Always add ...

"The secret ingredient is always the most simple"

Of late, here and there, I have found various cooks telling us to always use a particular ingredient to lift your meal to another level, so I thought I would tackle that concept of either 'always add' or 'the secret ingredient'. I thought it would be an interesting ramble.

However, I'm now not sure how to make this more than a list of quotes from here and there, as to what a particular cook thought was the ultimate secret thing they used all the time.

Perhaps I'll start with a list of the things that I tend to add - probably not quite always - but pretty often. Which is probably not quite the same thing, because I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be adding some of them as often as I do - cream, garlic, onion, parsley, cheese - and now that I think about it, none of the above were mentioned in the various lists that I found. I just like them.

I also am trying to consistently add often some of the things that frequently crop up as vital additions. But I tend to forget. The first of these is Parmesan rinds - the oh so trendy umami hit that apparently should go into anything stewy or soupy - even in your pasta water. I do consistently freeze them as they tell you to do, but I have not yet got into the habit of adding them. Although this is a reminder to add some to the stock I shall be making from chicken bones later on. And honestly - I'm not sure that I can taste the difference. Some say that when you retrieve the cooked rinds you should also then scrape up the melted cheese bits. chop them and put them back in, but I never remember to do that.

I'm also occasionally freezing spent corn cobs for the same reason, but they are less useful as they do indeed have a definite flavour that leaks into what you are cooking, so you need to use appropriately.

Other things that I found mentioned by various other chefs, that sort of had the same effect were Vegeta, chicken stock cubes, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, miso and soy sauce - I even saw a recipe for a Venetian kind of risotto in my Italian lesson yesterday, that had a spoonful of soy sauce in it.

Or mustard:

"If you’re making something savory and it just seems like it needs 'something' but you’re not sure what, add a bit of mustard. I don’t know what kind of magic it is, but it totally works with either yellow mustard or dijon." meganb4a9ce5ff1/Buzzfeed

And is this where we mention cheese - one of my go to's? There's nothing more enticing than a crusty, cheesy top to some kind of gratin or toasted thing. And Italian pastas and risottos are just not acceptable without the grated Parmesan on top. Cheese is inseparable from various stuffings and gnocchi. Or in tarts. And of course let's not forget the ubiquitous feta in almost any kind of salad that you can think of these days.

Or as one lady said:"

Always add more cheese than the recipe calls for, which is one of my Ten Commandments." Roxane Gay/Great Jones

Lemons - Danielle Alvarez - a 'hot' young American/Australian chef wrote a cookbook - last year I think - called Always Add Lemons - which got a lot of attention. I might have bought it if I had seen it, because I do love the taste of lemons, and various other favourite cooks - particularly Nigel I think - have extolled the virtues of a last squeeze of lemon to lift your dish to another level. And this one I go with. It does indeed make a difference, but I just forget to do it. Alvarez herself says:

"It’s not always lemon. It could be any kind of bright acidity. Maybe it’s the latin cooking – we’d always squeeze a little bit of lime juice before eating. ... It just made the dish come to life, and it brought the flavours together. It made everything more interesting. That’s how I feel – you’re adding a little bit more brightness at the end."

And with reference to the acid - herewith somebody who loved vinegar:

"I sneak a bit of vinegar into everything I cook. The best by far is the leftover juice from a jar of pepperoncini; I keep it in a squeeze bottle next to the stove. I deglaze the pan with it, whisk some into scrambled eggs, then hit those onions and peppers up with it. It's magic." Esslinger_76/Buzzfeed

or: "Anything you would normally put balsamic vinegar on, use soy too." Sat Bains

Then the other day when talking about thickening things with egg - egg yolks specifically - I saw that several of the people whose recipes I featured thought that you should add an egg to almost anything that you eventually wanted to be creamy - "If in doubt, add an egg" says Felicity Cloake - a sentiment that was reiterated by many.

Way back I also remember Rachel Roddy waxing lyrical about the potato of all things saying that:

"there was now a running joke in her household whereby if something didn't taste good then it was because the potato had been left out.

