With a glass of wine in hand I mingled with invited guests and chatted whilst servers brought around canapés made using these new products. Among the tasty treats on offer were tasting spoons filled with fluffy cous cous, flavoured with the Moroccan blend which had a great fresh flavour and gave life to the cous cous. Onion bhajis, made using the Indian blend were excellent and some good spicy meatballs to name just a few of them.
I have tried some of these products at home and am happy to report that they do add good fresh flavours to your dishes. For example, by simply adding a knob of butter a little salt and pepper and a small squirt of the garlic blend to freshly boiled new potatoes and giving them a shake to distribute the flavour gave them a lovely mild garlicky coating.
For another dish, in cooking some salmon fillet, I sweated a medium sized onion then added a good squirt of the Thai blend to the onions before putting the salmon into the pan, the blend worked well with the fish, giving it a hint of ginger and the freshness of lemongrass and coriander.
I also tried the Mediterranean blend to mix with a little olive oil and drizzle over salad, which I served with cold meats, the dressing made a nice fresh tasting change from mayonnaise or French dressing and complemented all of the constituent parts of the salad, but worked especially well with tomato.
These products added the flavours of the fresh ingredients to each of these dishes for me, they are a good alternative to using fresh herbs, or to have as a standby in the fridge to give a different dimension to your dishes. They hold their freshness for some 90 days after opening or until their best before date. If you would like to know more about the products and their availability go to www.gourmetgarden.com where you can find recipe ideas as well as where you might purchase the products.