Cooking with spices

To get the most from your spices, it is best to heat them, as this activates their nutrients, which are mostly fat- and water-soluble. This is why it’s usually best to cook them into your food, rather than to take them as a supplement. They also need to be broken down, so you will find that most of the spices used here are either freshly ground or, if whole, left to cook for a long period of time to soften up and infuse into the dishes. In order to protect the aroma and infuse flavours into your food, leave the lid on during cooking.