Technology Toolkit

Seasoning is the process of imparting flavor to, or improving the flavor of, food.

Seasonings include herbs, spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as \”seasonings\”. However, Larousse Gastronomique states that \”to season and to flavour are not the same thing\”, insisting that seasoning includes a large or small amount of salt being added to a preparation.[2] Salt may be used to draw out water, or to magnify a natural flavor of a food making it richer or more delicate, depending on the dish. This type of procedure is akin to curing. For instance, kosher salt (a coarser-grained salt) is rubbed into chicken, lamb, and beef to tenderize the meat and improve flavor. Other seasonings like black pepper and basil transfer some of their flavor to the food. A well designed dish may combine seasonings that complement each other.

In addition to the choice of herbs and seasoning, the timing of when flavors are added will affect the food that is being cooked.

In some cultures, meat may be seasoned by pouring sauce over the dish at the table. A variety of seasoning techniques exist in various cultures.

Infused Oils is another method of seasoning. There are two methods for doing an infusion — hot and cold. Olive oil makes a good infusion base for some herbs, but tends to go rancid more quickly than other oils. Infused oils should be kept refrigerated.

Garlic and pepper prices are high mainly because of reduced acreage. Because prices plummeted last year, farmers lost money, so this year they reduced the garlic and pepper acreage by about 30%. Ginger acreage is basically the same as last year, but because of a cold weather in northern China this spring, affecting the germination of the growth of ginger, the yields were negatively affected. Snow caused onion harvest difficulties, and therefore prices have gone up faster.

Harvest season for northern dried chili is around the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Farmers artificially dry the harvested chili and put it into the market, and then use last year\’s stock to continue to supply the market. In December, chili can also be dried naturally at lower cost than artificial drying. At the end of the year, as natural dried chili is available in volume, the price will decline.

In November, the selling price of artificially dried chili once reached 0.8-1 RMB/kg, which should be considered a price recovery, but in December, when the natural dried chilli hit the market, but the price gradually declined. This is entirely consistent with the law of value fluctuations.

The same is true for ginger and green onions. Northern ginger is generally harvested in October, partly for fresh ginger, and partly stored up. Therefore, what is sold on the market is still old ginger. During the onion harvest, some are left in the ground until after the holiday for selling fresh onions, and some are frozen. Because water loss, onion and ginger storage prices have gone up as normal.