Even if you don’t leave home, your taste buds can travel the world! The cuisine of any region is about delicious ingredients!
Fish for Flavor
Seafood is featured in the cuisines of many coastal regions, from the cold waters of the north Atlantic to the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Whatever seafood dishes you prefer, prepare high-quality fresh or frozen fish to retain its moist quality and fresh flavor:
Use the “ten-minute” guide to cook finfish. Consider the thickness: for every inch of thickness, broil, grill bake, steam, or poach thawed fish for 10 minutes – to an internal temperate of 145°F. Properly cooked, it should be opaque and flake easily with a fork. And for a flavorful fish dinner that just needs to be oven baked or microwaved, stock your freezer with our Lemon Pepper Fish and Herb Baked Fish.
Cooking shrimp? They generally need just three to five minutes of cooking depending on their size. They’re done when they turn pink. Overcooking makes them dry. For convenience and flavor, enjoy our Creamy Garlic Shrimp dinner in a garlic-basil sauce and served with bow-tie pasta and vegetables!
Flavor with Aromatic Herbs
Aromatic herbs and spices help define many regional cuisines. For example, mint, coriander, cinnamon, and cumin are among the flavors of northern Africa. However, the moderate climate of the Mediterranean brings rosemary, thyme, marjoram, and sage to dishes. Basil, garlic, and oregano help flavor Italian cooking. To get the most from herbs’ distinctive flavors:
Add herbs toward the end in dishes that simmer or braise for a long cooking time (for example, Italian tomato pasta sauce, French bouillabaisse seafood stew, Czech mushroom-barley soup, Irish stew), so the flavors don’t cook away.
For salads and cold spreads (for example German potato salad, Scandinavian dilled mustard) that chill in the ‘fridge, add seasonings ahead so their flavors can blend.
Fresh or dried? Either choice of herbs is fine. Just figure 1 teaspoon of dried herbs equals 1 tablespoon of fresh. Dried herbs and spices are best added to liquid ingredients since moisture helps bring out their flavors.
Berry Good!
Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries… Sweet or tart, berries add flavor to puddings, tarts, sauces, baked goods, and side dishes. You can add delicate flavors with many kinds of berries…
Fresh berries pureed as a sauce, then ladled over French toast, spooned atop roasted pork or chicken, or drizzled over Healthy Choice Ice Cream.
Dried berries in trail mix, on breakfast cereal (perhaps European-style muesli), and in homemade breads and muffins. Look for dried cranberries, blueberries, and strawberries!
Frozen or fresh berries to sweeten creamy smoothies, delicate puddings, or plain tangy yogurt.
Fresh berries tossed with spinach or fruit salad or dried berries in Waldorf salad, slaw, couscous, and stuffing!
Hearty Whole Grains
Rye, oat, whole wheat, wheat berry: whole grains give the signature breads of many regions their hearty flavors, darker color, and denser texture, along with their good-for-you benefits. Here are some European-style ideas:
Start your day with a Scandinavian-style breakfast or lunch: thinly sliced smoked salmon and dilled mustard on pumpernickel bread (made with rye flour).
Enjoy your Irish stew as the Irish do, simply… with a slice of oat bread. Make your own, or buy a loaf.
Top rye or oat crispbread with cheese and Healthy Choice Deli Meat, or mustard and pickled herring.
For an easy supper where everyone makes his or her own, serve a German Abendbrot, literally meaning "evening bread": a variety of deli meats, soft cheeses, relishes, raw fresh veggies, and multigrain bread, offered on a board. It’s a perfect way to enjoy Healthy Choice Deli Meats and Breads!
Olive Oil: A Signature Ingredient
Olive oil is a basic ingredient used in Mediterranean cooking. More than 97 percent of the world’s olive oil is produced in the Mediterranean region (Spain, Italy, France, Greece and North Africa). Olive oils vary in color from dark green to almost clear, depending on ripeness of the olives at the time of pressing. Generally, the deeper the color, the more intense the flavor. There are three familiar types of olive oil: Extra Virgin, Virgin, and pure.
Extra Virgin olive oil is considered the finest and fruitiest of the olive oils because of the low level of acidity (not more than 1 percent acid).
Virgin olive oil, made from the first pressing of the olives, has a slightly higher level of acidity, between 1 and 3 percent.
Pure olive oil is processed from the pulp left after the first pressing using heat and chemicals. Pure oil is lighter in flavor and less expensive than virgin oil.
