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a pinch of...
Winter 2013
Sp i c e News a n d Vi ews
Embolden your menu: Bold flavors are hot!
Remember the days when Buffalo sauce was an
East Coast thing, relegated to chicken wings?
Or when the Sriracha sauce rooster wasn’t
crowing at every table? Who even knew how
to pronounce “chipotle” back in the day?
Fast forward to today, when hot sauces, and bold
flavors in general, are everywhere, and patrons
keep clamoring for more. Hot and spicy Buffalo
sauce is hotter than ever, and the flavor has winged
its way beyond chicken and into dips, soups, wraps, and pizzas. Sriracha or “rooster” sauce, with
its Thai origins and eye-opening blend of garlic, jalapeños, vinegar, sugar, and salt, has become as
ubiquitous tableside as ketchup. And smoky chipotle sauce is everywhere, too—as are sauces
featuring other kinds of peppers such as habaneros, Scotch bonnets, ghost peppers, and more.
According to Technomic, there’s been a 5.2% increase in “spicy” flavor mentions at chain and
independent restaurants from 2012 to 2013. And in a study by Datassentials, spicy descriptors
like Thai chile, roasted poblano, chipotle, and habanero grew in popularity from 2008 – 2012.
So get creative with bold flavors. Mix up your own batch of hot sauce using Durkee spices.
From the Spice Rack: Chile Pepper
Chile peppers of all kinds have been a mainstay ingredient in the
Americas for thousands of years—and they continue to be used fresh,
dried, roasted, and smoked. The chipotle is actually a ripe jalapeño
(jalapeños are typically picked when still green), left on the plant until
they turn red and begin to lose moisture. These red jalapeños are
then further dried over smoke, resulting in their signature hot, sweet,
and smoky flavor. Most chipotles are grown and smoked in Mexico,
although more and more they are being produced in the American
Southwest as well. They can be used whole, canned, or ground.
More about chipotles:
• The name comes from the Aztec word
chilpoctli, meaning “smoked chile.”
• It takes approximately 10 pounds of red
jalapenos to make one pound of chipotles.
• Around 30% of the jalapeños grown in
Mexico are smoke-dried into chipotles.
• Chipotles contain vitamins A, C, and B
plus iron, thiamine, niacin, magnesium,
and riboflavin.
• The smoking of jalapeños predates
the Aztecs.
• Most of the chipotles found in the U.S.
are of the morita variety; morita is Spanish
for “mulberry.”
• Chipotle is most typically used in salsas,
barbecue sauces, soups, chili, stews, and
marinades.
Roberto Roman
Corporate
E xecutive Chef
chef’s
Corner
Old Favorites. Bold Flavors.
Comfort foods help us keep warm by
bringing back childhood memories.
We welcome homemade dishes like
casseroles, stews, moles, even pies
that are traditionally seasoned with
strong spices like cinnamon, nutmeg
and black pepper.
Being a chef with a multicultural
background, I love integrating bold
spices into my favorite childhood
dishes. I simply take a traditional
recipe and incorporate robust flavors
to create something new. For instance,
I’ve combined barbecue spice,
chipotle powder and brown sugar to
make candy bacon. Be daring with
your spices and you too can go from
old to bold.
Stay warm and Provecho!
Featured Recipe
social
spotlight
Korean BBQ Steaks
With Bok Choy and Rice Cakes*
Makes 8 Servings
Sauce:
Sambal chili paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 ⁄3 cup
Rice wine vinegar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tbsp.
Soy sauce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tbsp.
Fish sauce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Tbsp.
Granulated onion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 tsp.
Granulated garlic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 tsp.
Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 tsp.
Bok Choy:
Sesame oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Red onion, sliced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thai red chilies OR serranos,
seeded and sliced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Garlic cloves, sliced . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Baby bok choy, chopped . . . . . . . . . . .
Soy Sauce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Black sesame seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ground white pepper . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Heard it through the Vine
If a picture’s worth a thousand
words, it’s time to take a look at
the Twitter-owned app called Vine.
1 Tbsp.
1 each
Vine enables its users to create,
and then post, six-second video
clips that can then be displayed on
social networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter. Vine is
quite new — it was launched in
January of 2013—and in just a
short time has become the
most-used video-sharing app in
the world, with at least 40 million
registered users.
3 each
4 each
8 each
¼ cup
2 Tbsp.
1 tsp.
Steaks:
Rib eye steaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 each
Salt and pepper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to taste
Directions:
Combine all BBQ sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Keep warm until service.
To make Bok Choy, sauté onion for 1 minute in the sesame oil. Add the chilies and garlic and sauté
for another minute. Add the bok choy tossing once or twice. Add the soy sauce, black sesame seed
and ground white pepper and cook for 4 minutes or until tender but still a little crispy.
Season steaks with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill to desired doneness.
Plate with Korean BBQ Sauce, Bok Choy, and two Rice Cakes.
*For Rice Cake recipe, go to www.durkeefoodservice.com
flavor trends:
Meat + Fire = Barbeque Love:
Where there’s smoke, there’s a happy diner
Humans have been cooking meat over fire
since prehistoric times. Today this most basic
of cooking methods has evolved into an art
form we call barbecue – a flavor bonanza and
a very hot trend with variations that
represent many world cuisines.
Barbecue is extremely versatile, allowing for
a multitude of sauces and flavor profiles to
shine through and for regional interpretations
to cross boundaries. In the U.S. we have
Carolina-, Texas-, Kansas City-, and
Memphis-style barbecue. Whiskey-infused
blends, highly spicy bold versions, and sauces
reflecting world flavors like Korean and
Caribbean are replacing “basic” tomatobased barbecue sauces. And replacing typical
barbecue proteins are fish, sausage, lamb,
turkey, and more.
Regional and ethnic barbecue variations take
patrons from sea to shining sea and around
the globe. Embrace the smoky goodness and
make sure there’s barbecue on your menu.
Vine can be a great tool for
promoting any operation —an
easy-to-implement and fast (six
seconds!) way to market your
menu, a limited-time offering, or
special techniques back of house
that you’re particularly proud of.
Don’t be afraid to make a video
that’s as entertaining as it is
informative to ensure that you get
plenty of views that users might
pass along to even more people.
For best results, try to ensure the
lighting is good (and makes your
restaurant and/or food look their
best)—bright, but warm, lighting
works well. And try to keep a
steady hand. Even six seconds
will seem like a long time if your
video isn’t well done.
Lights, camera, action—help your
business climb with Vine.