SUMMER MARINADES

Originally Published in Nanaimo's More Living Magazine

Summer is fast approaching, and with it; sun, family, friends, and backyard dining. Hot barbeque meats and chilled salads typically make up the average backyard dinner party, but what you need is a quick and easy way to make your backyard feast memorable. To that end, I have one word for you – marinade.

Marinades are used to add flavor to any food, and is not limited to just meats – you can easily marinate your vegetable kebobs in an Asian ginger and soy mixture and have a flavorful treat. Some marinades also have a curing effect on foods, and some marinades cure to the point where it is safe to eat ‘uncooked’ meat as long as it is cured properly and long enough. Curing is usually associated with preservation of food for storage over the winter months, but by using the same basic concepts, you can create light and refreshing marinated dishes for hot summer evenings.

There are different types of marinades, some wet, some dry, and if you do a quick search on the Internet, you will find literally thousands of recipes for various uses. There are some basic ingredients that you will find in almost all marinades. The type and quantity of these ingredients will affect what the end product will taste like, and in some cases how long you can store it. The use of marinades is not limited to steaks. Fruit, vegetables, seafood and poultry can all benefit from a few hours in a flavorable marinade. Here are some of the basic marinade ingredients and what they do;

Citrus

The acids present in fresh squeezed lime and lemon juice have a curing effect that is similar to cooking, and it adds a refreshing flavor to meats on a hot summer day. This technique is commonly used in the Mexican dish called Ceviche, where fresh raw fish is ‘cooked’ by lime juice with a mixture of cilantro, tomatoes, onions and fresh jalapenos.

Salt

Salt is a major flavoring ingredient in most marinades. In a light salt marinade, it adds flavor, but a heavy salt marinade will cure or preserve food. With enough salt, you can cure meat to the point where it does not need to be cooked to eat, or even refrigerated. Beef jerky for example is made with a combination of a dry salt cure and a smoking process. A perfect summer item that is cured and chilled with salt is the Nordic dish Gravlox, which consists of curing sides of salmon with salt, pepper, dill and alcohol. The mix only takes a day or two to cure through, and makes a nice chilled dish for a hot outdoor buffet.

Sugar

Sugar is also used to add flavor and as a preservative. Sugar is typically used in conjunction with salt in marinades to help sweeten an otherwise bitter or overly salty mixture. With enough sugar however you can completely cure food as well and we commonly see this in the autumn preserving of jams and jellies. A nice summer dish cured with sugar is candied salmon.

Alcohol

Alcohol has been used to cure and marinate since its creation. Wine and beer can be used in conjunction with other curing ingredients to add flavor, much like in the afore mentioned Gravlox. Sprits like vodka and brandy can be used to preserved fruits, and flavor the spirit used in the process.

Now I know some people out there are saying, “Salt, sugar and alcohol? If your cooking doesn’t kill me, my doctor will when he finds out what I’ve been eating.” There are healthy substitutes for some of these marinade ingredients, especially if you are just looking for the flavors, and not the curing effects.

In the place of salt, you can use soy sauce or miso paste, both of which do have some salt. I personally prefer to use a natural sea salt for my seasonings, and I do not recommend commercial salt replacers due to the numerous studies that show how unhealthy they can be. You can add any number of spices you want to enhance the flavor of your marinade, but your body does need at least a small quantity of good old-fashioned sodium chloride to function normally.

Sugar has numerous substitutes, and I don’t mean the manufactured ones with all those nasty warnings written on the side of the box. For healthier sweeteners, you can use an unrefined, unbleached granulated sugar, honey, or my personal favorite – maple syrup. Of course for diabetics or people with allergies to sweeteners, none of these options will work. For them Stevia, a leafy plant that acts sweet on the taste buds without the effects of sugar, is the safest solution.

Another healthy alternative to marinades is a dry spice rub, like a Caribbean jerk spice, which typically consists of rubbing a blend of onions, allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, salt (optional) and other spices on your meat, letting it sit to infuse the flavors before grilling.

There is no reason for your summer barbeque to be a bland and flavorless experience, so get out there and enjoy the sun, the company and the great food.


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