Fabulous Flavours
 

Adding great flavours to your food has never been easier with the Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker. Shaped like a Russian doll this gadget is designed to crush, grind, mix and release flavour form whole spices (including cinnamon and star anise), herbs, garlic, nuts and citrus zest, as well as ingredients such as lime and bay leaves. It’s a two-part container with a ceramic ball that shakes around inside, producing the crushing and grinding effect. Simple to use the ingredients (starting with whole/hard things first like cinnamon stick, seeds, cloves of garlic)  are put into base, the ball dropped in and then the two halves screwed together that’s when you need to shake for a few seconds or until the desired texture is achieved. With the rubberised grip on the base and top it’s easy to make sure the shaker is closed properly and this also aids your grip. Jamie suggests shaking upright first as this will crush/grind the larger pieces and then turning it up the other way and shake to get a finer texture. If you are using powdered ingredients like paprika or turmeric now is the time to add them and shake again. If using liquids such as oil, add these now. In just a few seconds you will see how it is to add flavour to all kinds of everyday dishes, such as meat rubs for really aromatic roasts and grills; marinades for deep down flavour; dips for tasty nibbles; oil dressings for salads, bakes or grills and fragrant sugars to finish off cakes and puddings.

Old English Sugar and Spice

2 inch piece of cinnamon stick (roughly broken up)

A strip of orange zest

A strip of lime zest

A pinch of ground nutmeg

1 clove

3 tbsp sugar

 Put the cinnamon, orange and lime zest, nutmeg, clove and 1 tbsp of the sugar in the bottom of the flavour shaker, drop in the ball and screw lid on tightly. Shake for 30 seconds then add the rest of the sugar and shake again for 10 seconds. Now sprinkle over some fruits (rhubarb and pears are great) and bake with a little white wine or brandy until browned.

Great for also dusting over cakes crumbles and biscuits.

(Recipe taken from The Flavour Shaker leaflet)

Alison Murton