Secret Cooking Ingredients

[SpringJim]

After years of making chili we had a local chili eating contest....a friend brought a dark chili that had cocoa powder in it. I've put some in my chili ever since. (it's a missing ingredient on the JBeans recipe too) chocolate is a very interesting flavor ....might mix well with the chili pepper ala Chocolat!

Anyone have some more secrets to share?

[Ken524]

Sounds like a Mexican Mole sauce.

[DrakeRemoray]

I like anchovies in lots of things...tomato sauces, soups, gives a salty richness.

I swear by chocolate chips in my banana bread (ok maybe not secret, but it sure improves the mix.

Must put a pork rib or two in my basic pasta sauce.

My Mom says celery seeds are the key to potato salad.

[brokencookie]

Cinnamon in the spagetti sauce. My wife thought I was nuts until she tasted it.

Bruce

[james]

Originally Posted by DrakeRemoray

I like anchovies in lots of things...tomato sauces, soups, gives a salty richness.

Definitely. I read in a cookbook somewhere that you can try to add enough anchovies just to where they enhance the taste, but no one knows they are there. :-)

Fish sauce. It's the same idea.

Do you play name those ingredients with the kids? Very fun. Make something pretty wild and see how many different things they can ID.

James

[gjbingham]

Try the tubes of anchovie paste available at your local grocer. It is goes absolutely unnoticed in the taste, but adds and undescribeable something. It is a standard in Italian cooking from what I've seen, read, and heard.

[SpringJim]

Yeah, we're back to the Roman Garum fish sauces and worscheshire with the anchovies....interesting

Cinnamon sounds interesting too.

An old chef told me to add sweet to my tomato sauces because they can be "sour" so I often add honey to spaghetti sauces.

[Frances]

Bit of a contradiction here, but I always add some balsamic vinegar to my bolognaise sauces - this was after I made a delicious sauce out of left over tomato salad...

[gjbingham]

Good idea - honey instead of sugar. I'll try that one!

[asudavew]

Originally Posted by SpringJim

An old chef told me to add sweet to my tomato sauces because they can be "sour" so I often add honey to spaghetti sauces.

I heard somewhere....
that a great addition to spaghetti sauce is grape jelly....

Ancient Italian secret?

It would seem to make some sense though.