Toasting spices - when to do it?

As I understand it - the reason to toast spices before grinding is to heat the volatile oils inside and thus increase the flavour.

It seems to me that this would be a one time thing..? ie: that you should probably only do this just before you're going to consume them/use them - otherwise you're just losing some of the flavours..?

For example - I'm making harissa to go into some Merguez sausages. The recipe calls for toasting the spices before making the harissa. However - it seems to me that the right time for the spices to be heated would be just before you're going to eat them?

Given that I'll be cooking the sausages - won't the spices 'release their flavour' - at the point I cook them - and then be most flavourful at the point I eat them?

Does this make sense?

submitted by /u/Eastern-Title9364
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