Posted on 12/06/2023 12:11:34 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Tamarind might sound — and taste — unfamiliar to many, but one influential company known for its spices and seasonings predicts it’s going to have a breakthrough year.
McCormick & Company, the top-selling maker of seasonings and spices, has named tamarind as its 2024 “Flavor of the Year.” The report, released yearly since 2000, identifies trending spices and seasonings about to hit restaurant menus or in cookbooks and perhaps become the new pumpkin spice.
Tamarind comes from a tree that commonly grows throughout Africa, Mexico, Asia and India, and produces pods containing the acidic and tangy-sweet flavor that can be added to a number of foods such potato chips, ice cream and even in coffee.
McCormick deploys a team of about 50 people, such as chefs and food technologists, around the world to seek out trending flavors, with Executive Chef Hadar Cohen Aviram taking charge to select the flavor of the year.
Tamarind was chosen because its flavor profile “brings out all of what we saw for this year,” noting three trends it has identified like the growth of tangy and sour foods; dishes McCormick calls “thoughtfully borrowed,” which are modernized versions of regional foods, and “new-stalgic” foods that are over-the-top takes of childhood favorites (think: mozzarella sticks with caviar.)
“All of those trends that we saw this year, we see them projected through this one flavor,” she said.
Choosing tamarind was a 9-month process using McCormick’s team, which visits various countries from South Africa to China and even Poland, examines restaurant menus, interviews experts and uses data “to see what’s going on in these places,” Aviram said.
“We’re not inventing anything new,” she added, noting that tamarind has been around for thousands of years and has been a popular ingredient for a while on menus in Asia and Mexico.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel3000.com ...
*BONK*
“Choosing tamarind was a 9-month process using McCormick’s team, which visits various countries from South Africa to China and even Poland,”
...sounds like a pretty cool job to me!
since i cook a lot of thai nfood—well tamarind is usually called for made some papaya salad the other night with some 20 or so tasty thai chilis yum going toi make some sort if green curry with chicken for tonight.
From Wiki:
The tamarind tree produces brown, pod-like fruits that contain a sweet, tangy pulp, which is used in cuisines around the world. The pulp is also used in traditional medicine and as a METAL POLISH........
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarind
Love it in Indian curry.
It's also a floor wax.
Tamarind tastes like golden raisins
I bet it’s big in Moslem countries. Mohammad approved?
I love the Tamarind Jarritos.
L
It can be used a an oil substitute good for 3000 miles, sex lube, or makes an excellent waterproof coating on mega yachts.
I see it for sale here at Big Lots and other places. Will have to try it..............
Sinigang na baboy!!!
If Biden is re-elected, most people will be lucky to afford salt.
I’ll skip until Indians go home. Not going to support their culture here in the US.
LOL! I was thinking of posting something like that while reading the article, but I see you beat us all to it! That's the privilege of being the original poster.
Tamarind is very nice. It should be interesting to see how this trends. As an aside, my mom always used McCormick’s Pumpkin Pie spice. I was pretty much brought up on McCormick spices.
If you love Asian food, you know and love tamarind. I do.
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