The Cooking Inn : Herbs, Spices, Oils & Flavorings S PageSelect an item from the list to go to it's site
Safflower:
Orange flowers. Slightly bitter in taste.
Uses: Good in salads, cooked in rice or added to pasta as a garnish.
Safflower Oil:
A flavorless, coloerless oil
expressed from safflower seeds, it is high in polysaturatesand has a high smoke
point.
Uses: This is mainly used for
frying.
Saffron:
Is the dried stigma, from a spcies of the purple crocus.
Uses: For spanish and Italian foods, for mild flavor and yellow
coloring.
Sage:
A dried leaf of a shrub, from
the mint family.
Uses:Used to season stuffings, pork,
poultry,and veal dishes.
Salad Dressing:
Since this is rather lengthy is requires it's own page, Salad Dressing.
Salsa:
Mexicans define a salsa as a sauce, and all
sauces as salsas. In Mexico sauces are a combination of fresh ingredients
in which many are uncooked and served separately, to be added according to
individual tastes. Salsas can be a mixture of raw or partially cooked
vegetables and/or fruits, herbs, and, of course, chiles. Anything from
vegetables, fruits, and nuts, to fish and meat can be used to make salsa,
as long as the flavors blend well. The combined ingredients are not a
puree, but are distinct pieces, and are often uncooked. This definition
would also include chutneys and fruit or vegetable relishes. If the salsa
is uncooked, as in "pico de gallo," it is referred to as salsa cruda or
salsa fresca. If cooked it is usually called picante.
Many countries have similar dishes that are used to accent meals in
tropical areas of the world: sambals in Indonesia, chakalaka in South
Africa, chutneys from India, the fruit and chile mixes from the West
Indies, and piccalillis of the American South.
Salt :
Or sodium chloride, has been present on earth,
since it's formation. Salt is found in the ground and in the sea.
Uses: It seasons food, it preserves food and it
provides sodium and chlorine, which are nutrients necessary to the body's fluid
balance and muscle and nerve activity.
Popular throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, Southern
India and parts of Australia, a Sambal is a multipurpose condiment. It's most
basic form is Sambal Oelek, a simple mixture of chilis, brown sugar and salt.
Another popular blend is Sambal Bajak, which adds candlenuts, garlic, kaffir
lime leaves, onion, trassi, galangal, tamarind concentrate and coconut milk
Uses: Sambals have a multitude of variations. Depending
on the ingredients added, coconut, meat, seafood or vegetables. Sambals are
usually served as an accompaniment to rice and curried dishes, either is a
condiment or side dish. Sambal Oelek and Bajak, as well as some variations, can
be found in Indonesian and some Chinese markets.
Sansho Powder:
Used in Japanese cooking, this powder is made from the dried and ground leaves of the prickly ash and has a peppery, lemon-like flavour. Must be used sparingly.
Saunders (Red Sandlewood):
This powdered East Indian wood was used to give an orangish-red colour,
especially to fruit dishes. "Color hem up with sandres", as the Forme of Cury says.
Savory:
An herb of which their are
two types, summer and winter, both related to the mint family. It has a an aroma
and flavor reminiscent of a cross between thyme and mint. Summer savory is
slightly milder than the winter variety but both are strongly
flavored and should be used with discretion.
Uses:Savory adds a piquant flavor to many
foods including pates, soups, meats, fish and bean
dishes.
Uses: Used for meats and stews, casseroles and veggies.
Serrano Chili:
A small, slightly pointed chili with hot, savory flavor.
Uses: Used in Mexican cooking, also
an ingredient in sauces, guacamole and salsa.
Sesame Oil:
Expressed from sesame seeds.
Uses:The lighter oil is used for salad
dressings and sauteing, the dark which burns easy is drizzled on Asian dishes as
a flavor accent after cooking.
Sesame Seed:
Creamy white in color with the flavor of toasted almonds.
Uses: In baking of rolls, and breads. The oil is
used for oriental cooking.
Shallots :
Fresh or freeze dried. A small onion.
Uses:Use like garlic, for flavoring, i.e.,
vinegarettes and sauces
Shanghai Coastline Ethmix:
7 Tblsp crushed red pepper flakes, 2 3/4 Tsp ground ginger, 2
3/4 ground anise. Grind to a fine powder.
Uses: For Asian dishes,
chicken and veggie dishes.
Shrimp Spice:
A mixture of whole spices, bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard seed, and
crushed red pepper.
Uses: Add to the stock of water for cooking seafood and fish.
Silver Leaf:
Garnish important dishes with these edible gossamer-thin sheets of silver. The medieval
cook used them on subtleties and their most important made dishes; in India they are called
'vark' and are used on rice dishes and deserts. Don't handle the silver leaf directly, but lay
it in place using the tissue sheet it comes folded in.
Sorrell:
A pleasant acid flavor herb.
Uses: Great in soups, or added to salads in place of vinegar or lemon juice.
Soy Sauce:
Mostly made from soy beans.
Uses: Used in many oriental
dishes.
Spearmint:
Probably one of the oldest culinary herbs, this is the variety of mint needed for
ancient and medieval dishes, and for mint tea. (Peppermint was not discovered until the 17th century.)
Spikenard:
This root (or more properly rhizome) has a heavy and peculiar odour, like a mixture of valerian and
patchouli. The taste is bitter and aromatic. Used in India from early times in perfume and medicine, it was
imported to the Greco-Roman world. It scented the precious ointment offered to Jesus. The Roman cookbook
of Apicius calls for it in sauces for meat, seafood, and fowl. It is an ingredient in some medieval hypocras
and clarry recipes. [n.b. -- do not confuse this with American Spikenard (Aralia racemosa), a totally different
plant, which is what is usually offered as 'spikenard' in North America.]
Squash:
Orange and yellow flowers. Vegetable flavor with the mild taste of raw squash.
Uses:Great for stuffing, frying or sauteing when whole. cut into julienne for pancakes, omelets,
soups and salad.
Sugar:
Once a luxury only the extremely affluent could afford, sugar was called white gold because it was so scarce and expensive. Early sugar was in the form of the sugar loaf, not the common granulated sugar we use today. Sugar cane and sugar beets are the sources of most
of today's sugar.
Until this century, most sugar came in solid conical loaves, varying in weight from a few ounces up to
twenty or more pounds. When sugar was needed, it was grated off the loaf. Now you too can have a sugar loaf for
a 'whatzit' conversation piece in your kitchen. (Cone 15 cm high, 6½ cm diameter.)
Sumac Berries:
The tart red powder of these berries is an essential 'souring agent' in Middle Eastern cookery, used in place
of vinegar or lemon. Also makes a refreshing summer drink. (N.B. - this is not the same as the North American wild sumac,
some varieties of which are poisonous.)
Sunflower Oil:
A good all-purpose, bland oil, low in saturated fat and high in polyunsaturated fat.
Szechaun Bean Paste:
A spicey
Chinese condiment made from fermented beans, hot chili peppers and
spices
Uses: Used in mainly Chinese
dishes and other Asian dishes.
Szechaun Peppercorns :
Mildly hot spice from
the prickly ash tree with a distinctive flavor and fragrance.
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