learn. Oh, this. it's great, yes this is useful for me, yes, again and again, like once, it just blew my mind, yes, back to back, yes, everything is changing and again, like now, before we get to the experiments , we need to do a quick introduction to aroma molecules because the whole point of

cooking

with herbs and spices is to release the aroma molecules of these spices and bring them to your plate, which then reach our nose.

It's a really simple concept and quite complex at the same time, so let's break it down, let's get started. with a 10 second experiment to show why the main function of spices is to provide aromas, so you can take whatever edible you have on hand, it could be some spices or here I just have some blueberry mineral water, no It's no wonder we'd probably say he knows. I like blueberries, but what if I told you that it doesn't actually taste like blueberries, it actually smells like blueberries and how would I know? I'm going to hold my nose and take another sip with my nose closed.

I can't smell anything and it just tastes like plain water, but as soon as I opened my nose again, I can immediately tell that it tasted like blueberry. So why is this little experiment important? Well, flavor equals aroma plus flavor, but remember there are only five flavors: sweet, sour, salty. bitter and umami, on the other hand, as stated in Nick Sharma's taste equation, our nose has more than 400 odor receptors that can perceive more than a trillion types of aromas in extremely low quantities. Also, if you're wondering how that number is so big. That permutation formula we learned in standardized

testing

today is like if an aroma molecule can bind to one or more odor receptors and an odor receptor can also bind to one or more individual aroma molecules, it's not really the important part, what is the important part?

The point to note is that aromas are everything and the application of aromatic molecules to food is what creates this enormously complex, deep and intoxicating world of food that we live in every day. The aromas are why some people love cilantro and others hate it. It's also the reason why some people love cilantro and others hate it. Holding your nose is actually a helpful way to eat something you don't like, so you may be wondering what exactly these aromatic molecules are. Do you know if there is a blueberry aroma molecule? and no, there isn't, it's a little more complex than that.

So we tend to think that a particular herb or spice has a distinctive, singular aroma, you know, cumin smells like cumin, rosemary smells like rosemary, vanilla smells like vanilla, but each of these is actually a mixture of several different aromatic molecules that create a compound odor that our nose identifies as a particular herb or spice. Now, this food and

cooking

chart can show you the specific aroma molecules that make up the smell that we identify with specific spices, but that's a little beyond the scope of this video if you want. a deeper dive video. I may do that at some point, so the most important thing to know with spices is that they will have a variety of these aroma molecules and these can be classified into three broad categories, as listed first in the flavor equation. you have your top or top notes and these are the first aromas that you detect and also the ones that fade away immediately second you have your middle or heart notes and these are the main aromas that you detect after the top notes and finally you have your base or heart notes background and these are the notes that have been detected for a long time based on this.

Nick Sharma also points out that aroma molecules have three characteristics: one, they are small and light; two, they are volatile at room temperature, so they can travel through the air to the nose and three, they can talk to odor receptors. From this information we can conclude that the aroma molecules in spices react with the light air and heat that are present during cooking because we can decide how to deliver those aroma molecules, for example. The top notes of fresh basil are absolutely intoxicating, but when we dry the basil it actually loses all the top notes. I mean, can you imagine that making pesto with dried basil probably wouldn't be great now that this whole concept of aromatic molecules can still be a little abstract? period, but we're going to move on to the practice part of the video with the experiments and they're going to start making it a lot more concrete because, as we'll see, even making small changes to when or how we use them.

Spices can make big differences in the final dish. Experiment number one is simple, what is the difference between roasted and unroasted whole spices? So roasting spices is quite interesting because there are several possible outcomes. Remember that the aroma molecules above are light and volatile, so they are going to react and change when exposed to air, light and heat, so first I am going to alter the aroma molecules by adding heat, which will probably eliminate those notes. high and will soften the spices; Secondly, I am creating new aromas through gilding. process itself and then thirdly, I'm going to extract those aromatic molecules when I grind them all together creating a whole new aromatic profile for my garam masala.

Now this is all good in theory, but how different are these two things? of me telling you that I had a blind taste tester willing to share his experience, okay everyone, so now it's time to put the theory to the test, which is my favorite part. I brought Mike in from professional home cooks, so he will really go through all the tests. I'll be there with him, but he has no idea which is which and first we'll start with the smell test, so I have two containers here, you guys will know which is which, but I'll let Mike go first. smell it and just tell me what you think cutting salts that's a nice scent overall yes it could be a very earthy and floral candle i think those two those two sniffs are strong yes it's interesting when you don't have anything that kind of goes out but it smells okay, totally different, like I mean floral again but completely softened or muted, this one hits you hard and again it's like you know if you lit that candle like I would, you would smell all of your scent.

