(egg cracking)
(egg sizzling)
(lighthearted music)
- Hello back to Sorted Food.
Now, today we're gonna explore the wonderful world
of spices, and we're gonna do that through geography
and history and botany and chemistry.
Of course, we love a challenge.
So we are challenging our three normals, Mike, Barry,
and Jamie to guess the spice, but first let's roll the dice.
(lively music)
- Whoa!
- What was that?
- Roll it don't throw it!
Highest roll wins.
- Five.
- One.
Six.
- It's gonna be hard to beat.
- On a six-sided dice, that is going to be hard
to beat, Barry, yes.
Now the reason I've got you to roll dice is to make it fair.
There's one spice blend each at first,
and I think they get progressively harder.
So there will be an advantage to going first.
Barry, you are going first
'cause you've got the highest number.
Now, the two best results will go head to head in a final
on the most challenging spice blend
and the winner of that will take home a spiceology badge.
I don't know if it's a word either.
Barry, you can lift the cloche and use all of your senses
to identify as many spices as you can.
And your three minutes starts now!
(playful music)
- It smells a bit allspicy.
It reminds me of jerk chicken.
I'm getting aniseedy, aniseed in there.
I'm getting cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, coriander seed.
- Think about what flavours
and sensations and aromas you're getting.
- There's chilli in it as well, turmeric, caraway.
- Interesting, a wonderful spice used in things
like sauerkraut.
- Star anise, cloves, it's got cloves in there,
it's definitely got cloves in there and I've said it.
- Last 15 seconds.
- Pepper, that's one, innit?
Salt.
- It's not got salt in it.
- And time up!
- If that's an easy one, the other guys are screwed.
(lighthearted music)
- So Baz, that was Chinese five spice.
And in front of you, I've cooked a pork rib
with some fried noodles,
little glaze of ginger, garlic and plum sauce
as well. - Beautiful.
- Tuck in, and we'll talk about the spice blend.
So Chinese five spice, although it's not one set recipe
it can be different ratios
and slightly different ingredients based on where you are.
This one has got star anise, fennel seeds, cloves,
cinnamon stick, and Sichuan pepper.
- And it works so well with a sweet glaze.
- So think of it as iconic with Cantonese-style cooking.
- I did say pepper.
- With a lot of garlic and a lot of ginger.
Your pork rib has also got a little bit of plum sauce
and some fried noodles.
- So what, I got three?
- You got three.
- I'm happy with that.
- [Ben] And you were definitely picking out other elements.
I was describing the flavour of the fennel,
But I wasn't I didn't I didn't
imagine fennel to be in that blend.
- You did say aniseed, your said star anise,
but you're right. It has this kind of Herbie aniseed
with also a floral citrus note that fennel gives off
which is different to star anise.
So it's particularly good with relatively fatty foods.
So great with duck or goose in this case
pork belly on the rib.
And that kind of plays very nicely to those. It's described
as giving a sweet, spicy, earthy and aromatic fragrance.
- Whenever I cook a Sorted recipe at home, the instructions
always say fry off your, your spices to release
the fragrance what's the point in that
bit? Why can't you just throw them
in halfway through a recipe
- You can do.
But what you're trying to release is those very
strong chemical aromas in the spices.
I mean often then they're natural defences for plants to
protect themselves.
They just happen to be quite delicious.
And we as humans quite like them... interesting... for me, a bit
of home cooking, I think Chinese five spice is a really
easy cheat because it's kind of already blended
in the right ratios to make it simple.
But if you know what you're doing with Chinese cooking
so someone like Ching, who did Chinese made easy in the UK
and lots of other cookbooks and TV series
she says getting those balanced is actually really
quite a nuanced skill and actually a westernised
Chinese five spice blend
probably oversimplifies what can be very complex
- Either way.
This is delicious to me
- Mike, you got the second highest role.
So you're up next.
You're going to have three minutes as well.
Time starts now.
You're welcome to sniff, taste.
Use your eyeballs.
There is salt in this one.
Salt is not an ingredient I'm looking for.
- That is really irritating Ebbers
Okay. Okay.
I might be okay.
Is this something like dukkah?
- This is Dukkah.
- Do you know what?
I've actually only ever bought one pot
of Dukkah because it's an excellent cause you know
I'm a fried chicken guy.
I love my texture.
Sometimes you can't always deep fry chicken
in panko breadcrumbs because the boobs and the belly
let you know that you've done that too often.
So Dukkah is a great way of getting texture
onto pan fried or grilled chicken... there's a tip!
I'm not even the chef, right?
You're a minute in. - Ebbers listen to me,
this is what we've got.
Coriander seeds, fennel, cumin seeds.
There's some nuts.
- I'm happy to take nuts.
If you know what nuts they are.
- I'm going to say almonds.
