Tamarind and juniper don’t really spice things up as much as they provide freshness and tang and are certainly spices worth keeping in the kitchen – the tamarindus indica is a tropical tree that grows up to 20 meters and may remain evergreen in dry conditions. The leaves consist of 10–40 leaflets, the flowers are usually yellow and the fruit is a brown, pod like legume that contains a soft, sour pulp and many hard coated seeds. The tree originated in Africa and Madagascar and is often, mistakenly, believed to have originated in India because it was introduced there long ago, it thrives and is prolifically used in the food.

The Persians first bought the spice from India  and they first named it the Indian date (tamar hindi). By the 4^th century BC the Egyptians and the Greeks already knew the fruit.  Today it thrives in the East Indies and the Pacific islands. The word tamarind head (lugimlee) dates back to the days that the British were in Goa, India – they were afraid to enter the Indian suburbs and in order to protect themselves from harassment by the locals, they would stick a tamarind pod in one ear! As hysterically funny as it may have looked, it protected them because the locals believed that the fresh pods were inhabited by evil, scheming demons. In 1797 one of the first tamarind trees was planted in Hawaii but it had been introduced into tropical America much earlier than that. Today it is commercially grown in Mexico and a few other Central American countries and in India the huge tamarind orchards produce about 275,500

tons annually. Today the pulp is aggresively marketed in northern Malaysia where it’s very popular – increasingly so in the west but in the countries where it is cultivated more so.  The pulp of a green young fruit is seriously sour and quite acidic and can’t be eaten as it is – it’s usually used as a flavouring for many savoury dishes. Once the fruit is ripe, it can be eaten as is because it has a sweet sour taste – normally its used to make fresh juices, turned into snacks or as a basis for desserts. In Thailand a variety is grown that isn’t sour at all and specifically cultivated to be eaten as a fresh fruit – preserved in sugar and spiced with chilli, it’s turned into rather interesting sweets. Whilst it’s found mainly in Indian regional food (Andra Pradesh  particularly), the spice is used in Asian, Latin American and South African dishes. Sometimes the young pods are pickled and eaten as a sambal.

TAMARIND AROUND THE WORLD

• Africa – on this continent, the tamarind has enormous potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable farming – nothing is done about it.
• Burma – the younger leaves and the flower buds are eaten as a vegetable or in a popular Burmese salad made with the leaves, crushed peanuts, boiled beans and crisply fried onions.
• Egypt – here a sour tamarind drink is enjoyed in summer.
• Guadeloupe – the tree is called a Tamarinier and jam and syrup is made with the fruit.
• Madagascar – the ring-tailed lemurs consume both fruit and leaves and it provides half of their food resources.
• Mexico – tamarind is eaten dried, salted or candied as snacks (eg. pulparindo), frozen in fruit ices or as a drink known, locally as agua fresca  (refreshing water) or agua de tamrindo.
• Middle East – turned into a lemonade type drink, similar or the same as the one enjoyed in Egypt.
• Northern Nigeria – kunun tsamiya (a traditional porridge known as pap) is made from Millet and tamarind and eaten with bean cake for breakfast
• Philippines – here it is used to make sweets and the leaves to make the famous sinigang soup.
• Singapore and Malaya (and even far-afield countries like South Africa) use tamarind to make the gravy for asam fish.
• Thailand - pad thai, loved all over the world, contains tamarind to provide the sour sauce – often with lime and fish sauce and fried fish in central Thailand is served with a sweet sour sauce made from tamarind.

CRAYFISH CAKES AND TAMARIND SAUCE

Ingredients

• 400 g prepared crayfish (you can use the meat from the bodies – it’s not necessary to use only the tails – in fact, the meat from the legs and the body is really great here)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 lemons, grated zest only
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 small garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 level tsp red (finely) ground chillies
• 1 heaped tsp garam masala
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 25 g fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 4 tbsp light extra virgin olive oil
• 2½ tbsp home made mayonnaise
• 1 large free-range egg
• 10 thick slices of white bread, turned into crumbs in a food processor
• Sea salt to taste

Tamarind sauce

• 100 g mayonnaise
• 50ml whipping cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste – you could add more if you prefer it a little more sour
• 1 handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method

• Preheat the oven to 170 C.
• Fry the onions in some of the oil until translucent and then add the ginger and the garlic and stir-fry for about 40 seconds after which you mix in the coriander, the ground red chillies, the salt and garam masala and cook for about 20 seconds before taking it off the heat.
• Put the mixture into a large bowl and add the lemon juice, the fresh coriander leaves, the lobster,  the egg and the mayonnaise to the onion mixture in the bowl, mix this all very well and then add the breadcrumbs.
• Divide it into 8 equal portions and shape into cakes.
• Fry the lobster cakes in batches over a medium heat for about 2 – 3 minutes  over medium heat until golden brown (shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes a side) -  add a little more oil as it is needed (and if it’s need).
• Put the cooked cakes in the oven to stay warm whilst cooking the others.
• To make the tamarind mayonnaise, put all the tamarind mayonnaise ingredients into a bowl and whisk together briskly, season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with tamarind sauce and salad.

JUNIPER

Junipers  (belonging to the Cupressaceae family) are coniferous shrubs that grow up to about 1,8 metres and are found all over the northern hemisphere – from the Arctic, via tropical Africa down to the mountains of Central America.  There are between 50 and 67 known species and grows in Europe and Asia today – the origin in uncertain. The berries are used for the production of the volatile oil which is a prime ingredient in Gin. The name is derived from the Dutch word genever, which was originally derived from the Latin word juniperus and it is one of the few spices that grow in cold a climatic region. Our early, prehistoric ancestors lived in or near juniper forests which provided them with food, fuel, and wood for shelter or utensils (juniper tree below).

