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by Kate Heyhoe
Western cooks tend to use lemon juice when they want an acidic flavor, but a number of other ingredients can also punch up a dish with tartness. Ground sumac, a dark red berry, adds a special tang and is used in the Middle East. Various fruits, some citrus and some not, also deliver a tart flavor. Throughout the Pacific Rim and the tropics, a very unusual source of tartness comes from the tamarind tree.
The tamarind is an evergreen tree native to Africa, but it spread to India in prehistoric times and then to Southeast Asia. It is also found in India, Mexico and South America. Tamarind is an ingredient in Worcestershire Sauce and in many chutneys.
The brown tamarind pods, resembling fat broad bean pods, contain small seeds (about a dozen per pod) and a very tart pulp, which is used as an acid or souring agent in cooking, in much the same way we use lemons. The pods start out green then become brown and brittle when ripe. The pods are opened to dry in the sun, and the sticky dark maroon-brown pulp and shiny seeds are scraped out, sometimes mixed with salt, and pressed into pliant bricks. The seeds must be strained out before the pulp can be used.
Tamarind is essential to Malaysian and Indonesian cooking, giving foods a sweet-tart flavor, and as mentioned, it appears throughout various other cuisines. You can use tamarind in grilling glazes, barbecue sauces, and curries.
In some countries, the pulp is turned into syrup. By adding sugar and water, or carbonated water, it makes refreshing drinks. In Thailand the pulp is dusted with sugar and eaten as a candy. Vietnamese New Year's Candy, mut me, is a chewy bit of preserved tamarind pulp rolled in sugar and salt.
Tamarind image reprinted by permission from Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food.
Recipe: Preparing Tamarind Pulp
1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp without seeds
OR 1-1/2 tablespoons tamarind pulp (with seeds)
Soak the pulp in the water until soft, from 5 to 15 minutes. With your fingers, rub the pulp until dissolved and the seeds are free of pulp. Strain and discard the seeds and fibers; use the prepared tamarind as directed in recipes.
Kate Heyhoe
The Global Gourmet
Crispy Crab and Sweet Potato Cakes
with Tamarind Dipping Sauce
Roasted Leg of Lamb with Mint Chutney
Sosaties
(South African Grilled Meat with Apricots)
Kate's Global Kitchen for June, 2000:
Tropical Fruits Month continues with:
06/03/00—Pineapple Express
06/10/00—Coconut Crazy
06/17/00—Tangy Tamarind
06/24/00—Mango Madness
Current Kate's Global Kitchen
Kate's Global Kitchen Archive
This page created June 2000

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