Essential oils for aromatic cuisine!

You've heard of using essential oils for your well-being in aromatherapy, diffusion or cosmetics. Discover a new world of application in the kitchen. 

Just 1 drop in 2 tablespoons of honey or olive oil is enough to enhance flavours and add a delicious aromatic touch to finish up  the recipe of your choice.

To begin your journey in aromatic cuisine we have selected 4 essential oils that are easy-to-use and ideal to always have at home. 

Whether you're a beginner or a star chef, cooking with essential oils will quickly become a passion of yours.

 

This pack contains the 4 essential oils essential to the kitchen:

• one Ginger Essential Oil - 10mL
• one Sweet Orange essential oil - 10mL
• one peppermint essential oil - 10mL
• one Lemon Essential Oil - 10mL

Essential oils don't dissolve in water.

Best used in a cold or lukewarm support.

Just one or two drops are more than enough. Start with one and taste.

For cooking, dilute in honey, oils, alcohol drinks, emulsions, fresh creams, ice creams, soft cheeses, at the end of your preparation

for example, add to flavor a chocolate sauce, vinaigrette, mayonnaise, to make herbal honey that you add to your tea, into your rhum, vodka etc.

Essential oils are, by definition, highly concentrated in aromas. 

Used in diffusion and wellness for their scents and active ingredients, some essential oils can perfectly enhance your cooking recipes… if you use them sparingly.

Essential oils are more Essences, volatile concentrate plant extracts than “oils”. 

Used in your recipes they will reveal themselves surprisingly by awakening your “taste-trough-smell-buds”, in your nasal cavities.

As powerful in aromas as they are in active molecules, essential oils in cooking are to be used with great parsimony. 

Before you start: How to use essential oils in your recipes?

1. Essential oils do not dissolve in water or any water-based supports. 

In cooking recipes as for body care, NEVER ADD essential oils DIRECTLY to your dish. ALWAYS DILUTE YOUR ESSENTIAL OIL IN AN APPROPRIATE SUPPORT, before incorporating into your recipe.

FOR GOOD DILUTIONS SUPPORTS IN YOUR COOKING YOU CAN USE:

Oily supports: vegetable oils*, egg yolk, cold sauces, savory sauces, dough for pastries, muffins and cake, batter (pancakes or waffles), “Thick” milk, cream cheese, whipping cream, yoghurt, or 

Sweet supports: honey, syrup, custard, jam, vegetable glycerin, melted chocolate, fruits sauces

Alcohol and vinegar: Vinegar, Spirits, Wine…

* you can also experiment with vegetable oils that have their own aromas (Olive of course, Avocado, Black cumin, Coconut, Macadamia, Hemp seed…)

2. As a rule, USE TRULY LITTLE. 

Dilute 1 DROP OF ESSENTIAL OIL in 4 TABLESPOONS of diluting base.

But in most cases a drop, is already too much. And adding less than a drop of essential oils is tricky to measure. So, some experienced chefs dip a toothpick in the essential oil and use the toothpick to stir into their recipe.

So, the best and safer way, is to PREPARE YOUR AROMATIZED BASE BEFOREHAND: 

Start with 1 Drop of Essential Oil per 4 Tablespoons of dilution support.

Taste. 

-If the mix is too strong for your liking, add 1 teaspoon at a time of your chosen support. 

-If the mix is not strong enough (depending on support and taste), use the toothpick technique to add some aromas. of 2 drops of essential oils per 100gr is the maximum recommended.

Even better, prepare your aromatized base at least day earlier and to let the essential oils infuse, diffuse, and fully develop their aroma. Your aromatized base will then be ready to be used in your preparation when you need and without bad surprises and disastrous results for your meal.

Example: Dilute 1 drop the essential oil of your choice in 3 tablespoons of honey. Use this aromatized honey when needed, to flavor your yogurt, cheeses, hot drinks or mix into your pastry and cake bases. Or add 4 drops of Rosemary essential oil in a 250g jar of honey and use on fruit salads.

3.DO NOT HEAT OR BOIL ESSENTIAL OILS. 

They are volatile essences and cooking will alter their taste and lessen their aromas. Essential oils are preferably added at low-temperature stages of the preparation, or at the end of the recipe, as a final touch.

