Essential oils and hydrosols are great assets for those who are looking for originality and unswerving freshness in the kitchen. It may seem intimidating at first, but it's actually no rocket science!
To find the perfect aroma to complete your dish, here is the secret:
Place a drop of gastonomic oil on a test strip. This little piece of absorbant paper allows diffusing the perfume of the oil in all of its complexity, which the bottle doesn't.
Place the test strip above the dish to aromatize and stir the air in order to smell both aromas together.You can use several strips with different oils to test combinations.
Once the winning combination is found, flavour the dish with a couple drops.
Each drop contains a lot of flavour! Add one at a time, or even half a drop (using a spoon) for smaller volumes. Trust your flair and adjust to taste.
To avoid an unwanted extra drop in your recipe, add the drops on a spoon before integrating them to the blend.
Essential oils and hydrosols are volatile with heat. As much as possible, integrate them towards the end of the cooking. For baking, make sure you add a couple extra drops, to compensate for the evaporation in the oven. We can also reserve the aroma for the icing to avoid the evaporation.
The same method can be used for essential waters or synergies. Since they are less concentrate, it's not necessary to measure them drop by drop.
Gastronomic oils are a blend of essential oil and a neutral tasting vegetable oil. They are soluble in fatty substances.
Essential waters are a blend of the essential oil and the hydrosol of a plant. They are soluble in water.
Synergies are a blend of different essential oils and hydrosols. They are soluble in water.