Marinade magic: Enhancing flavour with time-honoured recipes

It adds flavour, making products tender and juicy. The marinade can bring out the best in meats, fish, or vegetables, provided it has the right ingredients. Here are some examples.

In health food stores, primarily online, you can buy dried bison grass, a much more valuable culinary product than fresh – its strong aroma is activated only when dried. Mix a few stalks with apple cider vinegar (60 ml), honey (15 ml), oil (60 ml), juniper berries (6), garlic (2 cloves), salt, and pepper. Cover the meat with the prepared marinade and leave it for 24 hours.

Known since the 17th century, teriyaki is a Japanese cooking technique that involves glazing meats or fish with a marinade based on soy sauce, mirin wine (obtained by mixing lightly fermented rice, a particular type of mould, and rice vodka), and sugar. It works excellent for grilled salmon.

You need the same amount (about 60 ml) of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin wine. Pour everything into a pot; add two tablespoons of sugar or honey, a grated piece of ginger, and 2-3 cloves of garlic pressed through a press. Boil for 10 minutes. After cooling, marinate the fish for 1-2 hours.

It's an American favourite. An absolute craze for it erupted in the 1960s when Buffalo Wings, whose marinade was made up of cayenne sauce, began to gain popularity.

The most challenging task may be obtaining fresh cayenne peppers (red or green), which do not often appear in Polish stores. You need about 450 grams. Wash the peppers, then chop them reasonably finely, as well as the garlic (6 cloves). Transfer both products to a saucepan, pour in white wine vinegar (180 ml), add salt and sugar (5 grams each), bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. After it cools slightly, blend until the desired consistency is achieved, then strain through a fine sieve—Marinate chicken, for example, with the resulting sauce.

The vinegar present in mustard makes the meat (e.g., pork neck) tender and juicy, so the famous sauce should be used for preparing marinades.

The task is simple: Mix mustard (45 ml) thoroughly with olive oil (45 ml), garlic pressed through a press (1 clove), ketchup (15 ml), and spices such as salt, pepper, and dried rosemary. You can also add honey (15-30 ml). If you like spicy flavours, use hot mustard and add cayenne pepper to the emulsion. Cover the meat intended for grilling with this marinade and set it aside in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Tea leaves contain a hefty dose of tannins—organic compounds that act as antibiotics and natural tenderizers, such as for meat. Therefore, they are a great ingredient in marinades.

How to prepare it: Brew about 500 ml of black tea (the Darjeeling variety works excellent). After cooling, mix the brew with soy sauce (60 ml), maple syrup (15 ml), and canola oil (10 ml). Rub chicken, pork, or steak with the emulsion and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.

If you rub roasting or grilled meat with an emulsion prepared from maple syrup before cooking, it will gain an extraordinary taste and aroma.

Mix the syrup (30 ml) with Dijon mustard (10 ml), freshly squeezed lemon juice (15 ml), soy sauce (15 ml), garlic pressed through a press (2 cloves), and finally season with salt, pepper, and sweet paprika. Of course, the meat should spend an hour in this marinade in a cool place.

The famous Argentinian sauce is great as a marinade for grilled meats, fish, or vegetables. Although its name sounds very exotic, chimichurri can be prepared easily from ingredients often used in Canadian cuisine.

Chop washed and dried parsley finely (you will need about 250 ml) and fresh oregano or cilantro (15 ml), which are not mandatory additions. Press 4-5 garlic cloves through a press. Transfer all the ingredients into a bowl, pour olive oil (120 ml), red wine vinegar (45-60 ml), or lime juice, and season with a pinch of chilli flakes, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Mix thoroughly and let it sit in a covered dish for at least an hour.