Varieties and Changes

There are some basic issues to keep in mind when you start deviating from the basic recipe. Generally, you can make a wide variety of changes, and all it does is change the flavor. However, sometimes the changes can wreak a huge number of changes that make things interesting for whatever you are cooking.

Let’s start with the easy stuff: spices. The major changes you will quickly note are that the more spice you use, the more intense the flavor. Just keep in mind that recipes are geared towards a certain amount of spice; the spices have been carefully balanced against each other for a specific taste, and that putting too much of any one of them cause the others to go out of whack. This means that you will need to either figure out that balance and allow for it, or add too much spice and drown out the other spices.

The same basics apply to meat and vegetable. Although there are usual no problems making a substitution, keep in mind that the spices have been balanced for the flavors involved. In general this means that beef recipes will need to be lessened for other meats, and fish recipes will need upping of the flavor. Also keep in mind that some spices don’t work as well with some meats as they do others; lemon pepper is great on fish, but may not work with beef.  Keep in mind also that some meats, such as lamb, tend to be greasier than other meats, and some are just hard to flavor, such as pork. Even chicken comes with its own issues, especially if you try to exchange other birds for it.

Tofu is an interesting problem. Converting a recipe to vegetarian is more difficult than just substituting tofu or eggplant for the meat; just ask any kid that’s had to suffer through vegetarian lasagna, where spinach has been substituted for the hamburger. The entire spice issue needs to be dealt with, as does the change in consistency. It’s not that simple of a change and needs to be allowed for. This is not to say to not do it, just be advised that there are a number of issues that need to be dealt with.

Then you have flour versus corn starch. The thing to keep in mind is that corn starch has double the thickening effect of flour. This is an important consideration when it comes to gravies, where thickness is an issue.  There are some other issues, such as clarity and flavor, but in general don’t just substitute one for the other without being aware that there will be changes in color, consistency, and liquid used.

In short, when you are looking at making changes, keep in mind that one little change may create a wide variety of other changes that you will need to deal with. This is not to say don’t experiment; just be aware that you may have a lot of experimenting to do to get it right, and that can be a lot of fun!