Ottoman spice mix

Ottoman spice is a versatile seasoning blend of ingredients: sumac, thyme, garlic, turmeric, long pepper, special paprika and saffron. The use of spices and herbs are very important in Turkish cooking. Turkish cuisine is healthy and nutritious and the Turks are purist in their culinary taste; their dishes bring out the flavor of the main ingredient rather than hiding it behind sauces.

Ottoman spice mix adds a great flavor to all dishes, soups, pastries, and vegetable dishes, but it is especially suitable for meat dishes.

It also can be used in any vegetable, stew, minced meat – mushroom – mushroom pita, vegetable – meat bake dishes, okra with meat, juicy meatball, minced meat pasta, meat sauté, liver sauté, spaghetti with vegetable.
Ottoman spice mix

Basil leaves

Basil is a leafy herb of the mint family that is grown primarily in Egypt and the United States. Some basil is also grown in and exported from France. Basil was widely used in ancient Rome and Greece.

Its name derives from Basilisk, a mythical serpent-like creature whose venom was so potent it could kill just by looking. Basil is such a pious plant that is worshipped like a Goddess by almost all the people of the world. In the Hindu Mythology, no food is scared enough to be offered to any God, unless it has a few leaves of basil put on it.

The herb is the leaves of a small bushy plant. It is an annual with leafy stems that give it a bushy appearance. The fresh leaves are about 5 cm long and 2 cm wide. When referred to as ‘whole basil’ it usually means the broken pieces of leaves.

In ancient times basil was used to draw out the poison from insect bites and stings - the crushed or pounded leaves leaf was applied to the area.

Basil has a rich and spicy, mildly peppery flavor with a trace of mint and clove. For the best flavor use fresh leaves, but frozen and dried leaves are acceptable.
Basil leaves 

Components and usage of Coriander Oil

Components and usage of Coriander Oil
Botanically name Coriandrum sativum. The annual production of coriander seed oil is about 700 tons, virtually all from the former Soviet Union. Other minor producers are India, Egypt, Romania, South Africa and Poland. Production herb oil in France, the former Soviet Union and Egypt is very limited. Coriander seeds yield 0.9% oil on steam distillation. The fresh herb yield only 0.02% oil. Demand is increasing slightly. The major market is the United States.

The major components of coriander seed oil are typically:
74% linalol (light, lavender)
6% gamma-terpinene (light, citrus, herbaceous)
5% camphor (fresh, camphoraceous)
3% alpha0pinene (light, pine)
2% para-cymene (light, citrus)
2% limonene (weak, light, citrus)
2% geranyl acetate (fruity, floral, rose)

The major component of coriander leaf is
10% dec-2-enal (strong, orange marmalade)

Coriander seed oil can be adulterated with synthetic linalol but this is readily detectable by gas chromatography.

The seed oil is used in a very wide variety of flavor applications. It is part of the traditional flavoring of a number of alcoholic drinks, especially gin. It is widely used in meat seasoning and curry blends. It provides a very attractive natural source of linalol in natural fruit flavors, particularly apricot, the herb oil is very widely used in South Asia seasoning blends but also provides a unique citrus character in natural flavors. There are no legal restrictions on the use of coriander oil in flavorings.
Components and usage of Coriander Oil