A papyrus from ancient Egypt and dated around 1550 BC records the use of Juniper as an ingredient for a medicine to treat tape worms and it is probably that it is because of their medicinal properties that they were used in food preparation.  It’s use is documented in the Bible and the Greeks, the Romans and early Arab physicians used it for medicinal purposes. Later, during the Roman Empire, the dried juniper berries were often used instead of pepper (which was not only scarce but also expensive )and they were used to flavour sheep and game and found in numerous sauces and by the Renaissance (around the 14th Century) the use increased substantially,  probably to counteract the rich, over-spiced foods that were popular at the time. During this same period it was used to cure snake bite, plague and pestilence and the ever hygienic Swiss burnt the berries with their heating fuel during the winter months to sanitize stale air and the foliage as a strewing herb for the same purposes.  Because it was believed that the berries aid digestion, it was turned into Gin by a Dutch pharmacist in the early 1500’s and which was distilled in Holland for the first time in the 17^th century. The main commercial producers today are Hungary, southern Europe, especially Italy. The berries are hard and pale green at first and then ripen to become blue-black, fleshy and contain three sticky, hard, brown seeds – they take about 2 – 3 years to ripen. When they are dried, the berries remain soft but if broken open one will find the pith surrounding the seeds is easily crumbled.  They are at their best when they are still moist and soft can be squashed fairly easily between the fingers – it’s possible to make a purée from the berries or to extract the flavour and aroma by macerating them in hot water. However, because the whole berry is edible it makes more sense to use the whole fruit, split or crushed. The taste is pretty strong so use about 1 one heaped teaspoon of crushed berries for a 4 person portion.

Juniper berries  play an important role in ‘freshening’ the flavour of the food – in other words, over and above as flavouring a dish, it cuts the gaminess of game, reduces the fatty effect of duck and pork and perks up a bread stuffing. Juniper is really good with strong meats, like game. Wild boar, rabbit, venison, quail, pheasant,  pork chops, roasted leg of lamb and veal are all improved with a little juniper – the berries combine extremely well with other herbs and spices, especially thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram, bay leaves and allspice and are really delicious when used with onions and garlic. Wine marinades and sauces can benefit from a hint of juniper and it is often used when smoking meat. The Swedish use the berries in pâtés and sauces, goulash and sauerkraut more often than not include juniper berries in their flavouring and it most pickled meats feature the berries. The use of the berries in dishes made with alcohol is legendary as it is in apple tarts and pickled peaches and prunes.

The berries are thought to have many health and medicinal properties:

• Native American Indians used juniper berries as a strong urinary tract disinfectant and as a female contraceptive.
• The 17th Century herbalist physician Nicholas Culpeper recommended the ripened berries for conditions such as asthma and sciatica, as well as to speed childbirth
• Western tribes combined the berries of juniperus communis with Berberis root bark in a herbal tea to treat diabetes.
• It’s almost winter in the north and this recipe, first made by the world famous Silvana Rowe and adapted a tad,  is simply too good to exclude.

VENISON IN RED WINE AND JUNIPER BERRIES AND SOUR CHERRY SAUCE.

Ingredients

• 6 x 150 g venison medallions, cut from the loin
• 200 ml red wine
• 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4-6 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 8 white peppercorns
• 10 juniper berries, crushed
• 2 tbsp light extra virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sauce

• 30 g butter
• 300 g fresh or frozen cherries, stones removed
• 2 tsp redcurrant jelly
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
• 110ml good home made chicken stock

Method

• Place all of the venison ingredients, except the olive oil, the salt and freshly ground black pepper, into a large bowl, mix well with your hands and place into the fridge to marinate overnight or use a large Ziploc bag and put everything into it, see that all the meat is covered with the marinade, remove the air and place in the fridge overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 200C.
• Remove the venison from the marinade and pat the meat dry with kitchen paper but reserve the marinade.
• Brush the venison with one tablespoon of the olive oil and now season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
• Heat an ovenproof frying pan until it’s hot, add the rest of the oil and then sear the venison for 1 – 2 minutes on each side.
• Transfer the whole pan into the oven to roast for 10-12 minutes for rare and, of course, longer if you prefer it medium or well done.
• As soon as the venison is cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to rest in a warm place.
• Strain out only the vegetable bits from the marinade, reserving the liquid and add this, with the butter, to the pan in which the venison was seared  and  fry for 4-5 minutes.
• Then add the cherries, the redcurrant jelly, the thyme, the stock and half of the marinade liquid, bringing it to the boil and then cook to reduce the liquid by half – now this pass through a fine sieve into a bowl.
• Remove the cherries from the sieve and return them to the strained liquid.
• To serve, slice each venison medallion into three pieces and place three slices on top of homemade pumpkin mash (recipe below)

PUMPKIN MASH

Ingredients

• 600 g floury potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 600 g  butternut squash, peeled and chopped
• 5 tbsp butter
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

• Place the potatoes and pumpkin into a large pot over a high heat and cover with suitably salted water, bringing to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
• Drain the potatoes and the butternut squash, return to the pot that is still on the heat for a minute, to get rid of all the extra moisture – this is actually quite necessary for any mash because the water interferes with the texture.
• Add the butter and mash the potato and butternut squash together until quite smooth and fluffy.
• Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.