As cooks become more experienced, they learn new techniques and terms. I’ve been cooking for decades and have a pretty good knowledge of both. But if you’re still a stranger in the kitchen, you may not be familiar with techniques or terms, especially similar ones like marinating and mashing.
So what is the difference? When you marinate food, you dip it into a liquid mixture to flavor and soften it. The teriyaki marinade is a good example. You can buy this marinade, a combination of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, cooking oil, and ginger, but I don’t think it’s as good as homemade. In a word, homemade tastes fresher.
According to the Epicurious website, the word marinade means “soaking foods such as meat, fish, or vegetables in a seasoned liquid mixture.” The marinade adds flavor to meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables. The website warns against marinating food in an aluminum container. To avoid a chemical reaction between the acid and the aluminum, you should always marinate food in a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel container.
In her book, “A Matter of Taste,” Sylvia Windle Humphrey refers to marinades as “beauty baths that touch up cheap cuts of meat and leftovers.” What a description! According to Hunphrey, marinades work just as well on expensive cuts of meat as they do on cheaper ones. She says the process originated with ocean-going ships that marinated fish in brine to preserve it.
Mashing refers to the same process, soaking food in a seasoned liquid to infuse it with flavor, but the term applies to fruit. The Epicurious website says that “a spirit such as brandy, rum, or liqueur is usually in the mash fluid.” This recipe for Macerated Strawberries and Blueberries Steeped in Black Current Tea is easy and incredibly delicious. You can add raspberries if you like.
Ingredients
1/3 cup boiling water
1 blackcurrant tea bag
1/2 cup reduced-sugar strawberry jam (raspberry can be substituted)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1 cup quartered strawberries
1 cup blueberries
method
Boil water in microwave. Add the tea bag and steep for 4-5 minutes. Whisk together the strawberry jam, honey, and vanilla extract, stirring until smooth. Gently fold the strawberries and blueberries into the sauce and marinate for one hour. Serve in tall glasses and top with sweetened whipped cream or pour over vanilla ice cream. If you’re feeling adventurous, pour the fruit and syrup over warm waffles. Make four servings.
