Fresh seasoning or bottle seasoning

winterybella

winterybella

Guru
Joined
21 Oct 2014
Local time
8:38 PM
Messages
2,524
Location
Barbados
In my country there are several brands of bottled seasoning to choose from. I have to confess that I always have some on hand. As a child I would watch my mom prepare her own seasoning from scratch and they is no question it was much more flavorful than the bottled seasoning.

I prefer the fresh seasoning but I still juggle between the two. What's your preference? Do you even use the preserved seasonings?
 
winterybella said:
In my country there are several brands of bottled seasoning to choose from. I have to confess that I always have some on hand. As a child I would watch my mom prepare her own seasoning from scratch and they is no question it was much more flavorful than the bottled seasoning.

I prefer the fresh seasoning but I still juggle between the two. What's your preference? Do you even use the preserved seasonings?
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean by bottled seasoning. Can you elucidate? To me, seasoning means salt, pepper, herbs or spices so it wouldn't come in a bottle. Do you mean sauces?
 
20151110_081120_resized.jpg So around here we can pick up seasonings that are bottled/preserved for using on our meats or general cooking. I can't read the fine print but things like thyme, marjoram and a host of other green herbs and spices are prepared for us in a bottle. Some of the older folks wouldn't touch because it's not fresh or prepared by them as some of them also prepare their own homemade seasoning and bottle it themselves. Elucidated Morning Glory.
 
Thank you. This is jerk seasoning, then, you are talking about? I'm sure we can get something similar here. There are lots of mixtures of spice/herb pastes sold in jars. They tend to be called pastes. Curry paste is very popular. If I put 'jerk seasoning' into the supermarket search engine it comes up with dry spice mixes.

Anyway, you were asking about whether we used them. I have done, very occasionally. Its a shortcut if you are in a hurry. But nowadays, I much prefer to make my own and I usually have the ingredients to hand.
 
I just showed the jerk one because that it the one my husband buys more of. I prefer the original but he likes his stuff hot and spicy.
 
Our seasoning here is the plain salt or fish sauce. But we have the shrimp paste that is a seasoning for special dishes only. One is Pinakbet which is a vegetable dish mostly of tropical vegetables like squash, string beans, okra. It is cooked in a sautee of garlic, onions and that shrimp paste which is actually fermented small shrimps. Foreigners tend to dislike shrimp past for the unpleasant odor but once they get a taste of it then they like it.
 
I use the bottled seasoning for seasoning fish and other meats like chicken, lamb and beef, but I would also add the other powdered spices to the gravy when I am cooking the meat. We get different kinds of seasonings here in jars, some with pepper and some without pepper, and some with varying ingredients. My mom used to make her own seasonings on occasion too, but buying them in bottles is so much easier. I have a friend who makes and bottles seasonings to sell to personal clients. I get these bottled seasonings from her on a regular basis. She does a good job of it. I do not like the jerk seasoning though. It is a little on the hot side for me, but I do like the one with pepper.
 
It depends on what the recipe calls for I guess. Traditional meals here would require bottled seasoning but if you want to make something more organic then we go for fresh herbs. We have a family friend who has a huge business making seasoning and she says bottled seasoning really sell well. But again, this is because of the local food that require that seasoning.
 
As much as possible I prefer fresh seasonings and if I can help it I'll get those herbs and spices from my own garden. I have a collection of them and I grow basil, thyme, parsley and rosemary. They grow fairly quickly so I have enough stock for my whole family or just for one dish at night. I just go out to the garden and pick them myself.
 
Out of convenience the bottled ones will always be my option. Although I would prefer to start from scratch should I have more time to source the ingredients and cook. You are not certain though what other ingredients are used in the manufacture of bottled seasonings even if the label obviously has them.
 
I still firmly believe that nothing beats the taste of fresh seasoning. It's just the convenience of the bottled seasoning that makes me use it. Sometimes I am thinking 'this dish would be so much better with my own homemade fresh seasoning' but I pop out the bottle one and work with the quick fix. I'd really like to change that.
 
I definitely prefer the taste of fresh seasoning. Fresh is always the best route to go. You'd be amazed at the change in flavor when using fresh seasonings. Dry seasonings can be good, but most of the time they don't have nearly as much flavor.
 
I am using both the fresh seasoning and the bottled seasoning. And it depends what the recipe is requiring to use and that is the one that I follow. Both are useful in my cooking needs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom