Spice Up Your Life!

"When I cook, I don't just top something with ginger or add a little bit of cut-up lemongrass. A balance of flavors is essential, so I make sure there are elements of sweetness, salt, heat, acidity and texture. For salt, I might use some capers, soy sauce - sweetness can even be evoked by masa or coconut. For heat, there are chilies, and acidity can include citrus, lime..."

The speaker was Michael Schulson, the charismatic chef and host of the Style Network's Pantry Raid, and the event was McCormick's Flavor Forecast 2008 luncheon at Gilt Restaurant. (Besides being fed well at this event, I was to learn more about spices than I ever knew! Were you aware that one teaspoon of dried oregano contains more antioxidants than 1/3 cup of blueberries? Or that cinnamon may lower blood sugar? Or that red pepper might increase your metabolism? Note to self...)

Schulson was introducing our "Gastro-Tourist" course, which consisted of a plantain chip topped with curry-tempura shrimp, a spoonful of lemongrass-poached lobster with pickled lychees, and bright pink sugared rose petals in a poppy vinaigrette-dressed green salad. I tried to concentrate on each bite so I could focus on all the elements. (During the "meet-and-greet" before the sit-down, we'd already nibbled on deep red venison tartare livened up with allspice and brandied cherries, and poached foie gras on sage brioche.)

We were then treated to a very educational talk by David Heber, the director of UCLA's Center for Human Nutrition. (More interesting facts! 50,000 years ago, our human ancestors feasted on 800 varieties of plants. Also, the skin of an apple protects it from oxidizing in the same way that some plant compounds may protect us!) I wish I remembered more of what Mr. Heber said, but my fork was distracting me. It was digging into a cornmeal-crusted scallop atop a multicolored pile of little heirloom beans, a deep-fried green olive on a hunk of cinnamon-scented pork tenderloin, and roasted sea bass encrusted with gingered pistachios.

McCormick's Kevan Vetter and Gilt's Christopher Lee, who collaborated on the exciting menu, also spoke. (I haven't been back to Gilt since Paul Liebrandt left, but it is definitely on my to-eat-list now!) Lee talked about how sweet was becoming savory, and savory was becoming sweeter, and this was a perfect introduction to the dessert course. I happily indulged in a guava-coconut sorbet on a strudel cone on a white chocolate stand, cinnamon-dusted cocoa whipped cream atop a hot chocolate cupcake, and a chocolate orange candy decorated with an intense chocolate swirl and a bit of gold leaf. (I noticed that some people, perhaps those watching their figures, didn't finish their dessert! Don't they know that the presence of healthful cinnamon in the whipped cream negated all the calories?)

So, after all of this, you might like to know, what exactly are the 10 hottest flavor trends for 2008? Well, a couple are vanilla-cardamom and cocoa-chili. For more inspiration, click on McCormick's Website.