Spices, Salt and Vinegar

Some plants with intensive and distinctive flavors and aromas are used dried or in fresh form as seasonings or spices. Table 22.1 lists the most important spice plants together with the part of the plant used for seasoning. 

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There are two kinds of preservatives, class I and class II. Class I preservatives include common salt, sugar, glucose/sucrose syrup, acetic acid or vinegar, spices, and wood smoke. The addition of these to foods is not restricted. Class II preservatives include benzoic acid and its salts, nitrates and nitrites, sorbic acid and its salts, and sulfurous acid and its salts. Their addition to food is, however, restricted. 

Mustard is marketed in three forms, ie, as a seed as a prepared blend of ground mustard seed, vinegar, salt, sugar, and other spices and as powdered dry mustard, also known as ground mustard or mustard flour. The seeds of the white or yellow mustard add pungency to any preparation, and that of the black mustard is required for aroma. Mustard is the largest volume spice imported into the United States and its use covers almost every flavor category except dessert items. 

Mayonnaise and ice cream both have a yield stress, which is produced in these foods by droplets and air bubbles that must deform if flow is to occur. Another food with a yield stress is mustard, it is neither an emulsion nor a foam, but a suspension or paste, containing particles 30 pm or so in diameter that attract each other and form a weak network (Gerhards and Schubert 1993). Mustard is made by simply grinding mustard seeds, together with vinegar, salt, spices, and water, into a mash. The grinding releases oils that impart to mustard its distinctive flavor. The rheology of particulate suspensions is covered in Chapter 6. 

The term "food additives" can make people nervous, because it seems to indicate that our food contains artificial, perhaps dangerous ingredients. The reality is that food additives have been used for centuries. For instance, people in olden times used salt as an additive to preserve meat and fish. They added herbs and spices to improve the flavor of some foods, fruit was preserved using sugar, and vegetables were pickled in vinegar so they could be eaten safely all year long. 

People have added substances to food since the earliest times. Ancient civilizations used salt to preserve meats, added herbs and spices to improve flavor, and preserved fruit with sugar and vegetables with vinegar. In recent times, the move from rural life to urban life has required that food be preserved, packaged, and shipped-sometimes thousands of miles-before it is consumed. Consequently, the number of food additives has increased. Current food additives are used to preserve food, enhance its flavor or color, and maintain its appearance or physical characteristics. 

Condiments, herbs, nuts, olives, pearrtil butter, ptekies, popcpm, relishes, salt, spices, vinegar, end white sauce. Fany broths, extracts, gravies, sauces, and soups and yeast. ... 

Most prepared mustard is made by mixing the dried mustard powder with salt, vinegar, and other spices. Also, mustard is utilized in other products such as mayonnaise, salad dressings, and pickles. 

Ftovorinas and senaonings Salt Most all. such as pepper. horseradiA, catsup, mustatd, vinegar, spices. 

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