Afood paste is a semi-liquid colloidal suspension, emulsion, or aggregation used in food preparation or eaten directly as a spread.[1] Pastes are often highly spicy or aromatic, are often prepared well in advance of actual usage, and are often made into a preserve for future use. Common pastes are some fruit preserves, curry pastes, and nut pastes. Purées are food pastes made from already cooked ingredients.
Some food pastes are considered to be condiments and are used directly, while others are made into sauces, which are more liquidy than paste. Ketchup and prepared mustard are pastes that are used both directly as condiments and as ingredients in sauces.
Many food pastes are an intermediary stage in the preparation of food. Perhaps the most notable of such intermediary food pastes is dough. A paste made of fat and flour and often stock or milk is an important intermediary for the basis for a sauce or a binder for stuffing, whether called a beurre manié,[2]aroux[3] or panada.[4] Sago paste is an intermediary stage in the production of sago meal and sago flour from sago palms.[5]
Food for babies and adults who have lost their teeth is often prepared as food pastes. Baby food is often very bland, while older adults often desire increased spiciness in their food pastes.
Blenders, grinders, mortars and pestles, metates, and even chewing are used to reduce unprocessed food to a meal, powder, or when significant water is present in the original food, directly into a paste. If required, water, oil and other liquids are added to dry ingredients to make the paste. Often the resultant paste is fermented or cooked to increase its longevity. Often pastes are steamed, baked or enclosed in pastry or bread dough to make them ready for consumption.
Traditionally salt, sugar, vinegar, citric acid and beneficial fermentation were all used to preserve food pastes. In modern times canning is used to preserve pastes in jars, bottles, tins and more recently in plastic bags and tubes.
While many of the pastes listed below may be made particularly spicy or aromatic or not, some pastes are specifically intended to deliver intense flavor rather than bulk.
Pâté is finely chopped, finely ground or pureed highly seasoned meat, whether fish, beef, pork, liver, or other organs.[10]
Shrimp paste is made from fermented ground shrimp, either from fresh shrimp or dried ones, with the addition of salt. Prepared shrimp paste often has oil, sugar, garlic, chili, and other spices added.
Marzipan, made from almonds, with the addition of sugar and sometimes egg whites,[15] is used as a center-fill in confections, or hardened to serve as a candy itself.
Sugar pastes are usually used for frosting and icings, or sweet centers in pastry. Sugars are often combined with cream, oils and egg whites as well as water to make pastes.
Fondant is a basic sugar paste used as an intermediary in the production of candies and icings.[18][19]
Yeast extracts, usually as byproduct from brewing beer,[24] are made into food pastes, usually dark-brown in colour. They are used to flavour soups and sausages, in the preparation of salad dressings, and directly as spreads.
^Russell, Percy (1995). The Nutrition and Health Dictionary. New York: Chapman and Hall. p. 383. ISBN978-0-412-98991-9.
^Bayless, Rick (2007). Authentic Mexican 20th Anniversary Ed: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico. New York: HarperCollins. p. 99–101. ISBN978-0-06-137326-8.
^Lee, Cherl-Ho; Steinkraus, Keith H. & Reilly, P. J. (1993). Fish Fermentation Technology. New York: United Nations University Press. ISBN978-89-7053-003-1.
^Akinrele, I. A. (2006). "Fermentation studies on maize during the preparation of a traditional African starch-cake food". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 21 (12): 619–625. doi:10.1002/jsfa.2740211205.
^Zubaida, Sami (2000). "National, Communal and Global Dimensions in Middle Eastern Food Cultures". In Zubaida, Sami; Tapper, Richard (eds.). A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 35. ISBN978-1-86064-603-4.
^Sombutyanuchit, P.; Suphantharika, M.; Verduyn, C. (2001). "Preparation of 5′-GMP-rich yeast extracts from spent brewer's yeast". World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 17 (2): 163–168. doi:10.1023/A:1016686504154.