Oh, the tiny little black ones.
I know what they are.
Wait, hang on. Let me ah
they're really they're pepper.
Is it just pepper?
It's just ground black pepper is pepper. It's pepper
- Dukkah is Arabic for "to pound" and it is a spice blend.
That's pounded up and used as a condiment also
to season the number of dishes. You've got 30 seconds left.
- It's really cuminy and it's really coriandery.
And I can't taste past that. Last 10 seconds.
Cinnamon.
- Three, two, one
Aw, that is hard.
Nicely done, Mike.
So you've now got all
of the ingredients that went into that blend.
- Uhh
- Plus a toasted flatbread with olive oil and the condiment
just to dip as they often do in places like Egypt
where the spice blend originates.
And I've created a dish which got to tahini yoghourt,
some roasted veg and a sprinkling of the Dukkah
- Okay. Sesame seeds, North Africa.
I should have thought of that.
And I also got all the nuts wrong.
What's this Hazelnuts and pecans.
Oh no walnuts.
Ah, sunflower seeds, pumpkin, pumpkin seed.
- And you missed one of the C's.
You've got coriander seeds.
You've got cumin seeds.
You missed caraway seeds.
Now the thing is Egypt at the time was kind of
at the heart of a lot of the spice trades.
You're absolutely right.
In sort of thinking about where these spices have come
from and you said, Oh, sesame seeds, yeah, North Africa.
Like when you think about it, it's more obvious.
If you think about where they're based
and the history of where they've come from now
we have salt and pepper on the table, commonplace in the UK.
And whilst there is salt and pepper in that
that is an excellent condiment that just gives a new lease
of life to so many different dishes.
And it works so well. Described as warm, toasty, nutty
but brightened with fresh citrusy flavours.
And it's things like that.
Coriander seeds it's giving that citrusy notes
but the caraway and the cumin that gives you those kinds
of nutty, toasty, earthy flavours.
Now the nuts and all of the spices there, I dry toasted
in a pan so that you get that sort of toasted spice
and then straight into the grinder and do it
by hand this particular one, the nuts we actually processed
in a food processor and then combined it altogether
- This is the best day ever.
What does that mean score wise?
- Three and a half - I love your scoring.
Hey, let's be honest.
The reason I couldn't get the rest I was quite
res-, I was too busy in parting knowledge
- And you're dead right so good
as a coating to baked fish, really good
over baked eggs and kind of the shakshuka style dishes
because you add that crunch and texture
- I make shakshuka got all the time
and I've never used this for that.
I'm going to do that
- Today. We'll link
to a book that I've recently read and I absolutely love.
And it's about how spices work
where they come from, what they offer.
And it is literally the science of spice.
- I'm sad my goes over
because I'm going to have to stop eating
(upbeat joyful music)
- Right, Jay, you rolled the lowest
which means you're going third.
And in theory have the hardest
but it is potentially only the hardest
because it is a spice blend
that I'm not sure we've ever used on the channel before.
That does not mean the ingredients
in it will be unfamiliar to you.
Your time starts now.
Remember we're defining spices as kind
of parts of plants that have particularly dominant flavours.
And that does include petals, flowers,
buds, seeds, stems, bark, roots the lot.
- rose, definitely. I think? Confident, not confident.
- This particular blend is a combination of whole elements.
Finely ground elements and hand ground elements.
- Is that a fennel seed Ebbers?
Smells very floral which is where I'm getting the rose
and also I can see, see what looks like rose.
There's an earthiness to it, which I'm going to
guess is cumin. This is so hard!
Ooh, ooh, either chilli or cayenne pepper in there
- You have two minutes.
- It feels North African-ish I reckon there's
some coriander in there
- last 30 seconds.
- Earthiness, floralness, spiciness.
Where would I picture this on like a dish?
- last 10 seconds.
- is too heavy for fish.
It's got to be on meat.
- Five, four. -honestly
- Three, two, one.
- Honestly, I have no idea.
- Ahhh cardamom. That's the big flavour I can taste cardamom.
- It is one of those very very distinct floral
or citrusy heady kind
of aromas that when you know it, you can pinpoint it
but isn't always on the tip of your tongue.
Jay, what you have in front of you is Advieh.
So whilst the ingredients that go
into it should be familiar.
I'd not heard of the spice blend myself.
What literally translates to spice in Persian
from Iran influenced by the Persian empire and described
as floral musky, heady, and a sour blend of ingredients.
Five key ingredients in this one, Rose petals
you absolutely got.
Cumin, also nailed, you didn't get ginger.
That was probably the warmth
that you were finding, ground cinnamon and cardamom.
- That was a lot of heat to come from ginger.
- It's a big hit of ginger - yeah - and it is a new jar.
