Achiote, Annato, or Annato is the spelling you will find when searching for this seed. I can go on about it's potential use in remedies but all I can say on it for sure is yummy flavor and scent. In the jar it smells very pungent, but don't be fooled, once you run it through your favorite oil it will be an aromatic scented oil and each type of oil or lard or grease will add it's own nuance to it.
This is my Achiote Oil, as I prefer to call it. I use it in rices to add a little more color and when combined with Safron (Azafran in Spanish) it just adds levels of flavor and aroma and color that can only be described by seeing and tasting it yourself. So don't be shy and experiment! Try it out next time you want to make rice, alcapurrias, pasteles and more. Let me know what new uses you have for it, or if you have already usd it in something else, I would love to know about it.
Here is a link to my FB page in case you can't enlarge the recipe page from here and want to try it there. Feel free to 'LIKE' it and share it with your friends and family, please :)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.152489011554201.31529.138598012943301&type=3
If you have any questions feel free to ask :)
I love cooking! I love making people happy with food. I am NOT a chef! Just a home cook. I learned over the years of watching my Mother and Step Mother and even my Father, how to cook Puerto Rican food. I lived in Puerto Rico with different relatives over the years and learned many recipes. I also learned from the local colorful people and other relatives how some foods and herbs can benefit your health. I learned about Ginger, and Yerba Buena, Yuca, Calabaza, Malanga Lila, Lemon and Honey, Mint, Hojas de Naranja (Bitter Orange Leaf). Now I want to share these recipes and helpful curative home remedies with you to try and preserve some of the lore of my country through others that are interested in these things. I want you to experience my cooking and maybe even some short stories as we go and I hope I don't over share (which I will probably do, so forgive me) and what little knowledge I have collected in the hopes that someday it will be passed on to others around you. In the end I just want to cook and make people happy through food and maybe share a few laughs and a feel good story. Take it all in good spirit and please feel free to share with me and expand on my knowledge so that I may share more with others. Thank You for reading and I can't wait to see your comments and pictures of what foods you make and what alterations and new ideas can surface from our exchanges.
Truly Grateful,
MoMo
