How to be a flexible cook - part 3

How to Be a Flexible Cook

Part 3

If you don't have an ingredient, consider a substitute. This is more appropriate for savoury cooking as baking can often require more precise ingredients. Flavour, texture, and cooking time are all factors to consider when swapping out ingredients.

Greens and Salad

I categorise greens and salads into four main groups.

Mild Salads

Includes chard, spinach, and lettuces like cos and romaine. These have similar textures and flavours and are interchangeable in salads and stews.

Salads and Greens with a Crunchy Texture

Includes Chinese cabbage, cabbage, Bok choy and raw kale; the overriding texture is crunch. They are excellent for slaws, broths and soups.

Bitter or Peppery Leaves

Includes endives, watercress, chickory and rocket. They are powerfully flavoured leaves and greens. You can replace a bitter leaf with another bitter leaf and a peppery leaf for another peppery leaf. For example, you can replace rocket with watercress.

Hardier Greens

Includes kale, Cavolo Nero and other wintery greens. They normally need to cook for about ten minutes.

Spices

In my opinion, spices fall into one of four categories, earthy, floral, peppery and warm. You can normally swap spices within the same group in and out of recipes.

Earthy Spices

Spices with earthy flavours include turmeric, caraway seeds, cumin seeds and curry powder. Caraway seeds have an aniseedy flavour, whilst cumin has sweet roundedness.

Floral Spices

Floral spices bring an aromatic, bright floral feeling. Cardamom, coriander, fennel, saffron, and sumac are all wonderful floral spices. Cardamom has a lemony, aromatic flavour, and can be substituted for coriander seeds. Fennel has a gentle flavour and is often found in Italian cooking. Saffron is difficult to mimic. Sumac is a dried berry with a rich rounded natural flavour.

Peppery Spices

Spices with a peppery flavour include black and white pepper, mustard seeds, mustard powder, and ground ginger. Black and yellow mustard seeds can be used interchangeably. You can substitute jarred mustard for mustard powder but be mindful of quantities.

Warm Spices

Warm spices include various types of dried chillies, chilli flakes, smoked paprika cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and mace. I recommends swapping chillis for other chillis. Mace, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove can be swapped in and out. Ground cloves are very strong so should be used prudently.

Oils and Fats

Cooking Oil

Cooking oil has a high smoke point making it great for toasting and tempering spices and browning food. Coconut oil, sunflower, canola, vegetable, peanut/groundnut and olive oil are all great cooking oils.

Fat, Butter and Ghee

Butter and ghee add flavour and creaminess to dishes. Ghee is clarified butter and is often used in South Asian cooking.

Oils with Distinct Flavours

Generally, oils with a distinct flavour should not be heated. These include extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, pumpkin oil, hazelnut oil, walnut oil and avocado oil. It's good to swap within these groups.

Herbs

Woody hardy herbs are wintery herbs; they are often used in roast dinners. These include bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme, which can cook for a long time in the oven. Sage can be substituted for rosemary. You can substitute sage, rosemary, and thyme.

Fragrant Floral Herbs

Fragrant floral herbs such as coriander, basil and Thai basil add flavour and brightness to cooking and are used in Asian, South Asian, and Mexican cuisines. The fragrant floral herbs are a great swap for each other.

Gentle Aniseedy Flavour

Tarragon, chervil, basil, Thai basil, dill, and fennel all have a gentle aniseedy flavour. It is possible to use chervil, tarragon, and dill interchangeably. Parsley is a very reliable neutral flavour.

Families of Herbs

Families of herbs are a smart way to figure out how to swap herbs in and out.

Root Vegetables

In recipes, root vegetables may be substituted for one another; however, remember the cooking time and vegetable size. Harder root vegetables, such as carrots, need more time to cook than softer root vegetables, such as sweet potatoes.

It's always important to consider how the cooking times can vary when substituting these different root vegetables. Carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnips are all interchangeable sweet root vegetables. Savoury root vegetables such as celeriac, potato, sweet potato, and turnip can be substituted for one another. Always keep cooking time and vegetable size in mind.

Quick-Cooking Vegetables

Asparagus, peas, and sugar snap peas are examples of quick-cooking vegetables. When substituting these vegetables for another, consider the colour, flavour, and cooking time.

Further Reading

Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat by Samin Nosrat is a beautifully illustrated book explaining the how's and why's of cooking helping to make you a more confident cook. The NY Times has a great article which you can access here that breaks down the ins and outs of substituting food, giving you some great ideas that you can incorporate into your own kitchen. Bon Appetit food director Carla Lalli outlines her 10 Fundamental Lessons That Will Make You a More Confident Cook, which you can view here. A great article for helping you feel more confident in the kitchen.

I also have a great flexible vegetable soup recipe from my old days working with Jamie Oliver, which you can watch here.