Secrets and Shortcuts: flavour friendships in braises

I just picked up another tip on braising from Michael Smith's Chef at Home show.

The secret to a great braise is to first brown your meat, then add a trio of chopped onion, celery and carrot to build a neutral flavour base. You can further personalize with another threesome of your favourite flavours that go together well.

Michael, for example, braised his lamb shanks with chopped apples, cinnamon sticks and brown sugar, three flavours that go together naturally, as he puts it :)

At the end of the braising period, add those same ingredients again in fresh form. But this time, instead of using a large dice, chop them finely. You just want them to heat through, but still be crisp enough to lend texture and taste fresh.

Michael also suggested some other flavour combinations that go well together in braises:
* orange juice and rosemary
* pineapple, rum and brown sugar

The celebrity chefs are always dropping hints about which ingredients are best friends. I'll blog about more flavour friendships soon so that we can all know which combinations make for happy tastebuds :)