Urfa pepper

It might be time, but I will never admit I have a problem. I collect dried herbs and spices. I sort of find unexplained joy and pleasure in trying a new one for the first time. There is a thrill to seeing something for the first time, mentally playing with what it might smell and taste like. Then there is the joy of trying to sniff the item through the packaging, without looking completely ridiculous (if you have figured this out, please share, I fail even when sniffing coffee). The whole way home I get to hem and haw about what this product MIGHT taste like, and what it might play well with in the kitchen.  

When I saw urfa pepper in the Armenian market in Watertown, MA I grabbed a bag and let out an audible "oooooh".

Here pictured next to a bag of alleppo pepper. (I couldn't resist them either, especially when I saw how oily the bright red flecks were)

The peppers are dried and sweated in the sun. The flavor is somewhat similar to an ancho; they are smokey and raisin-like, but urfas have an earthier quality, deeper smokey flavor that is less hot and less sweet. I love using it on roasted root vegetables and meat. It might be my new favor chile.

Purple sweet potato

I have been eyeing these guys at the Asian food store for a while. They are labeled as PURPLE SWEET POTATO, and are twice the price of "regular" sweet potatoes (you can see one in the background), so I was staved off for a while. I finally broke down and purchased one.

Ok, hello awesome colored flesh!

I decided to roast them with sweet potato, kohlrabi, and carrots with a pinch of salt and oil. Side-by-side, the purple sweet potato was noticeably more earthy, slightly less sweet, and a bit drier, than the standard white-fleshed version. I really really really like them. I served them up with some homemade chana masala and some store bought saag paneer. My dinner ruled.

Delicata

The first time I had delicata was last year at Vee Vee in Jamaica Plain. It was stuffed with beans, wild rice, veggies and topped with grated cheese, then baked. I polished off the whole thing, amazed at how the sum of the ingredients tasted so much more than the parts. (Its trite, but very true.)
The great thing about delicata is that the skin and seeds are edible as well; I lovingly referred to it as an edible food boat. The seeds add a great textural contrasts, and preparing this gourd is a lot faster because you don't have to fight to get the seeds out.

The flavor is similar to an acorn squash, but a little softer in texture. The skin is thin and modeled with yellows, oranges and greens. I cut it in half, sprinkled it with  salt and a little oil and baked it... ok over baked it. But it was still delicious!

Panela

I was at the Brazilian market a few months ago and I came across panela I was exited to figure out what it is and how to use it. Turns out its just unrefined cane sugar. Sometimes its packaged as brown sugar or natural brown sugar, but it differs from the brown sugar in the Dominos box. Panela is the cane sugar before is further processed out into white sugar and molasses. It tastes a little less sweet than packaged brown sugar, with a much deeper instense molasses flavor.




It took some work to crack it open and then cut or shave off some of the sugar, but it was worth it. I used some in place of brown sugar in Indian Pudding. It was awesome!

Where to find it: gums, gluten free flours and odd ingredients

In the past few months, several people have asked me where to find _____ flour or ingredient. I am going to do my best to be both vague (where you MIGHT find something) and specific (where I have found said product). If you know of another awesome place, please share!

Agar agar	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods
almond flour	specialty food stores	Whole Foods
almond meal	specialty food stores	Trader Joes
arrowroot starch	specialty food stores	Christina in Inman, Whole Foods, Harvest
brown rice flour	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods
buckwheat flour (kasha)	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods
chick pea flour (gram flour)	speacilty food stores, Indian markets	Harvest, Whole Foods, Shalimar in Central Square
coconut flours	specialty food stores	Whole Foods
corn flour	specialty food stores, Portuguese & Brazillian Markets	Brazilian Market in Union Square, Portuguese market in Inman Square
corn meal	grocery stores	almost everywhere food is sold
corn starch	grocery store, Target, etc.	almost everywhere food is sold
flax seed meal	grocery store, specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods, Trader Joes
guar gum	specialty food stores
manioc starch (toasted)	specialty food stores - Brazilian	Brazilian Market in Union Square
masa harina	grocery stores, Latin food stores	Market Basket, Harvest, Shaws, etc.
millet flour	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods
PAN (arepa flour)	specialty food stores, Columbian & Brazillian Markets	Brazilian Store in Union Square, Market Basket
potato starch	specialty food stores, Asian markets	Harvest, Whole Foods, Reliable Market in Union Square
psyllium husk	grocery store, specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods, Drug Stores
sorghum flour	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods
sweet rice flour	specialty food stores, Asian markets	Reliable in Union Square, RIP - Super 88
tapioa starch	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods, Reliable Market in Union Square
teff flour	specialty food stores	Harvest
white rice flour	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods
xanthan gum	specialty food stores	Harvest, Whole Foods
yucca starch	specialty food stores - Brazilian	Brazilian Market in Union Square

Salt Cod (baccalà)

Better know an ingredient: Salt Cod (baccalà)

Salt cod is exactly what it says: cod that has been salted, that's it. Types and quality vary drastically - the main difference is whether or not the fish has been deboned or not. The second big difference is thickness. The thicker cuts are usually more expensive. The amount of salt and how dry the fish is also dictate price. If you are shopping for salt cod, you are looking for a deboned, thick piece of salt cod that has a little bit of give to it. If its hard as a rock, you can use it, its just going to take longer to rehydrate.