The ultimate dish to illustrate this being her Pasta and potatoes recipe.

Now I love potatoes but I'm not sure that I have ever thought that adding a potato to almost anything would improve things, but Rachel certainly does and has quite a bit to say about it:

"not only does a potato improve almost everything, but ... the things it doesn’t improve, it doesn’t affect – you certainly can’t taste it. The moral being that you should always add a potato. ...

Name a dish that isn’t improved, or unaffected, by the addition of a small potato? ...

I can confirm that ring cake, torta caprese, pizza dough, focaccia, muffins, shortbread, chocolate pudding and Yorkshire pudding all benefit from the addition of a small boiled and mashed potato." Rachel Roddy

Maybe not being able to taste it is something like the Parmesan rinds, or bayleaves which many people recommend using, just because it adds an indefinable something to your dish - and I have been trying to emulate Nigel Slater's advice to add a bay leaf when you are cooking rice.

Other things that I saw in brief:

Nutmeg "While living in Germany, I learned that they use a bit of nutmeg in almost everything." Esslinger_76/Buzzfeed

"Angostura Bitters. "Just a dash adds a nice subtle spice note to anything." WestBrink/Buzzfeed

Gochujang: "I am constantly finding new ways to use Korean gochujang. It isn't as hot as some think, and it adds its own umami to dishes. ... My fundamental question whenever I'm cooking is, 'Will gochujang work in this?'" originaladmiral/Buzzfeed

Or allspice about which Yasmin Khan raves:

"It’s not just one thing. When you smell it, you get hints of nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper and mace. I think that’s why it has the English name allspice. I now use it in everything: from a marinade for barbecued chicken (it’s the key ingredient in jerk) and chickpea stew to salad dressings. I often have it with porridge, too, as it has more notes than cinnamon. It imparts a warmth, a sweetness and a spicy flavour that I can’t get enough of." Yasmin Khan

I shouldn't forget the onions and garlic that go into almost everything I cook. How could people forget them, for I didn't see anyone suggest them as secret ingredients? Maybe it's because we all use them all the time. There's no secret. Although somebody did exhort you to make caramelised onions in bulk - a lot of effort involved in that - and then add a teaspoon or two to everything.

So do you have a secret ingredient? Something you throw into everything you cook, or even the thing you always scatter on top - crispy chilli oil, parsley, cheese has already been mentioned, chilli sauce, tomato sauce, crispy breadcrumbs ...?

Do you ever get excited by something new and then throw it into everything like Barbara KIngsolver?:

"Once you start cooking, one thing leads to another. A new recipe is as exciting as a blind date. A new ingredient, heaven help me, is an intoxicating affair"

Now I am conscious that secret ingredients vary around the world. The Middle-East is big on tahini, Asia on all of those sauces - fish, oyster, hoisin, mirin, sesame oil, America - mayo as they call it, ketchup and many kinds of barbecue sauce and pickles.

I am also conscious that I have really been talking about savoury dishes, and not dessert which is a whole other ballgame.

I suppose the big question for me is whether you should be able to taste your secret ingredient, or whether it should just add an indefinable something to your meal. Maybe I'm not supposed to be able to taste those Parmesan rinds after all.

I'll ignore all those corny quotes that more or less say that the secret ingredient is LOVE. Such an indefinable thing, and besides I also vaguely remember Rachel Roddy saying that cooking in a bad mood - and therefore, presumably no love involved - can be therapeutic and can also produce something delicious. Perhaps the best quote is this from Kung Fu Panda of all places:

There is no secret ingredient it's just YOU!"

Which sort of goes with the picture too.

YEARS GONE BY

November 26

2024 - Nothing

2023 - "Comfort food stepped up a bit"

2022 - Baked apples - so many ways

2021 - Turkish sweets - a lucky dip

2020 - Missing

2019 - A word from M.F.K Fisher

2018 - The paradox of simplicity

2017 - Christmas on my mind - a serendipitous lucky dip

2016 - Leaving a mark - or a signature?