Flavor Profiles will help you to create your own delicious recipes. Once you know and understand it, your creativity in the kitchen will take flight.

Flavor Profiles help you understand how to combine and balance flavors which is a crucial cooking concept. Flavor Profiles come naturally for some people, but sadly for others not. Through my cooking classes, however, I have learned that the lack of confidence is a hurdle for so many people. Have you ever wondered why curry powder in your bolognaise tastes awful? Or why your pumpkin fritters lacks the flavor Ouma had in hers? She never told you about the pinch of nutmeg she adds to hers.

Well knowledge is power and through learning these simple flavor profiles, you will empower yourself to greatness. Create meals which has the perfect balance between sweet, savoury, bitter, sour and the ultimate umami flavor.

The easiest way for me to explain flavor profiles, is to do it by world cuisines. We all love Italian food, Indian food, Thai food and Middle Eastern cuisine to mention but a few. Here are a few examples:

Italian food: tomatoes, garlic, soft herbs like basil, thyme, parsley, lemon and also every vegetable that is native to that region.

Indian food: spices like garam masala, curry, ginger, cumin, mustard seeds ect.

Eastern food: ginger, garlic, chili, soy, spring onions etc…

For a more comprehensive Printable List, please email me and I will send it to you: myeasycooking@gmail.com

So I want to encourage you to learn the basic flavors, meats and other ingredients used in the different cuisines. You will be amazed at what you can create.

In this Banting Boboti, I have added flavors typical to the Indian cuisine, but I have made a few alterations to make it Banting friendly.

In this Banting Boboti, I have added flavors typical to the Indian cuisine, but I have made a few alterations to make it Banting friendly.

Banting Bobotie

Ingredients

1 large onion – chopped

45 ml olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic – crushed

5 cm piece ginger – peeled and grated

2 green apples – grated

20 ml curry powder

5 ml garam masala

5 ml cumin

5 ml fennel

5 ml turmeric

5 ml chili powder

600 g beef mince

300 g pork mince

10 ml salt

20 ml tomato paste

200 ml water or stock

30 ml Banting Blvd Cinnamon Breakfast Porridge or Psyllium Husks

6-8 eggs

100 ml milk

100 g almonds

2-3 bay leaves

Method

Heat  oil in a pot and saute the onion, ginger, garlic and apple for about 5 minutes. Add the spices and keep stirring to prevent the spices from burning. Add the meat and with a fork stir it to loosen the meat. Cook for about 15 minutes, then add the stock and tomato paste and porridge and cook until the mixture has thickened. Preheat oven to 180 C. Transfer the meat mix to a casserole. Whisk the eggs with the milk and pour over the meat. Top with the almonds and bay leaves and bake until set and golden brown on top.

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