The Spice Trick

Spices pack a flavourful punch and give an inviting aroma to food. Just a pinch is enough to uplift a dish. No wonder they are always in a chef’s arsenal.

- Mini Ribeiro

Spices are all about flavours. Unlike seasoning, they not only compliment the food but also add a unique zest to it. Spices are added to dishes by chefs to layer and blend the disparate flavours that different spices offer. A multitude of spices—from the fragrant cardamom to pungent mustard seeds—may be used in one dish, but the key trick remains to maintain the perfect balance.

Chefs use spices abundantly across various cuisines, thereby adding complexity and depth to their food. Anupam Banerjee, executive chef at The Ritz- Carlton, Bangalore, agrees, “Spices are important not just for flavour they impart, but for the aroma, texture, and to also elevate a particular dish to give it that extra pizzazz.”

“The use of spices differs from cuisine to cuisine, depending upon the natural flora and fauna available, to get the best results,” adds Sunil Gadihoke, who is the executive chef at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

SPICE SECRETS 

Spices have always been an intrinsic part of a chef’s kitchen shelf. The growing interest in food and cooking has given a fillip to the demand for spices. Rekha Nahar, general manager (marketing) at MTR Foods, says, “Food has changed from being a uni-dimensional experience to a multi-dimensional and sensorial one. The expectations from food have increased exponentially over that last few years with the advent of television food shows and an increased need to experiment by the consumer. Over the past three years, the sales of branded spices have increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent while the sales of branded blended spices are increasing at a CAGR of 8.8 per cent.”