|
|
|
Intensely aromatic and slightly pungent, this spice native to India and Sri Lanka is used in Ayurvedic medicine to aid digestion and calm the stomach. It can be incorporated into sweet or savory foods. Leticia de Mello Bueno, a chef and owner of Gastronomisti, a Miami-based food consulting firm, likes to add cardamom to roasted pork or chicken for an Indian twist. Another favorite is cardamom-spiked soups made with pumpkin or Granny Smith apples and curry. “Use it very sparingly because it’s so strong—one little seed of cardamom in pumpkin soup, for instance,” she says. Carla Hall, owner and executive chef of Alchemy Caterers in Washington, D.C., uses cardamom to flavor a tagine made from chickpeas, butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, kalamata olives and sweet potatoes. In your coffee bar, infuse tea with cardamom. “It makes a distinctive soy chai latte,” Bueno says. Another option is to mix it with red rooibos tea to calm the central nervous system. Whichever recipe you choose, be careful—because cardamom has such a spicy, fragrant aroma, it can flavor everything around it. Bueno recommends storing it tightly wrapped or in airtight containers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|