Cooking with Essential Oils

Essential oils are liquids which form as secondary metabolites in a plant. They are distilled by steam or by water from the leaves, stems, bark, or other elements of a plant. In nature, essential oils aim to protect the plant from herbivores, viruses, bacteria, and fungi, while also attracting certain insects to disperse its pollen. All essential oils have a characteristic strong odour and are highly volatile and concentrated. This is because they can contain up to 200 compounds, with only 2 or 3 compounds at high concentrations.

Herbs and Essential Oils

Herbs can be taken fresh or are often dried, crushed and placed into plastic bottles that you can find in your local supermarket. However, plants consist of quite a lot of water, and during this drying process, most of the active ingredients of the herbs will be evaporated along with the water. Then of course the herb becomes sort of useless in terms of its medicinal properties.

Therefore, using essential oils will help you regain all the beneficial properties of the herb in a much concentrated form because the active ingredients (such as the terpenes) are still present. 1 drop of peppermint oil = 30 cups of peppermint tea. As essential oils are very concentrated, you should dilute them in a carrier oil (like oil of jojoba or sesame oil) or water prior to use. Store all oils in cool, dark places to prevent them from being evaporated. Avoid touching the insert with your finger to prevent contamination of the essential oil with your body’s natural oils.

Aromatherapy

As most people should know, essential oils have often been used in diffusers to create a perfumed environment which purportedly can influence the mood of the occupants in the room. A study in Japan showed that diffusing the lemon essential oil around an office helped decrease typing errors by 54%. Or perhaps it could be the secret ingredient to making your house smell really nice when your relatives are coming over to visit. There are also other uses for essential oils, this includes massage, aromatherapy baths, and medicine.

Cooking?

First, the precautions.

• Use only extremely pure (therapeutic grade) essential oil in your dishes. Failing that, you can use organically grown, 100% pure essential oil that are classified as safe.
• Safe oils: Angelica, Basil, Bergamot, Chamomile, Roman, Chamomile, German, Cinnamon Bark, Citrus rind (all), Clary Sage, Clove, Coriander, Dill, Eucalyptus glob., Frankincense, Galbanum, Geranium, Ginger, Grapefruit, Hyssop, Juniper, Jasmine, Laurus nobilis, Lavender, Lemon, Lemongrass, Lime, Melissa (lemonbalm), Marjoram, Myrrh, Myrtle, Nutmeg, Orange, Oregano, Patchouli, Pepper, Peppermint, Petitgrain, Pine, Rosemary, Rose, Savory, Sage, Sandalwood, Spearmint, Spruce, Tarragon, Tangerine, Thyme, Valerian, Vetiver, Ylang Ylang.
• Do not ever use cheap essential oils that you find in those 2 dollar shops! This is because, a lot of nasty stuff have been added into them to lessen the cost, and you don’t really want to eat more chemicals than you need, do you?
• Again I’d like to stress about the concentration. You don’t need 20-30 drops of oil in your dishes, in fact, most recipes out there use only 1-4 drops at most.
• Add your oil into your food just prior to serving because essential oils are really volatile. Adding directly into your wok will cause the essential oil to evaporate immediately.
• Plastic: Essential oils can actually break down plastic, so prepare all your dishes in wooden/metal/porcelain containers.

Most people don’t realise that essential oils can be used for cooking. In fact most of our industrial products use flavouring additives which originate from essential oils. Also, if you do not have a kind of herb (eg lemongrass) that you need for a recipe, then you can substitute this for the lemongrass essential oil. Since essential oils are extremely concentrated, using them will give your dishes a unique taste.

Now for the fun bit:

Which essential oils go with which kinds of food?

Here are the 5 types of commonly encountered essential oils:

• Fruit: Such as lemon, orange and tangerine. They are full of flavour and evaporate quickly, so it’s advisable to add these towards the end.
• Acrid: Black pepper, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg. They have a characteristic strong taste, so try using them in moderation.
• Mints: Peppermint, spearmint. To add a hint of mint to your food, or for cooling down the body.
• Floral oils: Jasmine, lavender, rose. Add them to meats to get a hint of flowery flavour.
• Herbal oils: Basil, oregano, sage, parsley, rosemary. Rich and flavourful, a little goes a long way, so add them when you desire for that taste of herbs.

Meats — Citrus oils, basil, cinnamon, parsley, rosemary. Dilute the essential oils in cooking oil (1 drop essential oil to 1 tablespoon of cooking oil) and apply them on the meat as a marinade/tenderiser. I’ve just got myself a bottle of lemon essential oil today. Some lemon chicken tomorrow, perhaps?

Seafood — Black pepper, lavender, lemon, lime, orange, sage, thyme.

Water — For that zesty taste, try putting a drop or two of orange or lemon essential oil into a flask of water.

Cakes, puddings — Lemon, orange, clove, tangerine.

Honey — Cinnamon, clove, lavender, basil, chamomile or lemon

Besides this, essential oils are getting researched as a food preservative as they have very effective antimicrobial effects. Tests have shown that essential oils are effective as preservatives for meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and even chocolate!

So go ahead and try these out in your kitchen, and I look forward to hearing about your culinary adventures!

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