Those who enjoy a variety of meals and dishes will testify that what makes dishes dynamic and ever interesting is the ongoing mix of a variety of ingredients. In most dishes western ingredients are predominant. However there is still much room to venture and be adventurous with some exotic ingredients from far away places for the fun of it or for variety's sake. One more thing to remember about exotic ingredients is that most of them came to be as a result of their health benefits when incorporated into your day to day cooking.
Most but certainly not all exotic ingredients have healing properties for such chronic diseases as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer, skin irritations and so on. the list is essentially endless. Further most of these ingredients are actually herbs in their own right and for that reason its easy to understand why apart from making nice dishes also provide some health benefits. The following are some selected exotic ingredients to consider for your next dish.
Ketjap manis
Originally coming out of Indonesia but now also available at a commercial basis in the Netherlands and other countries, the ketjap manis is made out of soy sauce and has a salty taste. It however also taste sweet with a pronounced molasses-like sweet flavor. You can apply it as a condiment over a dish say of egg-fried rice and a variety of other deep fried dishes. Use it at home with your chicken and ribs and also with stir-fries.
Olive Tapenade
Many chefs apply the olive tapenade on grilled salmon trout or chicken. This particular exotic ingredient is a paste that is made using pureed olives. You may also use this ingredient as sandwich spread. You can also use it as a topping for your poultry dishes such as pork apart from chicken.
Truffle Oil
The idea here is to infuse truffle flavor into a dish. To achieve this inexpensively good quality olive oil is mixed with slivers of white and black truffles. The mix is them drizzled over your range of selected dishes. Application is varied and there are many options. Its great with potatoes made crispy, mushroom omelette and even ordinary mushrooms.
Rosemary herb
Rosemary is a herb. It as a wonderful smell and fragrance. You can use it in your chicken , your pork, salmon and a whole array of endless dishes. This is one particular ingredient that you can count on for health benefits such as stimulation of the immune system, improved circulation which is great for individuals with hypertension. It is in fact commonly known as a blood pressure herbs. It is also beneficial for asthma suffers apart from its ability to help improve concentration and blood flow to the head and brain.
There hundreds more exotic ingredients to pick from from all over the world. It is beneficial to go for those ingredients that have medical benefits more often than not. These are easy to find even at a local farmer's market. An internet search is also a good way to identify good ones and which recipes that can be applied to before going out to buy.
I am an avid writer on health and eating healthy in particular. I also write on specific obesity issues such as childhood obesity and childhood obesity in America.