Sazon

[Tab]

For the last few years, I've been using Sazon - a spice packet that seems to be hispanic/mexican based that I have usually used with chicken as a "secret ingredient" and I use it for chicken in quesadillas/burritos, and whatever else. It's probably only "secret" because I live in New England and not further south. It's not hard to get - you can get it at a local supermarket.

First off, it seems to be an MSG spice, which is fine - I'm not against MSG. It does come in different flavorings, apparently.

Can anyone here expand my knowledge of Sazon? Recommended uses, and so forth? History??

[politicat]

1. I have some I use in rice once in a while.

There's a saffron version and a plain version. The saffron makes a not bad yellow rice.

It's a lot of sodium, though, and while I can tolerate the MSG, my blood pressure is swoops more than the Vomit Comet. Sodium fluxes can cause that, so I try to maintain a constant intake.

It's a big part of Mexican cuisine, kind of akin to our use of french onion soup mix in everything from dip to pot roast.

[HamdenRice]

2. Sazon

My SO is Puerto Rican and grew up in her mother's Spanish restaurant so she knows all about Sazon and has explained it to me.

Unfortunately, Sazon is basically just a packet of MSG. "Sazon" literally just means "season" or as English speakers would say, "seasoning." All are made by Goya, and some varieties come with a touch of other Spanish flavorings like cumin I believe.

If you can tolerate MSG, there is no question it definitely "works". It makes everything taste better and more intensely and seems to put one's mouth on auto-pilot, but MSG apparently works as a neuro-stimulator in the nerves of the mouth, not by adding any particular flavor. Some people experience headaches, drowsiness a few hours after eating MSG, and it can trigger migranes in migrane sufferers.

Goya and other Spanish food companies have taken certain traditional Spanish seasonings and sort of commodified and industrialized them. Two other products you will see are Adobo and Sofrito. But these originally were mixed seasonings that people made at home.

The red colored Sazon, which is very popular, is a substitute for something that Spanish cooks used to make at home, and really good ones like my SO still homemake -- achiote oil. The coloring is achiote, a small red seed you can also buy wherever Spanish food is sold. She gently fries the red seeds in oil for just a few minutes, which extracts the red deep coloring and then discards the seeds. The oil is used to color rice and other dishes. It has very little taste but gives red Spanish rice its typical color.

That red achiote oil is what most Spanish cooks use red Sazon to replace. Both really are the poor man's (or geographically the Caribbean's) saffron.

[calico1]

3. I am Puerto Rican.

The "sazon" envelopes you see in the supermarket are a mass produced commodity as "Hamden Rice" states. Here on the mainland "Goya" pretty much has control of the market. In Puerto Rico there are other brands such as "Bohio" which I could find here for a time but now I can't. That brand has sazon that is low sodium and free of msg. I usually get some when I am visiting relatives in Puerto Rico. Goya brand in Puerto Rico has never been too popular. There are much better brands but here unfortunately they are bigger and have control over that market.

There are many varities sazon comes in. The popular one "culantro y achoite" has culantro, which tastes like cilantro but much stronger and the color of the achiote seed. Most "real" Puerto Rican cooks (at least the ones I know) just make their own achiote by gently cooking achiote seeds in oil.

Check your PBS station and see if you get "Daisy Cooks." She is a Puerto Rican American living in Brooklyn and she often demonstrates how to make achoite oil and "sofrito" which is what the rest of the little envelope seeks to imitate. She is a bit over the top for me but if you can get past that she will show you how to make perfect rice, achiote oil and sofrito which are the basis for Latin American cooking.

[HamdenRice]

4. Calico -- what is "real" sazon?

You mention that some companies make MSG free sazon. Goya sazon is little more than MSG, so I was wondering what is in the other brand?

Also, is culantro the seed of cilantro? That would make it the spice that in the US and India is called corriander.

[calico1]

6. Hi, Hamden Rice.

Real achiote, which is I think what I mentioned is made by gently cooking achiote (annato) seeds in oil. It brings out a rich, red color and it adds flavor to whatever you are cooking. Daisy Martinez says she prefers the taste of the annato to saffron, and I agree with her. In addition, if you are making real "sofrito" then you would take this finished oil and saute chopped onions, garlic, cilantro and culantro if you can get it. In Puerto Rico there are a number of locally produced sazon products. They are way better than Goya which is the big one and has control over the market. The Bohio is very good one and comes in low sodium, no MSG variety. When I go to visit relatives I stock up and bring a bunch back with me.

Culantro is a totally different thing from cilantro. The leaves are different and it has a similar but stronger flavor. If you can get "Daisy Cooks" on your local PBS channel watch it a few times. She explains the whole "sofrito" and "achiote oil" process in almost every show. You can also PM me if you have any specific questions that I did not make clear to you in my posts.:)

[Warpy]

5. I remember seeing Bohio products back home in the

Jamaica Plain section of Boston. I did a little looking and came up with http://store.amigofoods.com/bohioproducts.html

A taste of home is available for you, and the prices don't look awful.

[catnhatnh]

7. Yep,in New England it does qualify as a secret ingredient...

...my personal favorite is "con azafran" (saffron) and I use it in soups and stews as well as a chicken rub.Try an envelope in mashed potatos or for fun plain egg noodles with melted butter....I figure about 1 envelope per 4-6 servings....