Marinate or macerate? Definitions and a Recipe for Tea-Soaked Strawberries and Blueberries

As cooks become more experienced, they learn new techniques and terms. I have been cooking for decades and have a pretty good understanding of both. But if you’re still a stranger to the kitchen you may not be familiar with techniques or terms, especially similar ones like marinate and marinate.

So what is the difference? When you marinate foods, you submerge them in a liquid mixture to flavor and soften them. Teriyaki marinade is a good example. You can buy this marinade, a combination of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, cooking oil, and ginger, but I don’t think it’s as good as homemade. In a word, homemade tastes fresher.

According to the Epicurious website, the word marinade means “soaking food such as meat, fish, or vegetables in a seasoned liquid mixture.” The marinade adds flavor to meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables. The website warns against marinating food in an aluminum container. To avoid a chemical reaction between acid and aluminum, you should always marinate food in a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel container.

In her book, “A Matter of Taste,” Sylvia Windle Humphrey refers to marinades as “beauty dips that touch up cheap cuts of meat and leftovers.” What a description! According to Hunphrey, marinades work just as well with expensive cuts of meat as they do with cheaper ones. She says the process originated with ocean-going ships that marinated fish in brine to preserve it.

Marinating refers to the same process, soaking food in a seasoned liquid to infuse flavor, but the term applies to fruit. The Epicurious website says that “a liquor such as brandy, rum, or liqueur is usually in the mash.” This recipe for Macerated Strawberries and Blueberries Soaked in Black Current Tea is easy and incredibly delicious. You can add raspberries if you like.

Ingredients

1/3 cup boiling water
1 black currant tea bag
1/2 cup reduced sugar strawberry jam (raspberry can be substituted)
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup quartered strawberries
1 cup of blueberries

method

Boil water in microwave. Add the tea bag and steep for 4-5 minutes. Beat together strawberry jam, honey and vanilla extract, stirring until smooth. Gently add the strawberries and blueberries to the sauce and marinate for an hour. Serve in highball glasses and top with sweetened whipped cream or pour over vanilla ice cream. If you’re feeling adventurous, pour the fruit and syrup over warm waffles. Make four servings.