HOW TO USE

Using an artSAVOR to create your next culinary masterpiece will add an incredible boost of flavor with just a few simple ingredients and minimal use of salt and added fats like butter. 12 artSAVORs equals infinites culinary possibilities and creations. You can even build compound flavors by using a combination of artSAVORs. Your only limitation is your imagination!

Every single artSAVOR bag is measured and filled by hand. We use only the freshest organic, single-origin ingredients, measured loosely by hand. Unlike most seasoning mixes, we do not mix ours in large vats and grind them together before filling the packages for a very important reason, grinding destroys and disperses the essential oils that carry and impart flavor. As a result, how you use artSavors is also different. For nearly all of the blends, you need to combine with oil to allow the artSavors to “bloom” or release their essential oils into the carrier oil. You also need to blend the entire package to achieve the desired flavor profile. You won’t always need to use the entire mixture and can safely store in an airtight container for future use in the refrigerator.

STORAGE

Our packaging is tightly sealed and made of a special material to protect the contents from damaging ultraviolet light. We still encourage you to store artSAVORs and all your herbs and spices in a cool, dark space to keep them fresh. Storing them above your range is not recommended. Once blended with oil, you should store any unused artSAVOR in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. [ See Healthy & Food Safety Notice We recommend you regularly go through your spice rack and toss in the bin, any seasonings that are more than a year old. Using old herbs and spices will either impart little flavor or can even become a bit rancid and impart bad flavors that will ruin your dishes.

BLOOMING & TEMPERING IN OIL

Herbs and spices are naturally fragrant, but to reach their full flavor potential, they need a little help and encouragement. Just tossing them into your food and hoping they will create the flavors you desire seldom works. An example that you will be familiar with is making a dish and serving it immediately, then storing the leftovers in the refrigerator until the next day. Upon tasting the dish the next day, how many times have you said to yourself how much better it tastes? This is because the essential oils have combined and married together over the time.

BLOOMING | Combining an artSAVOR with a room temperature high quality olive oil or other neutral oil like grapeseed, canola or safflower allows the essential oils to release and combine into the carrier oil. This is called “blooming”. Except for a cases such as artSAVOR 75, we strongly encourage you to thoroughly mix the entire contents of a single bag with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of oil and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before using. You can store any unused mixture in a refrigerated airtight container for up to 3 weeks. We keep several of our favorite artSAVORs already bloomed and stored in the refrigerator as ready-to-use flavor solutions, almost as important to our cooking as sharp knives!

TEMPERING | One of the most common methods of using herbs and spices across Asia and the Mediterranean is to temper them with heat in oil, frying them as it were to release the aromatics and flavors into the oil. A chemical reaction, called maillard, occurs involving an amino acid and natural sugars when heat is applied. Many spices can be dry fried to achieve this reaction, however we use many dried leafy herbs in our artSAVOR blends that will just burn if dry heat is applied. So do not dry fry artSAVORs.

MORE USES FOR RESERVED BLOOMED artSAVORS

Read the artSAVOR flavor profile ingredients and your imagination to create infinite uses for artSAVORs, a few examples are:

Recipe Additive | Add just a teaspoon or so to a recipe to impart deep flavor. Lightly steamed or sautéed vegetables tossed with a little bloomed artSAVOR is pure magic.

Finishing Oils | Drizzle a small amount of the flavored oil over simply cooked meats or vegetables to finish a dish with a surprising burst of flavor.

Gorgeous Vinaigrettes | You can quickly make brilliant vinaigrettes from the stored bloomed artSAVORs by following the classic ratio of 3:1 – 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar or acid from citrus fruit juice with 1-2 teaspoons of the bloomed artSAVOR and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. You enhance a store bought salad dressing by combining in a 2:1 ratio – 2 parts dressing with 1 part artSAVOR 75 mixture already blended in oil. It’s magic!

Savory Gastriques | Another fun finishing sauce is a gastrique, a sort of sweet & sour made from equal parts of sugar and vinegar or fruit juice that has been reduced to a syrupy sauce. You can create a savory gastrique by adding no more than a teaspoon of a bloomed artSAVOR to an already reduced gastrique and cutting in a couple of tablespoons of butter. This artSAVOR gastrique will be a buttery delicious flavor bomb.