The Science of Spice

115

ANNATTO

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Flavour Group | WARMING TERPENES | Annatto

enhance citrus

notes with another

tart spice:

coriander

enhances sweet,

lemon fruit qualities,

bringing in floral notes

sumac will

reinforce the citrus

quality of elemene

partner other spices

with traces of this

main compound:

juniper brings a

pine-like fruitiness

that also works

with elemene

asafoetida’s onion

flavours are rounded

off by germacrene’s

sweet notes

use sweet spices

to draw out

underlying honey:

cinnamon is

similarly sweet,

fragrant, and woody

allspice lends

warmth and spice

to the mix

clove has notes

of camphor that also

suit the fir-tree

flavours of elemene

reinforce

the lingering

pepperiness:

black pepper

shares caryophyllene

and germacrene,

and has a flavour

profile that includes

citrus and pine

grains of Selim

have a peppery

smokiness and

share germacrene

GERMACRENE

woody | sweet

| spicy

ELEMENE

citrus | sweet |

fir needles

COPAENE

honey | woody |

spicy

CARYOPHYLLENE

peppery | dry |

bitter

Kitchen

creativity

Often employed solely for its staining ability, annatto is not just about

colour, and can bring a peppery, slightly citrus, almost smoked-earth

flavour to dishes.

BLENDING SCIENCE

The gently flavoured terpene family of compounds provide much of annatto’s taste, in

the form of germacrene, elemene, and copaene, all of which possess an underlying

sweetness. The contrasting peppery, bitter edge to annatto comes from caryophyllene.

RELEASE THE FLAVOUR

AND COLOUR

Whole annatto gives the best flavour, but

the hard, dense seeds need time for the

flavour molecules to escape, and must be

removed before serving. For these

reasons, it is best to cook with oil

or water flavoured by the seeds.

FOOD PARTNERS

Sweetcorn Drizzle annatto-infused oil over hot corn on the cob.

Fish Steep the seeds in hot oil and then use the oil to fry

fishcakes or fritters.

Meat Use achiote paste in a marinade for chicken, pork, or beef before

slow cooking and serving the meat “pulled” in tacos or tostadas.

Rice Use annatto-steeped water instead of saffron in Spanish

rice with chicken.

Chocolate Add a pinch of ground annatto, cinnamon,

and chilli to chocolate mousse.

Infusing in oil

Annatto oil has a stronger taste

because most flavour compounds

dissolve best in oil. The oil-loving

bixin pigment is plentiful, so

cooking with fat will give the

strongest colouring.

Steeping in water

Use more seeds than for infusing oil,

as flavour compounds dissolve less

readily in water, and the water-

solvent norbixin pigment is four

times less abundant than bixin.

Cook seeds slowly

in light oil over a

low heat

Steep the

seeds for

at least

an hour

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