Quoting Michael Loo to Jim Weller <=-

So you salvage the spices and reuse them.
Does the flavor change much between boilings?

Yes. The second brewing is milder tasting than the first. For the
third one I put the spices in the pot and not the filter basket so
they are in contact with hot liquid longer.

It should be like foreshots and
feints, with the more volatile and soluble
things going first, so you get a progressively
darker spice taste.

If the spices are soaked too long, nasty dark and bitter elements
emerge. Same as with mulled wine in that respect.

Title: MULLED WINE

1 tb Whole star anise

We tried that recently. I thought it was a nice touch, but Roslind,
ever the traditionalist, disagreed. So we won't be doing that again.

1 lg Granny Smith apple

I sometimes use apple, while Roslind prefers an orange.

I came across a new melon recently. Now that the Loblaws store is a
franchise operation, owned and run by a local guy, instead of a
company manager on a salary, we're getting a lot of new products in
on a trial basis. It's a Spanish melon called piel de sapo.
Apparently a lot of Spanish growers run a second operation in Brazil
so the seasonal fruit is available just about year round. It tasted
very much like honeydew and so nice but not really worth paying a
premium for when honeydews are readily available.

Since I had good luck making my own curry powder, garam masala,
mitmita, ras-el-hanout and Lebanese seven spice blend I tried to
whip up a batch of hung liu, a Vietnamese spice mix which is
basically Chinese five spice plus mandarin orange zest. Once again
I changed the proportions from the recipes I found online to suit
my own tastes (more pepper, fewer cloves and star anise).

--MM

Hung liu - Vietnamese spice mix

Chinese cinnamon
Star anise
Thao qua
Clove
Optional:
sweet basil seeds
nutmeg
Szechuan pepper
Zest of willowleaf Mandarin orange
Ngo gai seeds (culantro)

I had to sub ginger and black cardamom for Thao qua, white pepper
for Szechuan pepper, and coriander seed for culantro seed. I have
no idea what particular cultivar of Mandarin orange we had on hand.
Rather than fresh zest, I used powdered, dried peel that had had the
white pith sliced off.

---


Cheers

Jim


... Decaf coffee is like sex without the sex

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