Why is my cooking a bit, well, bland?

[Biddlybee]

What's it like, thick like ketchup? Or thin like Worcester sauce? Does it taste like mushrooms? I need to know!

 

[Xanadu]

Second time mushroom ketchup has been mentioned... I've never heard of it before.

you're missing out - try it sometime

 

[Biddlybee]

Is it a condiment then? Or does it just go in stuff? Why is there no wiki page on mushroom ketchup?

 

[Mrs Miggins]

It's thin like worcestershire sauce and tastes very savoury and mushroomy but not as intense and overwhelming as the old WS. Good stuff but would only use as an ingredient - not a condiment.

 

[Xanadu]

Is it a condiment then? Or does it just go in stuff? Why is there no wiki page on mushroom ketchup?

It's like a replacement for wocestershire sauce.

 

[Biddlybee]

Ah, thank you Mrs Miggins.... I may invest in some - once I know what to use it in

edit: ah, ok - so good to add a splash or two to casseroles or cottage pie... etc?

 

[Xanadu]

edit: ah, ok - so good to add a splash or two to casseroles or cottage pie... etc?

Yep definitely. You can use it to make a great steak sauce too.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

wot (s)he said

you're welcome BB

 

[Biddlybee]

Yep definitely. You can use it to make a great steak sauce too.

Great steak don't need no sauce

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Half a teaspoon of cumin with about a quarter of a teaspoon of coriander can be added to almost any savoury dish to good effect. That is a secret though, between you, me and the internet.

 

[Idaho]

Add nutmeg and fenugreek to pretty much any savoury recipe and it tastes better.

 

[tarannau]

Don't listen to the two above

Cumin in everything. Meh!

 

[wtfftw]

I use Kallo organic stockcubes - they're good, aren't they?


nope and I think my tastebuds are working pretty well




Both the stew and the spag bol were left overnight!

No idea then. I suspected you don't smoke but I enjoy home cooking more now that I've quit.


Hire a chef?

 

[Kanda]

I witnessed one of the guys at work putting tomato ketchup in their Cream of Tomato soup today

 

[mrsfran]

I concur with the mushroom ketchup suggestions. You can buy it in Sainsburys Also, it really is true that to get lots of flavour you really do need to use more salt and butter than you think. It's the reason restaurant food tastes like it does - salt and butter. That's it.

Also, you have to remember that your home-cooked food is never going to taste like ready-prepared or processed food. If you've been used to processed food, you're used to strong chemical flavourings. Give it time and your taste buds will adapt and eventually processed food will taste like the crap that it is compared to your home-cooked stuff.

 

[tarannau]

Mushroom ketchup works to a large extent by adding umami - the fifth taste according to some, or naturally occuring MSG to others.

Godo stuff, although I don't rate it as a cure-all to solving all your flavour woes. Missfran's right to a large degree - you'll never make a pasta sauce that tastes quite like salt and sugar filled Dolmio, just as you'll never be able to replicate a BigMac at home - but it's also worth checking you're cooking everything to the best of your ability as well. With the beef burbouignon (Sp) make sure you brown the meat well at the first stage for example, scraping and 'deglazing' the pan as you add the alcohol/stocks/liquids to get a full flavour.