"tamarind" news and stories

Let us pause now to reflect upon Jeffrey Steingarten, award-winning writer, fearless gastronomist and utterly irascible judge of "The Next Iron Chef." Every cooking competition show needs its Simon Cowell, after all, a grumpy, hard-to-please, perpetually underwhelmed quipster whose general lack of enthusiasm makes for great, nasty sound bites. But Steingarten is in another class entirely: He's so disaffected, it's hard to tell if he's got a pulse half of the time.

Week after week, Steingarten regards the Iron Chef hopefuls in the same way a crusty professor might deal with a snot-nosed student who happened to stop by his office outside of office hours. The man may certainly have his cheerful side, but by now we've gotten the feeling that every week, the "TNIC" editors decide to save up and splice together all of his best "You got me out of bed for this?" looks, and parse them out over the course of the last 15 minutes of each show.

When in doubt, they zoom in on one of his particularly befuddled stares -- no doubt there are plenty to choose from -- and try to give it some sort of significance, as if the man can't believe what he's hearing. You imagine that a Steingarten comment like "my flan is a little curdled" was probably delivered politely, gingerly to chef Jose Garces -- but when the tribal drums of failure are added to the soundtrack, man, does it take on a sting.

Like many gourmands with a sweet tooth I'm strangely drawn toward candies that mix salt and sugar. I assume the reason that some crave what at first seems like an odd combination is because both components satisfy primal nutritional urges that are hardwired into our brains.

When it comes to candy bars, the pinnacle of salty-sweet perfection is Payday. I'm not sure why, but as a kid, I never tried one. Looking back it seems especially strange, since I loved eating Lawry's seasoned salt out of hand. These days Payday's amalgam of salty peanuts mashed together with caramel is just the thing to satisfiy my sweet and savory teeth. In the same vein, though perhaps a bit more intense, is Pulparindo. This chewy Mexican confection is not for everyone, but it hits my palate in all the right places, combining sour tamarind with sugar and chile pepper.

But when I'm feeling especially decadent and craving something salty and sweet I forgo candy bars. Instead, I whip up some chocolate bruschetta. Simply cut small pieces of bread as you would for bruschetta; top each with a small chunk of good dark chocolate; and toast until the chocolate melts, but hasn't lost its shape. Take them out, and finish each with a sprinkle of fleur de sel. In case anyone's wondering, I've yet to try chocolate-covered potato chips, but they're on my short list.

While tamarind paste has been available in Asian markets for a long time, it's exciting to see fresh tamarinds popping up more frequently in produce sections. The woody outer pods are brittle and don't travel well, so the offerings in grocery stores usually aren't very pretty. Even if the pods are broken, what you want to look for is mahogany-colored flesh that doesn't look pale or dried out. Also, check the outer shell for tiny holes (see below), as bugs are fond of laying eggs in tamarind pods. The flavor of tamarind is similar to a dried apricot, but more tart. Once the meat has been removed from the pods and stripped of its veins, it can be boiled, seeded, sweetened with sugar, and diluted for a great cold drink. Tamarinds are also a key ingredient in pad Thai recipes. Alton Brown recently made a good version of it, similar to the Cook's Illustrated version I usually make. Boiling, mashing and straining three or four large tamarinds usually works for the ounce or two of tamarind paste that the recipes call for.

[Photos: Nick Vagnoni]

I have this jar, yep the very one in the picture, full of Tamarind Paste. Well, full less about a teaspoon. It has been sitting in the back since a failed attempt at an egg curry. Thought today was a good reason to investigate what else I could use it for.

A search over the net revealed a really fascinating post about Tamarind Tort. Apparently this recipe was on the BBC Radio 4 Food programme back in 2004. But the recipe dates from 1730 from The Complete Practical Cook by some chap called Carter. It uses a rich pastry base - Paste Royal also detailed - and has the tamarind paste rolled into little balls with sugar. These are placed in the par-baked shell and then filled with a custard before completing the bake. Sounds really interesting.

On the actual BBC site they have Papaya in Tamarind Syrup but this uses fresh tamarind - one half of a tamarind pod to be precise - so I am not sure I can use the paste as a replacement. Or to what quantity. I think I might start making a simple dipping sauce. This one via Wagamama is a mix of malt vinegar, light and dark soy sauce, tomato ketchup and sugar. Plus the tamarind paste of course. Served with salmon cakes.

Luckily the use by date is very long - it should be fine until October 2007!