Ingredient Enigmas
Has an ingredient list for a recipe ever looked more like a random collection of letters instead of a list of things that could be found on your grocery store shelf? The Syracuse Post-Standard feels your pain and undertook the task of deciphering some ingredients that are not commonly known. They start with two recent editions of Every Day with Rachael Ray and picked 20 ingredients to discover. Most of the ingredients appear to be international in nature and I recognize many from my grocery store or at least from menus at restaurants.
For your edification, I present just a few of the ingrdients featured in the article. Check out the full article if you want to learn about them all!
Dried star anise pods
A star-shaped, dark-brown pod that contains a pea-sized seeds. Star anise is native to China and comes from a small evergreen tree. Its flavor is more bitter than that of regular anise seed. Anise has a licorice flavor.
In Asian food, it’s used as a spice and tea flavoring. It’s also used to flavor liqueurs and baked goods in Western cultures. It can be found whole in Asian markets and some supermarkets.
Cubanelle peppers
A light green, yellow or red colored pepper with a sweet and mildly hot flavor. They resemble an elongated bell pepper. Cubanelle peppers are similar to banana peppers.
Cubanelle peppers can be stuffed or used in salads or other dishes. They can be used as a substitute for Anaheim peppers. Available is some supermarkets and produce markets.
Frise(e)
A feathery vegetable with a mildly bitter flavor. It has delicately slender, curly leaves that range in color from yellow-white to yellow-green.
Often used in the special salad mix, mesclun. Available in some supermarkets.
