Nutmeg is the seed of nutmeg, a tropical evergreen tree. Grows up to 12 meters, lives up to the 1st century. The fruits resemble an apricot in shape and size. If you break the yellow pulp, a bone is found inside, the core of which goes to the production of spices.
What is the taste and smell of Nutmeg?
The spice has a tart sweet aroma. It is very stable, so it is recommended to have a separate dish for grinding whole kernels. It tastes hot and spicy, astringent.
How to Get Nutmeg Seasoning?
When the nutmeg fruit ripens, it bursts and its bone is exposed. On top it is covered with a thin skin – macis. First, the bones are dried in the sun to separate the film, which is later also ground and used as a spice. Finish drying over a wood fire.
Then the bones are split to get the core. Nutmeg is sold whole or ground into powder.
How to Use Nutmeg Seasoning?
Powdered nutmeg is added to the food. Professional chefs prefer to keep whole kernels in the kitchen, which are ground on a grater just before seasoning the dish. So the spice preserves the taste and smell as much as possible.
How to Choose Nutmeg?
To assess the quality of the spice, you should pour it in a thin layer on a white sheet of paper, press another sheet on top and look at the result. The presence of large solid inclusions indicates the presence of shells and other plant waste in the seasoning. The color should be uniformly brown, gray-green shades indicate poor product quality. The sour taste indicates the addition of nutmeg fruit pulp to the spice.
What dishes Can Nutmeg be Added to?
The universal aroma of spice will emphasize the taste of a wide variety of dishes. It is added to desserts: jams, pastries, puddings, sweets. Especially successfully complements the natural taste of cottage cheese and cheeses.
Traditionally, spices are used for the preparation of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. There are lovers of tea and coffee with ground nutmeg, it is indispensable in mulled wine and ale.
In Oriental cuisine, they are seasoned with rice, meat and fish dishes. Europeans like to add nutmeg to sauces and salads, mushrooms and vegetables.
In the culinary industry, this seasoning is used in the manufacture of sausages, canned fish and meat, chocolate and cheese, ketchup and mustard.
When using nutmeg, chefs are advised to focus on their own taste and consistency of the dish. The spice emphasizes the tenderness and lightness of purees, pates, souffles, sauces.
When and How Much to Add?
In the dough, nutmeg is added during kneading. For other dishes, it is recommended to pour the spice at the end of cooking, otherwise it will be bitter.
To avoid toxic effects, the amount of seasoning should not exceed 0.1 g per serving of the product.
How to Replace Nutmeg?
The unique taste of nutmeg is difficult to replace with anything. If it is not, it is better to simply exclude it from the list of ingredients. In some cases, you can try to experiment and replace the spice with cardamom, freshly ground allspice or a pinch of curry.
Combination with other Spices
Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, pepper, bay leaf, suneli hops are most harmoniously combined with nutmeg.
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