One day on campus I noticed a tree bearing this fruit that looked familiar. Somewhere in the recess of my mind I recalled my mother having this strange looking thing in the kitchen and using it to add colour to a stew she was making. Sure enough, it was indeed an Annatto tree. Read more about it, here, here and here. I couldn't believe that no one else around me was grabbing at the tree laden with Annatto to make the precious achiote oil and achiote paste that is so prevalent in Mexican, Latin and some Caribbean cuisines.
This is the annatto fruit, the spikes are not as sharp as they look, they are soft to the touch. It blossoms in bunches as shown above.
This is the fruit cut open with the annatto seeds clustered like grapes.
Annatto seeds
Achiote Oil. The colour is a rich brick red. The recipe can be found at any of the links above; although they suggest using olive oil, any vegetable oil can work. I used Canola oil
This is to give you an idea of what the colour of the oil is like
I use my achiote oil to cook with like regular oil when I am looking for some colour and flavour. I also use it for stews and other dishes that call for some sort of colouring. Here I used it to cook some eggs.
29 comments:
Good info and something new to know. Very interesting. viji
I blogged about this annatto seeds and pd at Aroma for Kalyn's WHB.I love the color.I made chicken cutlets too.They are beautiful,not many people know about these!:))
i remember using them to colour my nails when i was a kid as my mom wouldn't let us paint our finger nails with (toxic;)nail polish. i came to know abt it as a food clouring agent from asha's blog. now its a first time i am seeing its oil:) thanks for the info cynthia. i like that red colour there.
VIJI - isn't life wonderful that each day brings hope and an opportunity to learn something...
ASHA - do you now use it sometimes when you are cooking? I must check out your post on it. Thanks for letting me know.
SIA - you must try making the oil and using it for some of your dishes. The colour is tryly amazing. Sometimes when I want my rice to look special, I simply saute some shallots with the oil, add rice and liquid and steam, it looks and tastes like a fancy dish :) A lot of artists use it for colour in their work and it is also used as a base for some dyes.
If anyone is looking for the seeds to make the oil, check the ethnic asile in your supermarket. Most people associate it with Mexican cooking.
oh cool - Mom always had a bottle of the red stuff in the fridge for colouring certain foods, but I never knew what a strange spiky thing the annato was!
i love your new template, cynthia. and great pcis.
@ Bee - Thank you sweetie! You would not believe (actually you would) the hours (change that to weeks) spent trying to work out html, adjusting margins, and choosing a colour scheme. Then I downloaded a font I wanted to use for the blog title only to realise that it would not show up as a true representation on someone's system that did not have that font! Whew, as I said, it took weeks for me to work this out but I am happy with the look now. Again, thank you for the compliment.
i saw this plant in our nursery when i was really really young and i remember one of the gardeners telling me that they use in nail polish, i can clearly remember that tree b'coz of its vibrant colour and they look lovely don't they cynthia.
After all these years, i came to know what that is really?
thank u cynthia for all the efforts
Cynthia this annatto tree was there at my father's place and we used to redden our palms with it as kids :)) but later learnt from Asha's blog that it can be used for cooking as a coloring agent and now u re saying its used for making oil too...I think next time if I see thus, i wouldnt hesitate to buy a bottle for me :)
Thanks for this info:)
Good Day!
Shn
P.S Hey I liked ur new template too :)
Padmaja - You are so right, when the tree is blooming the flowers and it fruits look vibrant and really brighten up the place. As I was telling Sia, artists use it a lot and it is used in many products as a dye.
Shn - even if you don't get the oil already made, it is easy to make it yourself. One of the links in my post talks about making it. All you need are the seeds which you can get from the ethnic asile in your supermarket and oil.
Thanks, re: the new look of the blog.
hi Cynthia,
nice new look to your blog!! liked it. those eggs looks so beautiful.
cheers
sharmi
Hey Sharmi! Welcome back! I hope you and the family had a great weekend.
Cynthia - I had never known about this until I stopped by at your blog. Very interesting.
Very informative post...well illustrated...the blossoms look really pretty...seem so familiar...but can't really place them...memory sharpness definitely needs some repairing...
What a beautiful fruit. Haven't used it but I think saw it once in Asha's blog
What a nice idea to have such an oil, does it add an extra flavor, what kind ?
Love your blog. I am hypertensive and on a no-salt diet. As a result, I had sort of lost interest in food. I stick to my diet religiously, but no salt? I was guided to this blog, by a friend of mine and what it has done is rekindled my interest in my food. I pay more attention now to what I am preparing. I admire the colours of the various dishes. And do you know what? I am actually liking my diet. Thank you very much. Please keep on blogging.
Nature and Me - thanks for stopping by. Please visit as often as you like.
Sunita - thanks for your kind words, my dear. Maybe you played with it as a child? Check Sia's comment.
Sandeepa - you are right, I think Asha posted about it on her blog sometime but I have not checked out the post. She said she posted for Kalyn's WHB (I am not sure what WHB stands for, I am only repeating from her post :))
The oil is really nice Sandeep, if you can find the seeds, please try making the oil, it flavours and adds a wonderful colour to your food. It is found in the ethnic food asile in supermarkets.
The flavour it gives is subtle, woodsy, smokey kinda. As I said in my post, the oil is used just like regular cooking oil.
Anonymous - thank you so much for coming by. You are most welcome. Visit and linger for as long as you like :)
I am glad that you have rekindled your interest in food. We all have to be very careful about what we eat these days that is why it is really better to cook home as often as one can.
Once the interest is there, you will see how much you enjoy experiementing with different flavours (well you already said that you are enjoying your diet). My motto has always been everything in moderation. I think that is really the key - moderation.
Thanks for the encouragement to keep on blogging.
Anonymous - please thank your friend for the referral.
I have seen this tree at my mom's place in kerala. I never knew it had some use. Good Info Cynthia!!
A natural colorant...I ll be collecting those when i go next time:))
Thats really a wonderful post about annatto seeds.As Seema said we most of people came to know about this from ashaji's blog....now from you Cynthia....
Presentation is very excellent.
Cynthia, your blog looks beautifull with all this color !!!!
Great changes, indeed.
Thank you girls - Danya, Usha and Pilar
What a beautiful post...lovely pictures and great info! I need to get my hands on this stuff :)
what a beautiful vibrant color. Great info cynthia. Your template looks great too :)
Thank you kind Mandira and Nupur.
Dear,I think I am first time here,But ur face is familier from other blogs,U have got a nice blog here,now onwards I will be a regular visiter.
We call this seed "Kurangan kaya" is a malayalam word,Kurangan means Monkey,I don't know what relation is between monkey and this seed?We also used to colour our plams and foot ..U gave me lot of information about this..Thanks for sharing.
Dear Kitchen Fairy, Welcome, welcome. I am very glad to have you over. Please, make yourself comfortable and stay as long as you like and come as often as you can. Your input is most appreciated.
Thanks and again, a warm welcome.
"Anatomy of the Annatto" - that's what I call this photo essay. I've used the seeds often enough, but never knew its gorgeous provenance.
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