Seasoning tips for great grilling

Lifestyle Monday 29/May/2017 18:11 PM
By: Times News Service
Seasoning tips for great grilling

Do you know how to season your summer fruits? Sure, a dash of salt and pepper may be all you need for some premium cuts of meat, but creative seasoning with organic spices and herbs can enhance the taste of virtually everything you grill. What’s more, the clean simplicity of organic seasonings perfectly complements the natural healthfulness of grilling. The organic seasoning experts at Frontier Co-op in the US offer some tips for using seasonings to achieve greater grilling summer:

Dry or wet? That’s the rub
Two of the most common ways to add seasonings to grilled food is through the use of a rub or marinade. What’s the difference between the two? It’s not just that one is dry and the other wet, because some rubs are wet, too.
Generally, rubs are mixtures of dry spices that you rub on food to add flavour before cooking. They’re good for high-fat foods like meat, and often contain salt and sugar, which also promotes the formation of a crust on the food when you grill it. Usually, after applying a rub you’ll want to let the food sit an hour or two before grilling it.
Marinades are typically liquid seasoned with spices to add flavour to food and sometimes tenderise it. You place the food in the liquid and allow it to sit for a set period of time — a few hours to overnight. When you’re ready to cook, remove the food from the marinade and use a brush or rubber spatula to remove excess marinade before placing the food on the grill. Marinades are great for vegetables and meat, poultry or fish that tend to be dry.

Other ways to spice things up
Of course, seasonings can add flavour to food in multiple ways. For example, if you’re soaking vegetables or fruit before grilling, you can add herbs and spices to the soaking water. In addition to absorbing liquid, the food will also soak up the great flavour of the seasonings. Some foods benefit from basting during the grilling process. You can enhance the flavour of the food by adding seasonings to the butter or liquid you use for basting. If you use foil packets to steam fish, veggies or fruit on the grill, you can add seasonings directly atop the food before folding the foil, or add them to a bit of liquid at the base of the packet.

Pairing seasonings with food
Some food/seasoning pairings are obvious, like apples and cinnamon or fish and lemon pepper. However, a wide range of seasonings can elevate the flavour of a variety of foods. Here are a few creative pairings to try this summer grilling season:

Cardamom - Apples, pears, citrus fruits, cabbage, and carrots
Cloves - Beef, sweet potatoes, onions, apples, pears, citrus fruits, and peaches
Cumin - Chicken (marinades), tofu, tempeh, and cabbage
Ginger - Steak, chicken, fish, seafood, and fruits
Marjoram - Burgers, chicken, fish, lamp, poultry, and vegetables
Saffron - Chicken and fish
Turmeric - Lamb, beans, and zucchini