Terpenes & Food: Recipe of the Month by the Nomad Cook Featuring Myrcene

When you cut up a mango or chop up cilantro, the aromas that you sense are due to the terpenes, the scent molecules found in all in plants, fruits, herbs, and vegetables that make them taste and smell the way they do. Travis Petersen, aka The Nomad Cook, is one of Canada’s up-and-coming chefs to truly take advantage of the flavor opportunities terpenes have to offer. He’s teamed up with Lab Effects to bring you terpene infusion beverage and culinary recipes to inspire more use of terpenes in the kitchen.

This month’s terpene recipe offers a spin on a Mexican street-food favorite Tacos al pastor. The blend of flavors (pineapple, ancho chilies, smoked paprika) originates from Mexico, but the perfection comes together with the addition of the Myrcene enhanced sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3.5 lb boneless pork shoulder
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1 Tbsp mustard powder
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp pepper
• 2 Ancho Chilies
• ¾ cup white wine vinegar
• 1 Pineapple
• 1 Cup orange juice
• 2 Tbsp Infused Maple Syrup
• 4 Drops of Myrcene
• Skewers

Instructions:

1. Slice Pork in 1ich pieces and put into a bowl.
2. Mix all the spices together and add to a blender with the vinegar, orange juice and ancho chilies. Blitz until emulsified.
3. Pour into the bowl with the pork and leave in the fridge overnight to marinate.
4. Skin the Pineapple and slice into a disk about 1” in height.
5. Using three skewers put two slices of Pineapple at the bottom. Piece by piece slid the pork down, building upwards.

1. Once you have all the pork on the skewers, take half the remaining marinade, and evenly pour around the top.
2. Take two slices of Pineapple and put on the top. (use additional skewers as support to keep is standing upright)
3. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper below.
4. Place your oven rack to the lowest level and heat to 320 degrees and carefully place the pork in the oven for 2 Hours.
5. Remove from the oven and put onto the cutting board. Take all the juices and liquid on the pan and put into a pot with the other half or the reserved marinade.
6. Add Infused maple syrup and reduce by 1/3rd. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
7. Once the sauce has cooled down, add the Myrcene and evenly pour over all the meat. Put back into a bowl and toss to coat.
8. Serve with Diced Onions, Cilantro and Corn Tortillas.

Pro Tip: Serve right away. ***If you leave your taco meat in a heating tray or try to reheat the al pastor meat, you will lose the Myrcene due to evaporation.

Myrcene’s Chemical Properties

• FLASH POINT: 103°F/39.4°C
• BOILING POINT: 334 °F/168 °C
• COLOR: COLORLESS
• ODOR: FRUITY AND CLOVE-LIKE
• MOLECULAR FORMULA: C₁₀H₁₆

Cooking With Terpenes

Lab Effects offers terpenes in a variety of formats (food-grade) that can be added to any complementary recipe to enhance its flavor and aroma. When cooking with terpenes, a little goes a long way, so only use a few drops! Lab Effects recommends working with water-miscible terpenes for water-based recipes (sauces, jams, desserts, beverages). Water-miscible terpenes use a unique micelle technology that seamlessly fold any terpene profile into a water-based formula through an advanced nano-emulsified micro-encapsulation technique.

Interested in cooking with terpenes?
Email info@labeffects.com