Jeffrey Saad - Jeffrey Saads Global Kitchen: Recipes Without Borders

L ong before I was a Next Food Network Star, I was a food nut and a heat-loving spice junkie. As a boy, I experimented with whatever I could find in our pantry and cook in our toaster oven. I fried, grilled, and melted anything I could get my hands on. (Epiphany #1: A cheese sandwich is infinitely better when its grilled.)

Because I was raisedand generously fedby my American mother and my Lebanese grandmother, my culinary adventures always involved a curiosity about tastes of the world. I developed a passion for vibrant international flavors. Heat and spice were a vehicle for this, and the endorphin rush I got from them corresponded to my desire for intensity in life and food. In many ways I was a typical boy who loved to run and play hard, but in the ballpark I was often more interested in the dog and the bun than the ball and the bat.

By the time I was thirteen, flipping burgers in a local diner, I knew food would be my lifes vocation. Since then, Ive fed friends, family, and communities; opened restaurants; and traveled around the globe in search of the spices and herbs that define the most flavorful cuisines.

In this book, I offer the recipes Ive created along the waydelicious interpretations of regional dishes inspired by my journeys, my obsessions, and my enduring love of food and spices. Many people equate spices with spiciness, but spices are more about flavorhuge flavor. These supernovas of aroma and piquancy allow us to relish the world in a single bite.

Contrary to popular belief, you dont need fifty different spices and a master chef degree to use them. It takes only a few to evoke the worldsimply. The trio of earthy cumin, citrusy coriander, and mustardy turmeric speaks Indian. Add cumin to brilliant red achiote, throw in some trusty Mexican oregano, a little lime zest, and bright cilantro, and your food will habla espaol to perfection. And if you combine caraway with cumin and coriander, the exotic flavor of North Africa will fill your palate.

As I explore on my television show,United Tastes of America, this nation will always have its regional distinctions (youll always find killer gumbo in the South), but increasingly we all cook and eat in a global kitchen, and spices are an agent of change that brings those flavors to life. Each ingredient has its personalityfrom licorice-scented fennel to curiously sweet aniseand each has its partners. Knowing what spices to use is the key to importing world flavors into your own kitchen with inspired simplicity. My goal is to apply gourmet cooking principles to foods that speak an international language, bridge cultures, and reflect the worlds palates. This is what youll learn to do in these pagesto cook without bordersin ways that are easy to prepare and enjoy.

Every time you use a spice, you partake in a culinary and cultural history that goes back thousands of years. The quest for spices and other precious commodities kick-started the Age of Discovery back in the days of Columbus. Spice zealots explored uncharted seas and mapped the globe in the name of saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepperthats how valuable those tiny gems of flavor were. Myths and wives tales were also linked to nearly every one of themput cumin in your lovers pocket and she would stay faithful forever; use dill to dispel bad weather and witches spells. For thousands of years spices were used for their hugely potent medicinal and healing properties, and this continues today. Seasonings were added to many foods out of necessity. Techniques like pickling, salt-curing, drying, and smoking are no longer required to preserve food, but the unique flavors they impart are still some of our favorites.

A well-stocked pantry is your base of operations. Whether your kitchen is the size of Nebraska or a tiny kitchenette with one burner, you can make fantastic flavorful meals with just a few essentials and key preparations.

1 | Be Organized. Before you start cooking, lay out all of your ingredients on your counter in the order youll use them. If chopped shallots and garlic go into the pan first, put them first in line. If your recipe calls for olive oil and butter, put that on the counter. Theres nothing worse than running to the fridge for an ingredient and having your onions burn when theyre supposed to just caramelize. A bit of prep on the front end goes a long way in helping you save time, cook with ease, and enjoy the process.

2 | Trust your Tongue and Your Nose. Cooking is a sensual process. Take a moment to be present with your food and really educate your palate. The tongue knows sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, and your nose can pick up aromas. Take a bite with your eyes closed and try to identify what youre tasting. In addition to recipe guidelines, these sensory tools will help you achieve balance, which is the foundation of great flavor.

3 | Know Thy Salt. Used in the right amount, salt brings out the best flavor of each ingredient. But all salts are not the same. Kosher salt has a clean flavor and crystals big enough to see and feel between your fingers. Use it as often as you can. Snowflake the salt evenly over your meat, fish, and veggies and taste the natural flavors of your dish jump forward. Sea salt, with its deep mineral quality, is great for finishing off food before its served.

4 | Manage the Heat When Sauting, Roasting, Baking, Broiling, and Braising. Understand when to cook over low heat versus high heat. Using continuous high heat can burn food on the outside before its insides cook through. (Exception: Steak. See #5 below.)

Sauting involves quick-and-easy high heat on the stove top, resulting in great color on chops, steaks, fillets, and thinner cuts of protein, as well as vegetables.