Cooking with essential oils
Essential oils in cooking ? A Trend and a Tradition ! | Essential Oils have made a remarkable breakthrough in cooking, even with the greatest Head Chefs, because they bring their particular flavouring to dishes at the same time as their properties (aid with digestion – refreshing – invigorating), because they offer a very wide range of aromas, because they are powerful and often a drop suffices (and are thus economical ...) and because they can be kept for a very long time. |
They are easy to use with meat, fish, in sauces, desserts ... | The essential oils must first of all be diluted. A host of possibilities are always on hand : a vegetable oil, a cream, another fatty substance, yoghurt, an egg, honey ... Then the mixture has to be incorporated into the dish in a uniform way. If the dish being made is going to be served hot, the diluted essential oils should be added where possible after cooking. |
Why not trying aromatization ? | Think about essential oils when you are preparing your cakes, chocolate, rice, salad sauce oils, long drinks, sorbets and ice-creans... |
Some very simple hints |
- Ensure that the essential oils that you are going to use are of a very high quality; they should not have been cut or denatured.
- Do not exceed the doses as their aromas are extremely powerful. For example, for citrus fruit (lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime, bergamot ...) 10 to 20 drops are sufficient for 1 kg/1 litre of substance (cream, table oil ...). For basil, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, rosemary, thyme, savory, cumin, cardamom, caraway, mint, lavender 1 to 5 drops are amply sufficient for 1 kg/1 litre of substance (cream, table oil ...).
- Always remember to dilute them beforehand, even if you have acquired a certain experience.
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And to become a dab hand, here are a few simple recipes from the Head Chef from Lyon Xavier Jodart | Orange flavoured EGG CUSTARD – 6/8 people
Ingredients: 8 egg yolks, 200 g of caster sugar, 1 l of milk, 4 drops of sweet orange essential oil
Recipe : Mix the sugar and egg yolks. Whip together until the whole mixture becomes white in colour. Boil the milk and add to the sugar and egg mixture. Put back on the heat without bringing to the boil. Stir while heating. Leave to go cold and mix in 4 drops of PURISSIMES® sweet orange essential oil.
Orange flavoured CARROT PUREE – 6/8 people
Ingredients: 2 kg of carrots, 0.5 l of liquid cream, 125 g of butter, 4 drops of sweet orange essential oil
Recipe : Peel the carrots and cut them into cubes. Steam cook them. Mix them. Drain them overnight under a pressure to lose their water. Mix the liquid cream with the butter. Bring to the boil. Add this mixture to the carrot puree which has been aromatised with PURISSIMES® sweet orange essential oil beforehand. Add salt and pepper. You can also easily replace the carrots by sweet potatoes. |
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