Dining
Dining
Spice it Up! by Rosanna Mignacca
“Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety.” Francis Bacon, 1561-1626
The rich spices that flavor Aruban recipes have a fascinating history. They’ve been used as currency and even been the cause of wars. Peppercorn, the king of spices, was once traded ounce for ounce for pure gold. In the 11th century, European towns kept their accounts in pepper; taxes and rents were paid in peppercorns. A sack of this now widely used spice was literally worth a man’s life. Luckily for us, great spices are now affordable and readily available for everyday use. Today, we can all enjoy freshly ground pepper, or the delicious warm aromas and tastes of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. It seems hard to believe that these fragrant bits of leaves, bark, and seeds were once so precious. Men willing to risk their lives for nutmeg? When you realize that the spice was acclaimed for its powers of healing and magic and even believed to make one irresistible to the opposite sex... it starts to make sense! Aruban cuisine is a delightfully spicy mix of tastes, textures, and colors... a wonderful Dutch treat with influences from all over the globe. From the Caiquetio and Arawak Indians who seasoned their food with fiery chilies, cassava root vin-
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egar, and annatto seed to the hearty meals of the first settlers from the Netherlands; from the simmering, steaming African pots that influenced the Caribbean pepperpots to the succulent seafood dishes of the Spanish and Portuguese; condiments and seasonings have always played an important role on the island. Spices provide the signature taste for delicious Aruban dishes like stoba (stew) and sopi (soup). The more you know about spices, the more you can use them to enhance and complement your own favorite foods. Allspice sounds like a mixture of different spices, but it’s really made from a simple berry of the pimento tree. It has a heavy sweetness reminiscent of cloves, cinnamon, and a hint of nutmeg. It’s often the special secret ingredient in the best barbecue sauces! Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice. Threads of saffron are actually the stigmas of an autumn-blooming crocus. It takes more than 70,000 handpicked blooms to make a pound of the spice, which adds a unique delicacy, fragrance, and rich color to dishes such as seafood and paella. E
Photo by Georgina Palmer
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