Potatoes occupy one of the leading places in many national cuisines of the planet. And in Slavic it is even more so. It seems that it is simply impossible to do without it. And this is not surprising, because in fact the potato does not have a pronounced taste, and you can make from it from soup and mashed potatoes to dessert and bread. It contains various minerals, which are very useful.
In terms of taste, potatoes are a master of mimicry. Depending on the added spices and methods of its preparation, the most diverse flavor compositions are obtained. Sometimes it’s even difficult to say what the dish is made of.
The potato itself is not as high in calories as everyone is used to counting. The problem is rather starch. But eating it is even possible on a diet, the main thing is to correctly select the additives and seasonings for potatoes. For example, turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon are natural "fat destroyers." Dill, thyme and caraway seeds improve digestion. And garlic, onions and dried herbs kill annoying bacteria, relieve inflammation and strengthen blood vessels. In general, eating potatoes with spices is not only pleasant, but also good for health.
Boiled potatoes
When cooking peeled potato tubers from ancient times, use bay leaf, turmeric, dill and garlic. The aromas of all of the above are transferred to the tubers themselves and delight the taste buds.
If you decide to just boil the potatoes, then add two or three bay leaves to the water. Or dried stalks of dill - by the way, even its seeds will do. The aroma will be unforgettable.
Tricky housewives always add a couple of cloves of garlic to the boiled potato, which are slightly cut. This not only gives the vegetable a piquant taste, but also prevents the tubers from digesting very much. And then they are conveniently crushed into a salad or used for stuffing with chicken, mushrooms or meat.
Turmeric gives a subtle aroma. This seasoning for potatoes is used rather as a dye. After all, if you add a little spice, the potatoes will become appetizingly yellow. Mashed potatoes look especially beautiful, instead of a pale mass, a golden delicacy is obtained.
Boiled potatoes, served well with fresh dill, cilantro, parsley and basil. And you still want to pour hot young tubers with garlic or unrefined vegetable oil.
Fried and stewed potatoes
For roasted roasted potatoes, black pepper, curry and paprika are good. In general, fried or stewed potatoes are difficult to spoil. It can be flavored with almost any spice that comes to hand, and it will still work.
However, for frying and stewing it is still better to use a ready-made seasoning for potatoes, which already includes a dozen ingredients that give the vegetable salinity, piquancy, color, and aroma. It is made, as a rule, from a mixture of paprika, turmeric, curry, suneli hop, ground black pepper, allspice, coriander, garlic, dill and parsley. Many manufacturers add a glutamate flavor enhancer to potato seasoning. This makes the mixture more salty, so the vegetable does not even need to be salted when cooking.
For those who are allergic to the amplifier, and it is not particularly useful, we recommend buying mixtures in various stores where spices are sold by weight. It is both cheaper and more useful.
Rustic potatoes
These fragrant pieces of young potatoes in their skins became a real hit. So they began to bake potatoes in the west, and only then the recipe came to us. In many fast-food restaurants, Idaho potatoes are an integral part of the menu. In restaurants, potatoes prepared in this way act as a side dish and are served with meat dishes.
Idaho came from America when, in the mid-20th century, potatoes in most states became the main commercial crop.
Seasoning for potatoes in a rustic way, as it is still commonly called in Russia, includes garlic, basil, dill, parsley and green onions. All this is properly dried and ground into a dark green powder. They are greased liberally with slices and sent to the oven. Such baked potatoes with seasonings can even be an independent dish and an excellent alternative to fried and not very useful potatoes.
There are variations with paprika, then the dish turns reddish and more piquant. Ready Idaho potatoes are sprinkled with fresh herbs from the heart. In addition, baked slices are very convenient to absorb with sauces: ketchup, barbecue, sour cream, garlic or cheese.
Sweet dishes
In Russia, sweet potato dishes are not very common. But in the west, very much so. For example, Czech dumplings. In fresh potato dough they wrap fruit filling - apricots, peaches, berries, and then boil the balls and sprinkle with bread crumbs, previously fried in butter with cinnamon. It turns out very unusual and fragrant.
The most common spices for potatoes in sweet pastries are cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and vanilla. A mixture of lemon peel and vanilla usually flavors of cottage cheese and potato casseroles, fried cheesecakes with potatoes, potato donuts. Sprinkle such donuts with powdered sugar with cinnamon or vanilla sugar.
Italian flavors
Potatoes are often baked in the oven with the addition of typically Italian herbs. Oregano is used to sprinkle pizza, Provencal herbs for meat, and a pinch of marjoram gives the food a spicy flavor.
A mixture of these herbs, added to the seasoning for potatoes in the oven, allows housewives to make the menu more diverse. Potatoes are plentifully greased with olive oil and sprinkled with the above spices. And, of course, add sun-dried tomatoes, which in the oven reveal unprecedented properties. The taste and aroma are authentic and unusual, because in Russian cuisine these herbs are unpopular, if only because they do not grow here, and the influence of Italy on the domestic gastronomic culture is negligible.
DIY seasonings
In fact, creating seasonings yourself is much more fun and profitable. Finely chop the dill, basil, parsley, cilantro, paprika and all this is completely dry to dry.
For the more lazy, there are shops where fragrant spices are sold by weight. You can buy separately all kinds of ingredients and independently combine them in all new mixes to your taste.