Executive Chef Bridget Batson’s Chicken Tagine with Preserved Meyer Lemon & Green Olives from Gitane in San Francisco. Photo by Charles Dow
Culinary Trends | Mid Winter 2011
Ancient spices inspire New World cuisine
Lily Ko Japanese, Thai and Indian are officially staple cuisines in major cities
across the U.S. African, however, has remained exotic until only recently. With unusual spice blends and bold flavors, ingredients and techniques from Northern Africa have emerged as the new ethnic inspira- tion of kitchens across America. African spices such as harissa and cooking methods such as tagines, are
now regularly featured across western menus. As supply and demand would have it, curious, adventurous diners, are taking note and opening up to this new realm of food, embracing Moroccan and Ethiopian cuisine. Northern African countries have strong roots that date back to the
Mediterranean spice trade. These spices are what define and unify the many cuisines of Africa, which are rich in meat and seafood. Today, chefs in California integrate African spices with local produce, creating fresh, bril- liant dishes that push the traditional western palate.
Old World spices in New World cuisine
The heart of any African dish lies in the spices. While the spice blends may be unfamiliar to many kitchens, chefs should embrace the challenge. “Don’t be afraid of spices you don’t know,” says Executive Chef
Bernard Guillas of the Marine Room in La Jolla. “That’s the beauty of our profession. A painter has a white canvas. A chef has a white plate. A painter has all of their colors, and our palette is full of spices. Create a beautiful canvas with those spices.” That said, keep in mind, “African spices are very strong and need to be
cooked out,” says Chef Josh Thomsen of Meritage restaurant in Berkeley. “You have to know how to use the spices and understand the procedure. They’re not spices you dust on top.” Chefs agree the best way to experi- ment is to read up on the ingredients, taste the food and then give in to trial and error.
Chef Bridget Batson of Gitane in San Francisco brings a little African spice to her dishes by folding harissa into butter and applying to a variety of ingredients.
Chef Batson says Ras el Hanout, a popular African spice blend, is her favorite to use when cooking African food both at home and at Gitane, an Iberian Peninsula-inspired restaurant. Ras el Hanout is a blend of some 30 indigenous spices. Chef Rudy Mihal
of Spoonbar in Healdsburg says, “It’s great with meat and fish, but I don’t use it for chicken.” He notes that, if not introduced carefully, African-inspired dishes can be a challenging sell to customers. In order to successfully ac- quaint diners with foreign ingredients, he marries the unfamiliar flavors of
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