The house is really nice, it doesn't smell like a lot of spices, like you're not picking up those intense earthy spices, so if you had to guess which one you put in, you'd say it's toasted and which one isn't, I'll say. This, straight up, they're completely different, yeah, it's like it couldn't be more different, which is crazy. I guess I guess the most subtle one is roasted, like the flavors mellow out a little compared to the spiciness. Yes, that's exactly right, and that's what I noticed right after I mixed them with the unroasted one. I feel like you get the top end, yeah, it's brighter and more floral, whereas this pepper you like and taste. like boom yeah while on this one you get the earthy nutty roast and it's like completely different um which is completely as expected like roast changes yeah I'm really excited about the flavor exactly so you can see how much it smells and Tastes are completely different playing fields, yeah, so let's move on to experiment number two and this really is so obvious that there's a big difference here in the smell, but what I wanted to test is do we actually put them in something or cook them? . with them we can still notice as much difference as we are smelling right now for experiment number two, this builds on the first, does toasted garam masala make a difference once it is cooked as part of a dish?

For this one, I created identical marinades for some chopped chicken thighs by adding salt and lemon juice and just letting it sit, then I created a yogurt marinade with a bunch of ginger and garlic, a little ground cumin, ground paprika and mixed it in, poured the marinades on top. the chicken and then the only difference between these two batches is one tablespoon of untoasted garam masala and one tablespoon of toasted garam masala, so each batch was scored and then marinated for an hour, then I roasted them under the oven until which were browned and cooked well before being placed on separate plates to give them a taste test.

Now I will say that I was extremely skeptical that there really wouldn't be a difference here, but let's see what Mike has to say, okay, so we have the proof. number two now we're going to eat so I made some chicken one with toasted garam masala one used untoasted garam masala and there are some other spices that weren't part of this spice mix so it's one of many ingredients really okay, it's like you know it's a pretty simple use case of how we cook, so that's what I'm interested in seeing now, if it was just an untoasted toasted component, how can we still perceive it as different? yeah, totally and then you get it, but either way you're toasting these ingredients to a certain degree right as they cook yeah, so it's almost like maybe a little double toast and then yeah, a soft toast, yeah, um, this It's all I'm eating. because I'm going to want more of this, oh we have, we'll have a full meal at the end with both of us, yeah, yeah, don't worry, don't worry, it's okay, so try again, I never try, so it's funny.

I like to think about flavors, yeah, it's a good experiment, yeah, I love doing things next to each other because you never try it and then once you do it you're like, oh, it's like you can hear a bunch of things on the internet, but what I found. it's the only way to know if something is real when it comes to cooking a technique or whatever is to do this yeah you have to try it you know there could be misinformation for hundreds of years until you do it and you're really good So that It was good, the flavors brought out the spice, it definitely hit pretty hard, almost like unroasted.

I feel like that would be my thought before trying this, yeah, I think it's nicer that you're smiling. I feel like I'm on the right track that it tastes more like this toned down just that the flavors merge, they work together and it's a little bit more, it's not, I wouldn't say it's more enjoyable, I'm enjoying it, yeah, because the flavors just get better and It's smooth, yeah, it's like a drink, it's like a glass of whiskey that's smooth versus oh, that hit me hard, so I'd say this is the roast, yeah, no, you're right again, dude, oh , this is. cool yeah yeah this is helpful for me yeah over and over again like once it blew me away yeah back to back yeah everything is changing and again literally the only difference in this one was just half a teaspoon toasted versus untoasted. toasted garam masala, so when I was trying these two I noticed the same thing, like they were very different.

This one hits you hard and you like it, you get different notes, like high-end florals, that's why Indian cuisine works for you. For toast, you also add raw spices, like you can mix these things and make them work together, but overall this is much more enjoyable, yeah, you just, you might like that and there's a place for intensity, but that it just works. yeah it's just soft yeah I think that's the biggest thing, at least for this specific test, is that it's more cohesive and blends well, we think this is more in your face on the top end, like a floral gloss without toasting. or whatever, it's like it's the easiest way to explain it, it's just a more pleasant experience, yeah, your taste is fine, so experiment number two is done.

