2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Achiote is a spice used in many foods around the world. Although it is often used to give dishes a yellow color, it also has a mild peppery taste. Whether it's whole seeds or ground spice, pasta or butter, you'll come across this ingredient quite often when exploring Mexican or Caribbean cuisine.
Achiote is a productextracted from the seeds of the evergreen shrub Bixa orellana. After soaking in water, the pulp surrounding the seeds is used for making cakes or for further processing into colorants. The seeds are dried and used whole or ground as a spice.
Achiote originates from the tropics of North and South America, including the Caribbean and Mexico. The Spaniards brought this small tree from North and South America to Southeast Asia in the 1600s, where it is now a known food ingredient. It is also produced in India and West Africa.
Traditional uses:
Achiote is used as a culinary spice, food coloring and commercial dye. It also has healing properties. The locals of the Caribbean added achiote to their dishes for taste and color even before the arrival of the Europeans. It is also used in cosmetics as a fabric dye, body dye, sunscreen, insect repellent and medicine. It is also believed that the Aztecs added the seeds to a chocolate drink to enhance its color.
Culinary use of achiote
Achiote used to add yellow color to chorizo, butter and margarine, cheese and smoked fish. In the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, it is used to make yellow rice and is sometimes added to soffrites. In the French Caribbean, it is used to make fish or pork stew with fruit and linden.
Achiote powder, mixed with other spices and herbs, can be turned into a paste with which to marinate and give a smoky taste to meat, fish and poultry. The seeds are soaked in oil to make oil, thus adding color and flavor. Adds color to rice, paella, meat, soup, stew, fish and some yucca dishes.
Taste and aroma
When used in small amounts, mainly as a food coloring, achiote has no noticeable taste. When used in larger quantities to impart flavor, it imparts an earthy, peppery taste with a hint of bitterness. The seeds give a light floral or mint aroma.
Properly stored, it can last up to three years. Store it in a glass jar and in a dark cupboard away from light. Achioto oil will keep for several months if stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator.
