3 Unusual Ingredients To Keep In Your Kitchen

If you consider yourself a fairly competent chef, you are probably often keen to make new and exciting dishes which push the boundaries a little. The truth is that this is one of the most enjoyable ways of being in the kitchen, and actually it often begins with looking at what ingredients you have or do not have. If you want to create some unique dishes, then you often need to have unique ingredients to start with. In this article, we are going to take a look at just a few ingredients which you might want to consider if you want to create some interesting standout dishes for you and your loved ones. Let’s take a look at some of the things you might want to stock out your kitchen with.

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Cassava

If you have never heard of cassava before, you might be surprised to discover just how versatile it can be. Also known as Yuca, it is a traditional South American plant which has a great many uses in any kitchen in the world. One of the most popular way to use it is to turn it into an alcoholic drink. If you are looking for something new to drink, or even to use in your cooking, then going for a cassava drink might be a good way to go. However, it can also be used as a kind of flour, owing to is fine nature and easy milling process, so it is a great choice if you want to try and introduce some new flours into your bread mixes. Check out the current cassava prices and see whether this is something you might want to have in your kitchen.

Saffron

Although a well-known spice, it can be hard to come by, and it is notoriously expensive. However, saffron is so pricey for a very good reason, that reason being that it provides so much incredible taste within such a small area of food. If you have never used saffron before, you will discover that the technique is a little different to many other spices you might have used. You first need to soak it in water for around half an hour to an hour - not much less than that but certainly no longer either - before adding it to your dish at the appropriate time. What’s more, it is interesting because it adds appropriate flavouring to almost any dish, and in fact there are very few things you could not use it in in some way or another. If you want to experiment, it’s worth buying a small amount and giving it a go.

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Juniper

Juniper berries are actually dying out across the world, which is bad news for the gin industry. But as well as making gin, junipers can be used for all sorts of things in the kitchen. They can be a pretty heady garnish to a curry dish, or they can be crushed and used as part of a curry paste itself. You might also want to consider infusing them as a tea, something which is both delicious and known to have positive digestive benefits. In any case, it’s a great ingredient to have.