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Cloves and cinnamon in food - Bleuugh!

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Would never put cinamon in moussaka and I was taught to make it by a Greek.

 

Try lamb karama though for a good savoury dish with cinnamon or any number of north African dishes.

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Would never put cinamon in moussaka and I was taught to make it by a Greek.

 

Try lamb karama though for a good savoury dish with cinnamon or any number of north African dishes.

 

Completely agree with you there, I think it ruins it and makes it a bit too pudding-like.

Edited by Amaranthus

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If i remember correctly from some knowledge source,cloves and cinnamon and nutmeg were added to disguise the "gameness" of the meats and cheaper cuts. I know most spices are to add flavour and improve grub.

Must have been some programme around Christmas i think tbh and possibly Hairy Bikers.

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Spices were originally used when there was no refridgeration or ways to keep meat and poultry fresh, and they added spices to cover the rancid taste of the meat. :gag:

 

I have a great aunt who was half Cylonese (Sri Lankan now) and she remembers her mother using any cuts of meat that had "gone off" to make the curries and again the spices used masked this.

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If i remember correctly from some knowledge source,cloves and cinnamon and nutmeg were added to disguise the "gameness" of the meats and cheaper cuts. I know most spices are to add flavour and improve grub.

Must have been some programme around Christmas i think tbh and possibly Hairy Bikers.

 

I saw one of the "Supersizers go...." programs with Sue Perkins and Giles Coren. It was either set in Victorian times or the Regency period and nearly every dish seemed to be crammed with cloves and cinnamon.

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I once had a 'chefs special' fish dish that was crammed with cloves. It was horrible and since then they are barred from my kitchen!!!

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I do a lot of cypriot cooking and plenty of dishes have cinnamon in them including mousaka. pasticio.stuffed vine leaves.sheftelia

koftes. in cyprus they also make a pot of tea with a stick of cinnamon in it. i always put it on my porridge as well.

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I love the flavours but I'm not fond of anything sweet in savory dishes. Having said that mousakka should not have any hint of sweetness to it. Perhaps the packet mix was poor quality. I have several greek cook books that were written and purchased in Greece (I was going to emigrate there) and there is nothing sweet in the traditional recipes.

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I like them both in curries as long as they don't overpower the other spices. Have to agree that strong cinnamon just doesn't taste right in a savoury dish at all, but a little bit can lift it nicely.

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