What is your “Secret Ingredient”

[Pepper Pig Profile]

This is rather good.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/a ... -brilliant

I’m afraid the only thing I tend to add liberally to a few things is Worcester Sauce. And I add a whole grapefruit to each batch of marmalade I make. Not very exciting.

[Sakkarin Profile]

The scones I made on the other thread used one of my secret ingredients, Asian fried crispy onions, which were £1 for 400g in Morrisons last time I was there. I sometimes add them to loaves too.

They also feature in my "instant" Pilau Rice recipe, when I can't be bothered to fry some shallots first.

And of course as a snack, with equal quantities of fried onions, peanuts and raisins, yum!

I'm sure there are other uses for them, I figure there's a possibilty there's an extremely good curry out there (maybe waiting to be invented), using them instead of laboriously cooking up a batch of onions.

[scullion Profile]

i, too, use seaweed - but i use kelp, picked from the beach, cleaned, dried and ground as small as possible in a coffee mill used for such things. i use small amounts in stew/soup/spaghetti sauce/all those type of things.
(and in furikaki - a non fish recipe one)

i also use asafoetida in pretty much the same way.
the romans had an ingredient called sylphium which they adored to extinction and, from what i can see, the closest thing available today is asafoetida.
if used, again in small amounts, it adds more of an umami hit rather than a perceptible flavour - and not the pungency.

[Amyw Profile]

What a nice article, I do like that nut loaf recipe . I don't think I have any exciting secret ingredients. I quite often use marmite or anchovies in a stew to give that Unami taste . I always add milk to my spag Bol now following a Nigel Slater recipe I tried.will have to experiment with Quorn mince now.

Mustard powder always goes in cauliflower cheese and I've used the stuffing trick before Jack Monroe mentions . Ive used mild paste in gravy before too and made avocado brownies which were nice . There's also chickpea(aquafaba) meringues that I haven't tried but are supposed to be very good

[scullion Profile]

i've made aquafaba meringues - yes - they are almost like egg meringue just a slightly beige colour and a tiny hint of some other taste if you eat them on their own.
the aquafaba is, really, just a foamy carrier for the sugar, isn't it‽‽

[Amyw Profile]

Good to know. I imagine it's one of those things that if you know there's something different in the making of them, you can taste the difference but if not you'd be oblivious.

I know I tried Nigella tip to coat roast spuds in semolina once before cooking to make them crispy but found it gave a horrible gritty texture . I'd rather ruffle the edges, use good fat and cook for a long time

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I quite liked the semolina potatoes but they were a massive no-no with the family.

[Alexandria Profile]

Pepper Pig,

Wonderful article. Thanks for posting the link.

Secret Ingredients: I really do not have secret ingredients, as our dishes are authentically traditional regional Spanish, Basque or Italian.

Chick Pea Flour: For frying fresh anchovies (boquerones) and a pinch of smoked Spanish paprika and Mediterranean spices in the flour which I sift to combine finely.

Saffron ( rices )
Smoked Paprika (La Vera, Extremadura Pimentón )
Wine for marinating or for baking fresh fish
Basque air dried red peppers (guindillas ) - a tiny horn shaped chili pepper

[Renee Profile]

I stopped buying those crispy onions some time ago because I eat them! I also looked at the fat content which is really why I stopped buying them.

Scullion, I do envy you being able to pick kelp from the beach! I have bought quite a few products from the Cornish Seaweed company recently and use those quite a lot. I have used furikaki in the past. I used to order from the Japan Centre in London. I also use miso in recipes occasionally.

[WWordsworth Profile]

A dessertspoon of peanut butter in a beef stew, stirred through at the end of cooking, adds a lovely richness.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

not really a secret ingredient.
But I mostly buy non-alcoholic wine - it's in the house only for cooking. (However this week I bought a real chardonnay).

Why? Because I cannot tell the difference.
And I couldn't see bottles of wine for less that £5.50.

NAlc. is usually about £3 if I'm lucky. I then blow the money I've saved on a supermarket cappuccino.

[Renee Profile]

Aldi is good for wines Gill. Is there one near to you?

Here's a white from Puglia -

https://www.aldi.co.uk/c/wines/white-wi ... d=42&text=

Here's my favourite wine which is £4.09 -

https://www.aldi.co.uk/kooliburra-austr ... 8063505200

There are also plenty of award-winning wines.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Thanks Renee.
Good prices for wines.

[Otterspocket Profile]

Ketcap Manis features in a lot is my meals where a splash of umami is needed , it’s great in a beef stew

[Joanbunting Profile]

I don't think I have an secret ingredients either. I just use certain things . Like for example the anchovy fillets I inserted into the lamb should I cooked today - completely unkown to M who claims to hate anchovies. He loved the lamb

Chocolate in certain meat dishes, saffron in quite a lot - but tha's just because I live nextdorr to a saffron producer so have a ready supply, and a splash of pastis in some fish dishes.

[Suelle Profile Website]

When I'm cooking fruit on the hob, which I intend just to eat plain, with yogurt, I add a little ground rice towards the end. The slightly thickened juices are more pleasant to eat.

[jeral Profile]

I'd say cumin (because I like it with anything in which sauteed onions play a part. It is by degree though, or wouldn't be secret.

I used to dislike cinnamon in savoury food as too overpowering, as I find it can be in baked foods. I tried it in something recently and was pleasantly surprised that it nicely "added something", luckily not discernible as cinnamon except I knew it was in there.

Occasional use also makes a difference as the taste becomes new and vibrant again. White wine for example can be over-used, ditto vinegars or a particular herb.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Talking of semolina potatoes a local thing here is potatoes rolled in Jack Munro’s stuffing mix, roasted (or as the locals say, baked) and put on the pub bar as a nibble Sunday lunch time. Good.

I use quite a few of the things listed, pimenton, soy, fish sauce etc

Some not listed
Dry White vermouth - keeps better than white wine once opened,though preferably in the fridge; cheaper (use own brand for heave’s sake, not an expensive brand) and a slosh improves many things especially chicken and fish. If all else fails add ice and drown your sorrows. If desperate , add gin as well

Aleppo pepper aka pul biber - a mild chilli flake useful for adding a bit of zing without making food actually spicy hot

Economy/basic/value instant mash. Must be the cheap one that has no dairy or flavour added. Used for adjusting the texture of puréed soups, and, if desperate canned soups.

Potato flour - another sneaky thickener, you need much less than cornflour, never lumpy and cheap from Chinese groceries.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Perhaps the most likely candidate in this house would be the vinegar from pickles. I often use the residual juice from a jar of walnuts in a beef or venison stew, the liquid from wallies in oxtail or marinated vegetables. Onion vinegar gets used as a condiment on chips.

I do sometime put a couple of bits of oxtail into a beef stew for extra richness. I get the leftovers

Otherwise many of the earlier suggestions. I generally add star anise when cooking carrots and Baharat with onions.

Maybe the ginger wine mentioned in another thread might count.

[Renee Profile]

There are some great ideas here!

I keep cut up pieces of belly pork in the freezer and add a couple to a casserole. It makes such a difference to the gravy.