Unlike most fish advice, salt cod does sometimes have a fishy smell to it, but it should NOT be overpowering. Fresh cod should smell like the ocean and nothing more. Dried, salt cod is going to have the same saline thing going on, but also smell fish-like but not as strong as Thai fish sauce. Its a fine line, but a line to be sure.

If you are very lucky, you can come across an entire side of salt cod, which isn't cheap but if it looks good, and has a little bit of a bend to it, snap it up! It can be stored in a cool dry place for several weeks - but if you aren't going to use it right away, its a good idea to freeze it till you are ready to cook.

Rehydrating the fish
So much like country ham, salt cod needs to be rehydrated. All you need is a container large enough to contain the piece(s) of salt cod, plus room for them to expand, and water. Depending on the size of the fish and the amount of salt in the product, you will need to let it soak from 12-24 hours. If your fish is on the larger size, you will want to change the water out at least once. Before you cook with it - and yes, you need to cook it thoroughly - its a good idea to rinse the fish off.

What ever your final culinary destination, remember to reconsider salt. Its a good idea to hold off on adding salt until after you have added and cooked the rehydrated salt cod.

That all said... some recipes call for cooking with salt cod as is, no rehydrating necessary. If you are using a small amount, it will season an entire pot of ingredients (think of it like bacon seasoning greens).

Eggs

The first time I had an egg from a farmer's market, I was floored. I had never tasted anything that tasted, well, so intensely eggy. It totally changed what I thought eggs were all about. They are so much more intense in both flavor and color - sometimes the yolks are even orange! I always thought I hated scrambled eggs and omelets, but I think the culprit was just boring eggs.

For those who cannot, or choose not to, eat eggs, Cory Ramey blogged on Bitten last week about subbing in flax seed meal instead.

Salt

Better know an ingredient: SALT

All salt is, or was, sea salt. Mined salt that is harvested from in the ground, and is evaporated sea water. Humans require the mineral salt (sodium chloride) to balance and regulate fluids. (Salt is a rock that we need to eat!)

Table salt is most commonly mined salt. Many forms include the addition of small quantities of postasium iodide, sodium iodide or iodate, and are sold under the moniker of iodize salt. (Iodine is found naturally in kelp but is often added to mined salt. Iodine deficiency can cause serious health concerns including certain forms of mental retardation, and thyroid problems.)

Fleur de sel (flower of the sea), is collected using the traditional Celtic practice of and-harvesting the solar-evaporated crystals from Atlantic marshes in Brittany, France—a technique which dates back over 2000 years.

Grey salt, which is also made in the traditional Celtic method, gaining its purple-grey color from the clay in the salt flats where it is harvested.

Smoked salts
This technique has its roots with the Vikings in Denmark and the Native Americans of the northwest. Evaporated seawater, forming sea salt, is often the base of this complex condiment. The dried crystals are then smoked using a variety of wood chips.

Kosher salt
This refers to the practice of koshering meats, by drawing out the blood with salt. These larger flakes stick to the meat better and are the salt typically used for this practice.

Pink or red salt (Hawaiian or Himalayan)
This usually refers to the red clay that these salts are harvested from, which impart a red to pink hue.

Saltpetre (sometimes referred to as "nitre," "niter," "pickling salt" or "pink salt")
This is actually potassium nitrate and is what keeps corned beef pink, instead of turning gray.
It is also a key component in gunpowder.

Rice

Better know an ingredient: RICE

The term rice refers to the seed of the plant Oryza sativa, native to Africa. Brown rice is rice that is harvested and has the hull removed. White rice is rice that has been harvested, has the hull removed and the bran is removed as well. The germ of the seed is also removed during this process, thus making white rice more shelf-stable since the fat source has been removed and it will not go rancid or sprout. White rice can be further processed by buffing (using talc or glucose, producing polished rice), or parboiling (producing quick-cooking, converted or minute rice).

Rice is often categorized by size: short-, medium- or long-grain.
-short-grain rice: the grains must be less than two times longer then the width.
-medium-grain rice: grains must be two to three times longer than the width
-long-grain rice: grains must be at lest three times longer than the width

In addition to the size of the grain itself, it these groupings also refer to the amount of starch released during the cooking process; the shorter the grain, the more starch is released, producing a creamier or sticker final cooked product.*

Long-grain examples: Basmati rice, Jasmine rice, Carolina rice, Himalayan red rice, Indian red rice, Kasmati rice, Thai black rice, Wheani rice, Surinam rice, Pecan rice, Texmati rice
Long-grain rices tend to hold their shape and easily fluff or separate after properly cooked.

Medium-grain examples: California medium grain rice, Southern medium grain rice, Black Japonica rice, Chinese black rice, Italian black rice, red rice, Valencia rice, Venus black rice

Medium-grain rices will release some starches and stick together when cooked. Some are used for risottos.

Short-grain examples: glutinous rice (does not contain gluten!), sticky rice, Arborio rice, Mochi rice, sushi rice, bamboo rice, Bhutanese red rice, Bomba rice, Carnaroli rice, Nishiki rice (used for sake production), pearl rice, Roma rice, sweet rice.

Short-grain rices are used when a creamy or sticky finished product is needed, like in the production of risotto or sushi. This category of rice is often ground into "sweet" or "Mochi" rice flour, used in the preparation of sweets and baked goods.

Wild Rice
Wild rice is not technically “rice” because it is a seed of plant in the grass genus Zizania (What is commonly referred to as “rice” is Oryza sativa, which is in the grass family Poaceae.)


*It is more complicated than that. The wiki page on “rice” has links to the different types of sugars common in the different sized grains and their structures.