We have all been there, eaten at a fine restaurant and been amazed about the taste of their food. Afterwards we tried to copy the dish at home and the result was, well, a poor man’s version, not even close to the taste and the dish looked different. Do not be scared, I can, and I will help you to master the process of cooking and the result including the taste and visual aspects. Yes, I know it sounds like a magic trick, but it is not that hard.

How to get started

Probably the hardest part. No matter what context, the process of change is always difficult. It is not different from elevating your food. Now that you are using our hydroponic systems and have already grown your herbs, fruits, and berries in it, it all comes down to timing. Harvesting them when they are at their best, packed with flavour and beautiful in colour. Your tomatoes should have a nice red colour, your chillies should have fully grown, and your herbs should have an amazing smell if you rub their leaves against your fingers. The best part of this is that your Plaant unit will be able to tell you when your herbs, fruits and berries are at their best. When you have mastered this, and believe me you will, you are a step closer to being a Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsey, or Massimo Bottura. 

Prepping your plants

As promised, it only gets easier. How should you prep your plants? Well, if you take basil for example, it is vital for the taste to stay in the leaf and not get on your chopping board. How will you accomplish this? Use a sharp knife - if you are lazy like me, and put your knives in the dishwasher, at least get yourself a knife sharpener. This way your knife stays sharp, and it will cleanly cut through the leaf without ripping it into a million pieces. The next step with basil is to stack the leaves on top of each other, with the biggest one being on the outside and the smallest one inside, then roll them like you would a cigarette. After this you can cut them easily and you will see that no juices have ended up on your board or knife. This method only works with basil, since with coriander, mint, or parsley the cutting method will be different.

To get more taste out of your tomatoes, you can take the seeds out and even peel the skin. This way the flavour is better concentrated, and it will taste sweeter.

We have been talking about the prepping part, which is essential, but a good prep alone will not be enough, if you have no idea how to use your herbs to elevate your foods. Tomatoes are one of the most used vegetables/berries, but with a few tricks you will be able to elevate their taste. Peel and remove the seeds and slowly heat them up until they start falling apart. This mash can then be used as a base for various sauces or stews. You want to elevate your normal salad? Take the fresh tomatoes and pour some olive oil, salt, and pepper on top, and put them into your oven for 10-15min. The tomatoes will have gotten a little bit colour and will taste sweeter, and I promise you, your guests will love the taste. The green panicle of tomatoes is also packed with flavour that you can easily extract if you heat them up in oil for a while.

Using plants in your cooking

We have been talking about the prepping part, which is essential, but a good prep alone will not be enough, if you have no idea how to use your plants to elevate your foods. Tomatoes are one of the most used fruits, but with a few tricks you will be able to elevate their taste. Peel and remove the seeds and slowly heat them up until they start falling apart. This mash can then be used as a base for various sauces or stews. You want to elevate your normal salad? Take the fresh tomatoes and pour some olive oil, salt, and pepper on top, and put them into your oven for 10-15min. The tomatoes will have gotten a little bit colour and will taste sweeter, and I promise you, your guests will love the taste. The green panicle of tomatoes is also packed with flavour that you can easily extract if you heat them up in oil for a while.

Now onto herbs. These green leaves do not look appetizing that is for sure, but they make your food taste better. Think about summer rolls, what is it that makes them so delicious? The secret is in the herbs. Put your finely chopped herbs on top of a stew or in your tacos and you will be amazed what a difference it will create. Even your dips, be It for potato chips, fish, meat or tacos, try to elevate it by adding chopped coriander, parsley, basil or chives. But be careful, even with herbs sometimes less is more.

If you want to be a real show off and wow someone with your culinary skills, use your herbs in a dessert, basil and strawberries for example are a magical pairing, same goes with coriander and mango, or chillies and chocolate. Those pairings are widely known, but if you have guests coming over you know that are culinary freaks, serve them parsley with banana and they will be amazed with how such a weird food combination can taste so good.
In the end, if you don’t feel like being too freaky with the herbs in desserts, just opt to mint and put a few leaves on top.

Hopefully this blog helps make your food tastier, uplift your standing as a chef in your friend group and learn more about the beautiful ingredients we use in cooking.