Meat + Poultry - February 2016 - 70

INGREDIENT ISSUES

it's more than black pepper or hot sauce heat,
the traditional sources in American cuisine.
According to international food and
restaurant consulting firm Baum+Whiteman
in Brooklyn, NY, there's a continued shift from
plain heat to aromatic
"Turmeric is what makes curry and flavorful spice
powder yellow. Theoretically it blends and sauces.
This is where the
cures almost everything, which ethnic layer of flavor
comes into play.
is why it's getting noticed."
For example,
- MICHAEL WHITEMAN
the African peri peri
pepper is gaining notoriety as Nando's Chicken
chain expands in the US. Nando's is famous
for its Portuguese flame-grilled, butterfly cut
chicken, which is marinated for 24 hours
before being basted and cooked in its secret
peri peri sauce.
Sweet and spicy gochujang is a thick
Korean barbecue sauce that is showing up
in Asian fusion dishes, according to Michael
Whiteman, president of Baum+Whiteman. So is
kimchi, a fermented vegetable sauce that leads

Korean chicken wings are an
example of delivering ethnic
flavor. Photo: McCormick

70

MEAT+ POULTRY | 02.16 | www.meatpoultry.com

in with a mouth-puckering sour taste followed
by eye-watering heat.
"Middle Eastern flavors are warm, rather
than hot, and include mixtures of allspice,
black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander
and ginger," he says. "Red and green curry
blends and pastes are catching on as Thai food
sweeps the country."
Shichimi-togarashi is a blend of red chili
pepper, black pepper, sesame seeds, dried
orange peel, seaweed flakes and poppy seeds.
Also called Japanese Seven Spice, it starts
out hot then shifts to complexity, plus a bit of
crunch.
"It can be used as a chicken rub or blended
into burgers," Whiteman says.
Berbere is a highly fragrant but hot
Ethiopian blend of cardamom, cinnamon,
clove, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, hot peppers,
nutmeg, paprika, turmeric and ginger. "It
makes a great rub or mix for braised food,"
Whiteman says.
Increasingly popular regional flavors from
the five trending international cuisines include
harissa, a Moroccan red pepper sauce that
complements poultry and lamb. Dukkah, a
blend of nuts, seeds and spices that has its roots
in Egyptian cuisine, adds dimension as a crust
for roasted or pan-sautéed chicken or pork.
Ras el hanout, a spice mix from North
Africa, can be added to meat and poultry
breadings, marinades and rubs. It has a
similar flavor profile to berbere, just without
as much heat. From West Africa, there's tsire,
a mixture of ground peanuts and chilies,
cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg that is
used to flavor and provide texture to meat
before cooking. It can be used as a cooking
sauce or marinade, or mixed into blended
meats such as lamb meatballs or even
sausages.
If there's one ethnic spice to keep your
eye on, it is turmeric, according to Whiteman.
"It's showing up in all foods and beverages,"
he says. "Turmeric is what makes curry
powder yellow. Theoretically it cures almost
everything, which is why it's getting noticed."
Such health and wellness associations,
coupled with consumers' desire to experience
the world through their taste buds, will
continue to drive innovation. Keep meat and
poultry on the menu by adding some ethnic
flair.
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Meat + Poultry - February 2016

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