We've just bought the jar, which again
new spices are going to have more potency.
What I prepared for you
with this Advieh is a wonderful Persian rice pudding.
- Oh, it's very delicious.
- You're dead right though, Jay, it's also a spice blend
that is sometimes rubbed into meat or stews as well
as rice dishes, hot and cold, sweet and savoury.
Now in this instance, it needs Cardamon seeds, not pods.
So each of those pods, I had to bash in order to
get the seeds out, which I then ground up
and all the rest were pretty much already ground
ingredients. I did toast the cumin
- And then the mix is just sprinkled on top.
- I'll tell you what mate
as a whole dish all together that works really
really nicely because it is a big hit of spice
and the flavour that comes from that.
But then with the freshness of the pomegranate seeds
and the crunch that you get from that, and the pistachios
it works really nicely,
- I'm going to take very little credit for it Jay
it's a spice blend in various forms
been around for sort of 2000 years.
And it's such an integral part
to the cuisine of that part of the world.
You are at a slight disadvantage going third.
You've got the two out of five
which means you will not be in the final.
However, - I do still get my badge?
- Nope. You can take the rice pudding home.
- Right, great.
- We will see Mike and Barry in the final.
Final round. Head-to-head you and Barry
have both got the same blend.
You have three minutes to work
out how many you can identify
from this and your time starts now.
- What is that?
- Oh no. It's so Herbie
- smells, smells.
- Think I'm getting mint. Oh wow.
Wow. That tastes so amazing. Garlic granules.
Is that pepper? That is pepper.
Oh, It's so spicy.Oh
- Oh my God. It smells minty.
Salt, cardamon, and it's got coriander seeds.
I think in there as well, black pepper.
- I'm going to say ginger.
- You've had just over half your time.
- There's so many twigs and stuff.
- Lavender? No it's not lavender that's so-
that's so stupid Barry. Bay leafs, cause
I can see it on some big bits
of bay leafs in there, oregano
(sniffing) - bay leafs
- last few seconds.
- It's like celery-ish, onion granules
in that. - Fenugreek?
- Three, two, one. - cayenne
- Stop. - Just throw that one in there in case
- I'm glad you did, correct on on the cayenne.
So the question is who is going to get the badge?
Let's get you both in with all of the answers and some food.
Now, since we can't travel right now, I feel like we've
we've done a fair few miles today through the world
of spices.
I think this takes us to a country that we've never cooked
from before on the channel, a spice blend that is
universally popular in Georgia.
It's heavy on earthy and herbal flavours.
Khumeli Suneli
- Sounds like an actress
- What I've done is use a little bit of olive oil
and that spice blend to marinate some chicken thigh
and drumstick and cook those off.
And the source is Garo sauce
which is made with coriander, walnuts, chicken stock.
And again, more of that spice blend.
And you've also got a nice glass of orange wine.
So traditional Georgian wine, 8,000 years of history.
- Wow, that chicken is amazing.
So you were definitely tasting that spice blend
before it was cooked.
And you were definitely getting some
of those Woody earthy flavours. Once it's cooked out.
It is absolutely incredible.
- It's really familiar.
Yet at the same time, something completely new.
- This particular blend you have has coriander seeds
black peppercorns, Bay leaves, fenugreek leaves
garlic powder, chilli powder
dried marigold, savoury, marjoram, mint,
hyssop, and celery salt.
- orange wine.
- It's not made from oranges, but it has an orange colour.
- It's really sweet and citrusy though.
- Yes. Citrusy green fruit, a lot more tannin
and a lot more skin contact.
That is to white wine what rosé is to red.
- I like that.
- These two dishes were so easy to prepare.
Once you've got all the spices and herb
and again, as always, there's lots of different variations.
Sometimes you can literally just buy
Georgian five spice blend or five herb mix.
And it's kind of a simplified version.
Fenugreek is a really important key flavour in that.
- Oh, damn it.
- I didn't get that.
Did you get that?
- Uh. I'm nervous. Are you nervous?
We can't hold hands. - In here we are though okay
- We are brain synced.
- Obviously you didn't get the name of the
spice blend right. It was new to all of us.
However, Mike, you identified five ingredients
and Barry
you got
seven
And take the spiceology badge.
(applause)
- Out of all the badges so far.
I don't think I deserve this one
but I'm still taking it and I'm wearing it with pride.
- Well done.
- You can sew it on for now
but I might rip it back off again.
If you forget any of this and you guys at home
let us know what you thought
of those particular spice blends do use them.
If so, what in and comment down below
with any spice blends you think we should explore next time.
- Well done, Barry.
I'm really, really happy for you.
I couldn't even get Chinese five spice and
I got the spiceology badge
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- Marigold
- need gloves.
- As in part of the Daisy family, hyssop.
- You piss off
(laughter)