Arun Kapil - Fresh Spice

Ive been around spices all my life. I love them. I love their vibrancy, their huge array of aromas and flavour notes, their provenance, history, cultivation, science; the lot. And I love to cook. Cooking is my dearest passion. I believe any dish can benefit from a touch of spice just enough to bring out an accent, a nuance, not to cloud or smother. Spices add clarity encouraging tastes to sparkle on your palate. This is food alchemy; the best kind of science there is!

Id like to show you how I blend and work with spices by introducing you to a new way of cooking with them from a purely flavour and taste perspective. This books all about how to make the best use of spices in everyday cooking with a whole bunch of well laid-out recipes from snacks and main courses to sides, sauces and sweet things. It sets out the basic building blocks of spice knowledge using fresh spices, freshly ground to most brilliant effect; a celebration of their natural colours, aromas and flavours.

As a child I was in and out of the kitchen, making rock buns with my Yorkshire Mum, Pam, and spicy dishes with my Dad, Gyan. Where most children had model planes, I had spices! When I moved to London I worked in restaurants to supplement my income in the music business before finally and more recently arriving in Ireland. I came to attend the Ballymaloe Cookery School, fell in love with the country and my beautiful wife, Olive. Nurtured by this generous nation I set up my spice company, Green Saffron and began trading in whole spices direct with Indian farms, blending fresh flavours at my Irish base. Im a spice specialist, and very much a home cook.

I create recipes based on my favourite foods, never limited by genre, region or country, simply focused on making delicious food. Ive arranged the recipe chapters into food groups and at the beginning of each chapter I introduce the spices that work best with these foods. Some of the recipes may appear lengthy and a little daunting at first, but the instructions are set out in a step-by-step format. They explain exactly what to do, ensure the spotlight is on the spice and the focus clearly on flavour. So, get stuck in, have a go, enjoy your cooking and relish your food!

Spices should be fresh, vibrant and zinging with natural flavour. Capturing their essence in the food we eat has to start at the beginning, with the raw spice itself. So how do you know what to look for? Were bombarded with campaigns for organic this, free-range that, local, sustainable, fresh but theyre seldom applied to spices. They should be. Just as with wines, cheeses, coffee, teas, meat, fish and vegetables, I like to know the provenance of the spices I use, how theyre cultivated, and stored, because these things matter to the end product. Spices are parts of plants: like fruit, vegetables and grains they are harvested at certain times of year: black pepper in winter, coriander in spring, nutmeg and mace in summer. After harvesting, each spice then needs to be dried, and in some cases cured or matured, before it is ready for sale; this can take from two hours to six months, depending on the spice. In the past, spices took much longer to make their journey from the farm to our tables. Today, theres no reason why we shouldnt be able to buy farm-fresh spices and at greensaffron.com, you can theres certainly no excuse for dull, sad-looking spices that have been stored too long.

Demand the freshest, best-looking spices from the shops and suppliers you use. The easiest thing to do is simply to use your senses, checking for scent and vibrant colour. Asian shops are likely to have a good choice of fresh spices because they have a high turnover. When buying online you may be able to ask more questions about the provenance of your spices; after that its a matter of finding a supplier that you trust.

Once youre happy youve hunted down the best, stick to buying spices little and often: as you need them, rather than a bulk buy that ends up unused at the back of the cupboard. Store spices in airtight containers in a cool, dark place; dont put them in the fridge theres no need.

Most spices are best bought whole, and ground just before you use them. Freshly ground spices are more intense than the whole ones; as the surface area increases, so does volatility and flavour but the volatile oils, the compounds that give spices their aromas and flavours, are easily lost, which is why I recommend grinding your own spices to order for each recipe. Think of the difference between fresh and dried herbs, or between dusty, ready-ground black pepper and pungent freshly ground black peppercorns. Now imagine how much more vibrant the flavours of cumin, cinnamon and coriander will be if you grind them only when you need them. You can use a mortar and pestle, an electric spice mill, a small coffee grinder (preferably not the one you use for coffee) or just put the whole spices in a strong plastic bag, cover it with a tea towel and bash with a heavy pan or rolling pin until theyre ground as coarsely or finely as you want. I know this may seem like a bit of a grind at first, but you will notice the flavour difference, your spices will keep better and you will soon get in the habit and enjoy the sensations of the freshly unlocked fragrance.

The food I love revolves around pure flavour, texture and, particularly, spices. I see spices as flecks of bright, glorious colour in a world of monochrome seasoning. To me, fresh, fragrant, raw spices are everyday ingredients. I believe that everyone can cook, and everyone can cook with spices.

Spices add a wealth of beautiful, vibrant flavours; fragrant, subtle aromas. They can create smoky notes, citrus notes, menthol notes, warmth, depth and a finish that leaves the palate clean yet wanting more. Spices evolved naturally, producing volatile oils as an organic self-defence mechanism. I like to celebrate this wild element when Im blending and cooking with spices. Not opting for regulated, exactly consistent flavours, but creating a flavour for the moment. Spices are the bold ingredients of the food world: left of centre, unconventional but a positive influence, with their heart in the right place. Solo or blended, they can be used in any dish. When Im coming up with spice combinations, I see a cast of characters with different moods and emotions, I see colours, and flood my mind with flavour memories, mixing my Eastern and Western sides. So when it comes to spices, forget conventional wisdom; go with your instincts and think flavour!

To toast or not to toast?