• To flavor a drink, first aromatize your support- sugar, honey- with a drop of Cinnamon, Orange or Peppermint essential oil and then mix in your tea, juice, or coffee.
• For pasta dish: Add Clary sage essential oil to you sauce (4 drops for 400g).
• For an exotic rice: Add Lemongrass essential oil in the rice (1 drop for 400g of rice)
• Add Rose Geranium essential oil to your mix for red fruit muffins.
• Use Cinnamon essential oil in an apple crumble
• Incorporate Lemon essential oil in a cake,
• Whether of animal or vegetable origin all milks, cheeses and yoghurts can be aromatized with essential oils (Petit Grain Bigarade, Mandarin, Grapefruit essential oils are classics. For more exotic taste try Ylang-Ylang or Lippia javanica essential oil). Rose geranium essential in whipped cream is excellent especially with a red fruit salad
• To aromatize your vegetable oils to add a “zing” to your green salad or drizzle on your roasted dishes ( as a finishing note, before serving) Add 10 drops of essential oil per liter of oil (or just 1 drop of Essential oil to 4 Tablespoons)

For a touch of French Provence try a Lavender-scented olive oil. Or combine mix 2 essential oils, like Thyme and Sweet Orange 

• You can also create all sorts of special butters, by incorporating essential oils to melted butter.  Roll in wax paper and refrigerate. Slice portions when needed and use on warm breads, grilled meats, fish, and vegetables or use for a braai.
• To aromatize your sugar: for example, make a Cinnamon sugar by adding 3 drops to 500g of sugar. Shake well to eliminate clumps and crystals! Use on pancakes…
• To flavor your ice cubes: Here is a simple tip to lightly flavor your cool drinks: aromatize your ice cubes. Add 1 drop of essential oil to half a spoonful of honey, agave syrup or crushed fruit, mix with water and fill your ice tray and freeze! Use in ice teas, smoothies, and flavored waters.

Essential oils are an infinite source of aromas and they bring a touch of originality to your ordinary dishes. Give them a try in your kitchen, combine, taste, but most of all, have fun creating amazing and bluffing new recipes. Enjoy yourself!

As a rule of thumb, if you can consume the herb or the plant (in spices, tisanes...), you can use the corresponding essential oil in your recipe, only in much, much lower quantities

Here are just a few exemples:

In Desserts: 

Bergamot, sweet orange, lemon, Mandarin, Rose geranium, Lippia, Lavender, Mint, Cinnamon, Ylang-Ylang

In Savory dishes: Rosemary, Thyme, Bay leaf, Turmeric, Ginger, Clove, Lemongrass

Citrus aromas

• Bergamot: Pastries, Tisane and teas, Fish dishes
• Lemon: All recipes (fish, meats, savory or sweet)
• Mandarin: shellfish, fish, Tisane, fruit salads
• Sweet Orange: roast meat, grated/julienne raw vegetables (carrot, beetroots) All Pastries
• May Chang: Sorbets, custard, whipped cream
• Lemongrass: Soups, curries, Asian recipes
• Petitgrain bigarade: Tisanes, fruit salads, pastries
• Grapefruit: All types of desserts

Herbal aromas      

• Mint and Peppermint: Tomato sauce, gazpacho, raw vegetables fruit salad, chocolate, desserts, drinks cold and hot
• Bay leaf, Thyme and Rosemary:  Cooking water of pasta, rice, cooked vegetables Apples, apricots
• Niaouli: Pates, game, marinated, dish and slow cooked recipes
• Clary sage

Flowery and sweet aromas        

• Rose geranium Fruit salad, ice cream, custards, whipped creams…
• Lavender: Roast meats, Fruit salad, cakes, ice cream
• Neroli (Orange blossom) Fruit Salad
• Ylang-Ylang: custards, whipped cream, fruit salad, chicken, fish

Spicy aromas

• Cinnamon: herbal tea, honey, stews, All pastries, Hot wine, Hot apple juice, pastries, and cookies
• Ginger: Desserts, exotic dishes (Chinese, Japanese...)
• Clove: marinades, hot wines, and drinks, glühwein
• Nutmeg: mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables
• Juniper berry: game, stews, marinades, sauerkraut, glühwein
• Pepper: Marinade

Resinous aromas

• Pine: Hot starters, pates, game marinades, Grog sauce (rum/honey), Pastries (Christmas log), chocolate, pates, game
• Eucalyptus (citriodora, smithii or radiata): honey, hot drinks, cold drinks

Do not use during the first 3 months of pregnancy / breastfeeding 

Keep out of reach of children and pets.

As a general rule, always perform a skin patch test before using your essential oils for the first time.

DO NOT USE UNDILUTED and seek medical and specialist advise when in doubt