Taste Benefits Of Marinade

The taste benefits of marinade are ... in the taste! The use of marinade in food preparation opens up a whole new world of wonderful tastes, savors and flavors. In the hands of an artist, marinade can work magic with food.

Marinade If For Everyone

Anyone can make their own marinade -- from almost anything -- once the basics of creating a marinade are understood.

But trying to create marinade before you've learned to use one is a little like putting the cart before the horse. You won't be able to tell if your creation was a success or not unless you first become skilled in the use of marinade. (We hope this doesn't sound too stuffy!)

Marinade Basics For Better Taste

There are two basic types of marinade and each has its own particular interaction with food.

Acetic Marinades

As the name suggests, acetic marinades are blended with acetic foods, vinegar being far and away the most popular choice. Along with the vinegar or other acetic ingredient, oil, salt and seasonings are added.

The seasonings, of course, offer the creator a very wide range of options. But, in preparing an acetic marinade, beware of too much vinegar or other acetic element as they can toughen your food -- a very undesirable effect!

Enzyme Marinades

Enzymic marinades are built on enzyme releasing foods such as yogurt, papaya, pineapple or kiwi. They tenderize through an enzymatic action.

When using marinades with enzymic ingredients, shorter marinating times are recommended -- sometimes as little as 30 minutes -- or your food will tend to be mushy.

Start Your Experiments With Prepared Marinade

A wide variety of prepared marinades are available through supermarkets and gourmet shops. We suggest that you start your marinade experiments by purchasing three or more bottles of marinades made with distinctly different ingredients. (Ingredients are listed on the bottle.)

Review the recipe suggestions included with each one. Pick two or three recipes. Give them a try. Then pick the one you liked best!

Now is the time to begin experimenting with marination time and cooking time. Make your personal adjustments until you find a "formula" that gives you the most fantastic flavor.

Only after you've reached this point should you begin to experiment with the marinades themselves.

Adding Your Personal Touch

Now that you have a sense of what works best -- by your own taste tests -- you can begin to experiment with the marinade's ingredients. There are two ways to do this:

Blend It All The Way

Using your own ingredients, create your own marinade formula based on the bottled marinade you liked best.

Of course there are difficulties here since, although you know the ingredients of the bottled marinade, you don't know the exact proportions (that's their secret!) so you might experience a few food failures become coming up with a marinade you'll want to try on guests.

Just Tinker A Little

Nothing can stop you from adding a few of your own favorite flavors to someone else's prepared marinade. This gives you the advantage of a solid starting point -- a marinade you already like -- and the challenge of making it better by adding small touches of your own!

Just A Few Foods For Thought

The kinds of flavors you can add to your marinade are endless. If you don't believe this statement, take some time to study the development of cooking in China where, over a period of 4,000 years a great many ingredients not regularly found on your supermarket's shelves have gone into the Emperor's pot!

Among the more "commonplace" additions to marinade are every dried and fresh herb and spice you can think of. Then consider dried chile peppers, onions, shallots, garlic, ginger and citrus. To that add mustard (itself available in dozens of varieties!), ketchup and a multitude of sauces.

And, of course, this is only the beginning!

Taste benefits of marinade? Endless!

~~ Billy Ray & Judy