What is Pineapple Tamarind Sauce?
Pineapple tamarind sauce is a sweet, tart and spicy sauce used on meats, fish and vegetables. The sauce is reddish, orange in color, has a medium thick viscosity and is enhanced with a variety of warm spices.
What does Pineapple Tamarind Sauce Taste Like?
Sweet is one of the five main tastes. It has smooth and round notes in its flavor profile. Sweet is a naturally occurring flavor in many foods, including fruits, berries, winter squashes, sugarcane, and honey. The sweet taste in these foods is due to a higher sugar content. Sweetness is characteristic of desserts and is used as an accent in savory foods.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
The pineapple is a tropical fruit with a large, round, oblong body and textured and patterned skin. When unripe, the pineapple is green and when ripe it exhibits yellow tones and smells sweet. At its top, the pineapple has rough green stalks, called the crown, which must be removed along with the skin, before eating. The flesh of the pineapple is yellow, juicy, and has a soft fibrous texture. The flavor is sweet, tart and intensely fruity. The core of the fruit is removed, as it is too tough to chew properly.
Vinegar is made from alcohol. It can be made from wine, fermented apple, grains and other sources. Healthy bacteria is used to ferment this product. The final result is a thin liquid used to season foods. All vinegar is sour. White vinegar has a sharp sour flavor and is clear. Red wine vinegar is a clear red color and tastes a bit more rounded. Balsamic vinegar is dark red or brown and tastes rich, fruity and sour. There are many other kinds of vinegar, each with its own unique flavor profile. Some types of vinegar are suited to specific flavors and cuisines. It is used in sauces and in dishes both sweet and savory.
Sugar comes from sugar cane and sugar beets. The sugar is extracted from the juice of both plants and refined into the granulated substance known as sugar. Sucrose, the sweet substance of sugar is a combination of glucose and fructose. White sugar is composed of tiny white, dry granules. The flavor is sweet and neutral. Brown sugar is brown and has more moisture, with a richer flavor that hints at molasses. Sugar is used in both sweet and savory foods.
Ginger is a spice whose root is used in food around the world. The root is grown underground and has a hard body and thin beige skin. The root has many rounded and long shoots and is often fat. The flesh of the ginger is golden colored with a flavor that is earthy, spicy and bright. Ginger is made into tea, used in sauces, desserts and savory dishes.
Botanically the chili pepper is a fruit, in culinary terms it is a vegetable. There are a number of varieties of red chili peppers. Some common ones used for spice powders and seasonings include the piri piri, cayenne, and chile de árbol, among others. Each pepper is red and has a thin skin with a thin flesh and seeds inside the middle of the pepper. The shape varies, but is often thin and tapered. The heat level varies also, depending on the type of pepper. Some are mildly hot, while other red chilies are scorching and fiery. The pepper can be used fresh in many dishes, as well as dried or powdered.
Tamarind is a pod that grows on tamarind trees. The pod is large, brown and long, a lot like a bean pod. In fact the tamarind tree is a leguminous tree. Inside the pods are an edible pulp. This pulp is mashed into a paste and has a dark brown-red color. It is thick and sticky. The sour and sweet flavor of tamarind is intensely strong and often an acquired taste. It is used in sauces, soups, curries and many other dishes.
Garlic is used in cuisines around the world and is extremely popular for its depth of flavor. The garlic bulb forms underneath the soil and is harvested once it reaches maturity. The bulb typically has thin, dry, white and flaky skin, surrounding the individual cloves. Often there are 10-12 cloves to a bulb/head of garlic. The cloves are cream colored with a strong smell and flavor that is spicy and sharp. Garlic takes on a nutty flavor in addition, when cooked. It is used in countless dishes, sauces, breads and more.
Nigella seeds, also called Nigella sativa, or black seeds all come from the blue and white flowering black caraway plant, or Nigella sativa plant. The seeds are the size of a sesame seed and black. The flavor is peppery and strong with a taste similar to oregano, but highly pungent. The flavor is almost medicinal. These little seeds are used in cooking to flavor dishes and pack a small punch of flavor.
There are many varieties of chili peppers. They are a small, hot pepper. The pepper is dried and ground into a fine powder, that varies in shades of red. Chili powder is a spice blend popular in American and Latin-American cooking. It is usually made from ancho chilies, paprika, oregano and cumin, other spices may be added. It is used in many protein dishes and has a spicy and herbal flavor.
Cumin is a spice used in many cuisines around the world. The seed which cumin is ground from, has a thin and long body with tapered ends. Cumin is just a few millimeters in length and has a light brown or tan tone, which can look a bit grey. The flavor is spicy, earthy and nutty.
Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant. These seeds are a warm beige color with a round and slightly oblong body and a pointy, yet harmless top. The seeds taste citrusy, warm, nutty and spicy. Coriander is popular in various cuisines, including Indian and Latin cooking.
The seeds of the cardamom plant are used in Indian cuisines for both savory and sweet dishes. The seeds grow in a small green pod, roughly the size of an oblong blueberry with pointed ends. The pod has a hard shell, with small pinhead-sized seeds inside that are dark or light brown. These seeds are ground into a fine powder and this is the part used in food. The flavor is almost minty, herbal, spicy and sweet. A little goes a long way in any dish.
