What do these additions to common spice mixes do with your dish?
Where I live, supermarkets sell all sorts of "spice mixes" for specific dishes, like "taco mix" or "spaghetti mix". I used to buy these, but then at some point started experimenting myself and stopped buying them.
Occasionally when I'm lazy, I still use these mixes to prepare food. But on reading the packet ingredients, I notice that most of the spice mix seems to be made up of things that I normally never add to my food, but I don't taste much difference for it.
Why are these ingredients added to the mix, and what are the effects on the flavor, taste and/or texture of the dish?
The ingredients include:
- A considerable amount of salt (at least 5 or 10 times what I would put in myself)
- Dextrose or other forms of sugar
- corn- or potatostarch
Best Answer
Salt:
Added as a preservative and taste maker. And usually indeed lots of it. Very broad and coarsely put, salty is usually perceived as tasty.
Corn / Potato starch:
Added as a thickening agent. They also thicken sauces while keeping them more translucent than regular flour does, although I'm not sure if that's the reason they use those starches over flour, but I think it might.
As GdD mentioned, starch is also added as an anti caking agent: It absorbs moist to prevent lumps from forming.
Dextrose / Sugar:
Not sure, but I would guess mostly for taste, and partly to balance out any acidic ingredients. Again, very broad, and very coarsely put, humans like sweet. Sugar equals tasty.
Pictures about "What do these additions to common spice mixes do with your dish?"
What is the purpose of adding spices and seasoning to our different dishes?
Adding certain spices and seasonings to a meal can enhance the taste and the overall experience of eating your food. In addition to adding flavor to your food, spices may also be healthy for you!What do spices add to a dish?
Spices serve several purposes in cooking and can be used to:- Add Flavor and Aroma. Spices can transform a meal by adding a range of flavors, from a hint of sweetness to a kick of heat. ...
- Enhance taste of food. ...
- Change or enhance color.
What are the importance of spices?
Spices enhance the taste and flavour of food. It's well known that spices elevate the taste and flavour of food. Just a bit of spice can transform everyday ingredients into an appetizing and aromatic meal. Spices contribute rich flavour to food without adding any calories, fat, sugar or salt.What are the most common spices used in cooking?
Here are some common cooking spices you can find in many kitchens- Allspice.
- Anise.
- Cardamom.
- Chinese five spice.
- Cinnamon.
- Cloves.
- Coriander.
- Cumin.
7 Spice Mixes Every Cook Needs To Own ! MUNDUS AROMATICUS
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: ROMAN ODINTSOV, Dibakar Roy, Javier Disabato, Kei Scampa