Does anyone remember kitchen bouquet?

Check this out, Annemarie. http://www.recipezaar.com/library/getentry.zsp?id=641
I think its big thing was adding the brown color to meat, poultry, and fowl that were cooked in the early microwaves that didn't have browning units and before microwave browning pans began available. I also remember my mother adding it to stews and soups that today I would use "Better than Bouillon." It certainlly didn't add the saltiness that three or four of Wyler's bouillon cubes added. LOL (I remember more than one overly salty soups, thanks to Wyler's.)

I believe every woman had it in her kitchen in the 1960s but I don't remember it being used so much for flavor as for coloring, particularly in gravies.



I found the following interesting description: "Zest up soups and gravies and great for turning rice brown."

Gee, how many times have you said, "If only there were a way to turn my rice BROWN!"?

It's also apparently very popular with food stylists for making food LOOK appetizing in photographs.

The ingredients are listed as: "Caramel, Vegetable Base (Water, Carrots, Onions, Celery, Parsnips, Turnips, Salt, Parsley, Spices), Sodium Benzoate".

It is basically l a concentrated vegetable stock with some color additive and lots of sodium. It is used for gravies,sauces and soups. I guess what made it so popular back in the day is why it still used today, it's a quick and easy short cut.

My mom still has a bottle of this in her kitchen cabinets... I think it's an "original" as I've never actually seen her use it and it certainly has something of an aged patina to it...

It seems like a vaguely creepy idea, to me.

I use it to make what I call 'Black Porkchops'. Coat both sides of a porkchop (medium thickness) pierce with a fork all over both sides, let them sit for a few minutes. Grill. It dosen't take long for the KB acts like a tenderizer.

I've used this product off and on since I started cooking. Not so much any more, but the thing I use it the most for is beef brisket done in the oven. My mom's recipe. Brush it liberally all over the brisket, sprinkle with sal and pepper and lots of garlic. Place fat side up. Pour in about 2 cups water and cover with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for about 4 hours for most briskets. Cool slightly and then refrigerate until cold. Trim away fat and slice very thin across the grain. Put back in the juices and heat thoroughly. OMG!!! Love it!
By the way, does anyone in town sell Vegemite??? I love that stuff and only get it when my New Zealand friends visit.

My mom always used and still uses it for gravy.

You can find it in the grocery store by the (of all things) bbq sauce, liquid smoke, etc. It comes in a plastic bottle now, but still looks the same. I do know that Wal-mart carries it.

[Robin Garr]

This is a really cool food-history discussion. Thanks for starting it! It's really a better candidate for The Kitchen than the Restaurants Forum, though, so I'm going to wave the Janitor's Mop and swish it over. I'll leave a signpost in Restaurants to make sure nobody gets lost.

It's been a while since I've been in there, but Burger's Market used to always keep it in stock!

it came in a brown glass bottle. i remember my mom using it. it's like a secret additive agent. someone was telling me recently it's still around. i have never used it myself. what was it used for? and what made it so special way back in the 1960"s kitchens...

Whoa !...We've got a bottle in the cupboard right now. Guess that says a little something about our age huh ? Tip: I've used it a few times to darken up my Gumbo. I can't honestly say it added to the flavor but it did make the dish look more appealing.

Back when I ran Butterball Turkey, my boss instituted a new rule: no Kitchen Bouquet allowed. It used to be (1960's and early 70's) that prior to photo shoots & ad campaigns they used to half cook the turkeys, and then brush on Kitchen Bouquet to make it look great. From around 1975 on (at least for Butterball) we had to fully cook all birds, and rely on "natural" oven browning - all birds were cooked as per the included directions, with no deviations allowed!

We talked to the photographers, however, and found that (at least back then) we were unique - Jennie-O, and most other brands still used the Kitchen Bouquet bath to be sure the photos looked good.

I'm not of that generation and I've always had a bottle in my cabinets. I use it to add color and a little deepening of the flavor ( from the caramel flavoring) ato gravies, stews, etc. I have a couple of old family recipes that call for it too. I really like the stuff, but in practice use it very rarely as that's not the way we cook most of the time. Come to think of it, I don't even want to contemplate how old that bottle may actually be....lol

Deb

Hmmm...

This may very well be the candidate I was looking for regarding savory cocktails. I'll keep you posted on how it goes...

Hmmm...

This may very well be the candidate I was looking for regarding savory cocktails. I'll keep you posted on how it goes...

I can remember having something(a drink) once around Thanksgiving time that may have had this in it...as well as some of that cranberry stuff from a can. Not the best cocktail Ive ever had...but the mixoligist was questionable at best.

I use Kitchen Bouquet to make my light gravy darker. I usually only use it at Thanksgiving time to make my gravy a golden brown