Now we'll move on to experiment number three, which is actually

testing

the sauces. I won't do it. Explain it now. I'll let you try it first and tell you what I did differently after you try both. Experiment number three is a little different than the first two. What is the difference between floral spices that are cooked in sauce and spices that are cooked in sauce? non-bloomed spices that are added right at the end, so blooming is a process where the spices are cooked in the oil usually along with some aromatics, so again I would expect this to alter the aromatic molecules and create new oneswith cooking, but also the fat is interesting. because a lot of aroma molecules are fat soluble so it will actually retain those flavors and distribute them throughout the sauce compared to the second one where I literally add all the spices right at the end of cooking again these are two identical. batches of sauce plus spice timing, let's see what Mike thinks, okay, experiment number three, so this is just the sauce and I've modified two things, I'm just going to let you try them and then you can try both and So give me, uh, What you're thinking or on the fly.

Through each one, okay, it definitely seems pretty spicy, tasty, there's a harshness to things, I don't know if that will show up texture-wise, we'll see how they compare, yeah, I'm getting a little spicy in the back, let's try this. very different, yeah, very different, similar texture, I would definitely like to pick out the spice on that, like oh my gosh, that's cumin in there, yeah, um, it hits you more, so my initial thought would be that it's unroasted, unroasted. bloom, right, yes, yes, yes again. this is more now I'm going to come back to this this one feels again more refined more blended more subtle yeah that's like boom boom boom boom yeah and that was my big takeaway also is the cohesion of the plate like this fits really well like yeah one thing wasn't trying to overpower it, whereas this one for me tastes since I added the spices at the end, it didn't take like 30 minutes of cooking, it tastes very tomato, it tastes very spicy, it tastes disjointed instead of where this one is much more cohesive and set, yeah, it's smooth and yeah, that's like, I hope, the big takeaway is that one isn't intrinsically better, you might like this one better, but we just change the tense of what we're doing.

Changing the roasting of the spices before grinding them afterwards makes very noticeable differences in our final product, so the last thing we're going to do is make a good dish with each of the unroasted types, the suboptimal versus the optimal and just kind. from reviewing a whole plate and seeing how they taste together, yes, now we can eat completely, yes, now, finally, for experiment number four, we only had to make one whole plate of each and I basically made one optimized version and one not optimized. so I added some rice to a plate and then went in with the garam masala, the toasted, bloomed, untoasted and non-bloomed sauce to see how much difference they will make to the final dish, okay, so not as much of a finish. try it, but I just wanted to see what they are like when they're all together, so this is going to be the untoasted garam masala over the chicken and with the non-blooming spices, this one is with the toasted garam masala and the blooming spices, too. these toasted peppercorns for the pickled onions those are not those they were just put there yes those those unroasted spices it's just not about them sacred I don't know what that could have been I mean this is just better yeah just I think it's the most Importantly, it is much more cohesive and smooth.

I think that's the biggest kind of takeaway that I take away from this, is that it kind of completes and makes everything more enjoyable, yeah, the overall eating experience because you're not constantly getting hit, so I think, in Conclusion, obviously toasting spices changes the dish quite a bit. We test each component along the line and we can clearly detect many of the differences and then in the final dish it will also make a big difference and it's just toasting the spices ahead of time or maybe changing the time they taste when you add it you can trust on our word or if you want to try it yourselves absolutely Yes, but I think the moral of this story is that once you do these tests, your confidence levels in the kitchen go up, so yeah, because you know, yeah, you know you can Take our word for it, but once you know, it's over, yeah, yeah, and exactly right.

I hope you all enjoyed the video and learned something along the way and now that we've moved on to the experiment side, maybe we'll go back and look at that initial science-based piece. I know it was probably a lot of information at first, but it should make more sense with the context of the experiments and these experiments were just a couple of techniques on how to use spices. There really are a lot of different ways to use them, but again the main goal is to simply release the aroma molecules we want. from the spices, they deliver them to the food, which then when we eat them, it reaches those smell receptors and that, along with the five flavors, is what will make the food delicious and tasty, so let me know in the comments also if you have comments on these.

There are types of videos that are definitely harder for me to put together and conceptualize, so I'm always looking for feedback on how I can make it maybe a little faster or just more fun or more valuable, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll catch you all in the next one, peace to all.