Use Bulk Spices For Cooking

Picture this: you have just come in from your vegetable garden or your nearby farmers' market with a bevy of wonderful seasonal produce. Glorious eggplant, shiny sweet peppers and onions are in your clutches. You are inspired to turn it into something wonderful for dinner. You get out a cutting board, a knife, and put a pan on the stove with a little oil to begin heating. You decide that you are going to create an Asian-style dish, and so you reach into your spice rack for some ginger and garlic powder. And that is when you realize that you are out of your bulk spices needed to flavor your newly inspired dish.

Do not let that happen to you. Every home cook as well as professional chef is at a loss to prepare savory and sweet dishes without the proper bulk spice assortment readily available. By purchasing bulk spice, you will always have what you need on hand. Those who work in a professional culinary environment will want to purchase bulk spices wholesale for the same reason. Bulk spices and organic bulk spices make the difference in a dish that is just so-so and a dish that excites the palate.

Every kitchen should have at least a basic assortment of bulk spices on hand. These are the flavors that you turn to most often for the dishes you prepare on a regular basis. They also include bulk spices that are commonly used in recipes, so you are ready to try something new for dinner without having to run out to the grocery for an important ingredient.

There are several spices that you will use often. You can start with the bulk spice of garlic powder. This ingredient goes into not only Asian but also Italian and Greek recipes, as well as Mexican, so it is a very versatile spice. The bulk spice of garlic powder is also useful when you are preparing dips, because the flavor spreads throughout the smooth puree evenly. Another one of the infinitely useful organic bulk spices is oregano. This goes into all manner of Mediterranean dishes, to name but one cuisine that relies on this fragrant flavor. Try a bit sprinkled into your scrambled eggs for breakfast, and a touch on your garlic bread with dinner for an added boost of taste.

Restaurant kitchens rely on wholesale spices such as ground black pepper as well as salt for use with patrons as well 00004000as in the kitchen. Bakeries utilize vast quantities of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice, and these are more economical when purchased as bulk spices wholesale.

Whether as wholesale spices for the commercial kitchen or spices for your spice rack at home, purchasing in bulk ensures that you have a ready supply of your favorite flavors on hand and at prices that are more affordable.

In this article Anne Harvester writes about bulk spices. and wholesale spices.

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Tips on Cooking Octopus

Considered a normal part of a diet throughout Asia and the Mediterranean, cooking octopus is somewhat of a mystery in the United States. Many who find the living creature fascinating cannot face the thought of ingesting any part of a cooked eight legged octopus.

Sushi bars have long featured octopus on their menus. When used as sushi, cooking octopus by poaching the leg section is typical. One reason for this preparation is that octopus tends to have an extremely bland flavor when raw. For a sashimi plate, however, it is used in raw form; it is necessary to slice it as thin as possible when eaten raw due to its tough, rubbery state. It is generally washed well with salt, massaged to tenderize it and then struck with a daikon radish to impart the radish's flavor upon the meat.

While cooking octopus for salads, pastas and stews has been done in Greece and Spain among others for years, it is only in recent years that it has been appearing on menus in the United States. After bypassing an initial reluctance to try the delicacy, most diners find that they truly enjoy octopus when they actually savor the flavor. When preparing the octopus at home, the cook will need to know a few tips in order to ensure the palatability of the food before getting started.

Octopus meat is tough when in its raw state. Cuisines of different nationalities have different methods, supposedly tried and true, that serve to tenderize the meat before cooking octopus. Some beat the octopus against a hard surface, such as a table or wall; dipping the meat into boiling water before cooking is the favorite of another; while yet others will rub the meat with salt, massaging it tenderly before slicing it on an angle to produce a tender product.

Most restaurateurs will use a simpler method: cooking octopus slowly over a period of time. Generally, it is prepared the same as a very lean cut of beef; immersed in liquid and simmered for about an hour, or until tender. Some chefs compare testing doneness of octopus to that of a potato; it is done when it gives little resistance when pierced. Different liquids used when simmering the cooking00004000 octopus will impart different flavors; red wine, broths, water and even olive oil can be used with excellent results.

When finished cooking, octopus can be simply prepared. It can be lightly grilled if desired, or it can be tossed with a variety of condiments, such as lemon juice, lime juice, olive oil or soy sauce to join salads or pastas.

Cooking octopus has been part of many cultures for years. Sampling octopus may change the way you think about this eight legged creature.

To read about growing capsicum, iceberg rose and other information, visit the Gardening Central site.

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