Intro – Bella-Bella’s Barbeque-Peri-Peri Marinade

Marinating is another tool we can use as Lovers of Food to impart Flavour. It usually refers to Savoury Food that can be Rubbed with Spices using a Dry Rub Marinade Method, a Sauce that covers food items completely using a Wet Marinade Method to soften and pre-flavour food while in a raw uncooked stage, or we can also use Marinades post cooking, e.g. Marinating Blanched or Grilled Vegetables like Mushrooms, Peppers, Olives (even Cheese!) or Cooked Pork Ribs.

Marinades can take on many forms, for example an Oil Dressing with Flavour Agents like Marinated Olives or Labneh Cheese Rounds in Garlic Oil with fresh Herbs, or the Marinating of Pre-Cooked Pork Spareribs in a Sticky Sweet Barbeque Sauce. We can Pre-marinate a Blanched Duck Breast or Pork Belly in Chinese Five Spice and “seal off the meat” in a Sous Vide Vacuum Packed Bag to ensure that the spices permeate the meat and intensify flavours. Cooks love to use this ‘Vacuum Bag Marinating Method’ to seal off oxygen, that cause oxidation and the loss of aromatic oils (flavour loss), and in the process, allow the flavours to develop inside the vac baggie while “pressing the flavours into” the item. Even Fruit can be compressed and marinated in a Sous Vide Vac Baggie that will result in an almost “meaty” texture and amplified fruitiness. You can even use tightly wrapped Cling Wrap to achieve the same effect in making Carpaccio or Cured Meats.

The Greeks gave us Greek Yoghurt and the Buttermilk Lamb Pre-Marinade using Garlic and Rosemary in exhilarating amounts. Indian Cuisine brought the world the Pre-Cooking Technique of dunking meats into a Yoghurt Marinade with Toasted Spices. Argentina makes use of a Red Wine Vinegar Marinade aka ‘Basting Sauce Combo’ that is injected into roasted meat over an open flame or on a grill called “Asado”. Italy gave us Marinated Egg Plants, Olives and Grilled Bottled Peppers. Asia brought us the classic Soy-Ginger-Honey-Marinade, the beauty of the Salty Sweet harmonious balance. We can see that you cannot LOVE cooking without loving Marinating in all its forms. Technically, the Curing of Meat is also a form of Marinade, although the Wet or Dry Cures can “cook” the Meat using a Salty Brine, Salt Spice Rub or using an Acid in for example a dish called “Ceviche”, a Marinated Fresh Fish Dish that is cured by Lemon Juice using the Process of ‘Acidifying’ the meat at the last minute by splashing ample amounts of Lemon or Lime Juice over the meat. “Macerating” refers to Sweet Dishes being ‘Marinated’, e.g. Fresh Strawberries with Vanilla in Marsala Wine or Macerating Fruit Mince Pre-Mixes in a little Brandy. Orange Peel Candy is marinated and dunked into a high Sugar Stock (Concentration) after being blanched, then often dipped into dark chocolate. We can marinate and experiment using so many techniques for both the Savoury and the Sweet…Take a look at a few at my favourite Marinades below – is the Barbeque Flame burning yet…?

(Excellent for Barbeque Meats, Ribs, Pork Spareribs or Cauliflower Steaks):

Ingredients:
1 c Chutney
½ c Tomato Sauce
½ c Sweet Chili sauce
½ c Sweet Wine (Marsala, Port or Cape Ruby)
¼ c Peri Peri sauce
¼ c Worcestershire Sauce
¼ c Olive Oil
¼ c Dark Brown Treacle Sugar
1 Ripe Pineapple, Chopped Fine
1 Sweet Red Pepper, Chopped Fine
1 Medium Purple Onion, Grated (Discard the juice)
1 t Paprika, Smoked
1 t Paprika, Sweet
1 t Rosemary, Chopped Fine
2 Garlic Cloves, Grated Fine
Zest of one Orange
Zest of one Lemon
Juice of half a Lemon
Thumb Size Ginger, Grated Fine
1 Birds Eye Chili, Chopped Fine
1 Jalapeño, Chopped Fine
½ t Dried Chili Flakes
Black Pepper
Pinch of Salt

Instructions:
Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized pot and gently bring to the boil while stirring often. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and close the lid. Allow to sit for one hour until cool. Cover the Meat or Cauliflower with the Sauce, Marinate for at least one hour or overnight (meat). Grill the meats or Cauliflower and cook the sauce to boiling point before serving it with the food times.