Abstract:
A spice packet has multiple compartments with instructions printed on a front side, where each compartment has instructions associated with a sequential step to be performed using the contents of the related compartment. The back side of the packet includes a shopping list and culinary information which may be of interest in establishing the historical background of the dish which uses the spice packet. The amounts of the spices in each packet are selected according to the strength of each individual spice which forms the contents of a packet.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]    The present invention relates to packaging for dry food products. In particular, the invention relates to assaying and packaging for spice packets which include a separate packet for flavorants which are part of a cooking step. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]    Certain ethnic cuisines are known to be difficult to prepare for those outside the traditions of these cuisines. Often, the difficulty in preparation of high culinary quality ethnic dishes is related to a small number of critical operations during preparation, where preparation may be viewed as a series of process steps to be performed, a small number of which must be performed within narrow parameters and with flavorants of pre-characterized intensity, steps which are typically performed by a chef knowledgeable and experienced in the particular cuisine being prepared. 
         [0003]    In one example, for the preparation of Asian Indian cuisine, the dishes are known to have very intricate flavors, and the success rate for home cooking of these dishes by newcomers is relatively low, as it is widely known that the most reliable route to a high quality Asian Indian meal by a cook unskilled in this cuisine is to dine in a local Indian restaurant. The barriers to success in home cooking of the same meal includes the human selection of spices according to flavor intensity, the combinations of spices with respect to flavor intensity produced by each, aging and variation of spice potency, and the criticality of a first step wherein seeds and other intense flavorants are introduced into a high temperature oil for release of flavors. In one prior art system commonly used for spaghetti sauce, a single spice pack contains the required spices such as oregano, which are added to a tomato based mixture. This system may be considered a “single step” process, in that the spices involved simmer into the tomatoes, producing a sauce at a temperature below the water boiling point of 100° C. The ubiquity of this type of “single-step process” actually forms a barrier to the success of preparation of food items which require a first set of steps where seeds are briefly fried in an oil at a temperature above 100° C., and one or more subsequent familiar steps of simmering at temperatures equal to or less than approximately 100° C. 
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]    A first object of this invention is a compartment for dry spices, at least one compartment having a spice related to a first cooking step, and one or more compartments for spices used in subsequent cooking steps. 
         [0005]    A second object of this invention is a process for selecting the amounts of spices for placement in compartments based on the flavor of the particular batch of spices. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]    The invention is a multi-compartment spice pack which includes a first spice compartment for storage of a pre-measured amount of a flavorant spice, such as seeds which are cooked in oil for release of flavorants into the oil as part of a first cooking step, and other compartments for subsequent use, where the compartments are sequentially arranged according to the sequence of use, the spice pack having a front side with instructions corresponding to use of each spice pack written on the associated compartment, the back side having a grocery shopping list related to the spice pack, as well as background information for the dish associated with the spice pack. 
         [0007]    The spices of the pack are graded according to potency in combination with a formulation which uses the grading process to determine spice compartment quantities for the multiple compartments of each spice packet. 
         [0008]    In another embodiment of the invention, a first packet contains a first flavorant such as a first spice mixture suitable for use at a boiling temperature for a first interval of time, and a second packet contains a second spice mixture suitable for use at a boiling temperature or other temperature for a second interval of time. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  shows the front view of a spice packet according to the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  shows the back view of a spice packet according to the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows a process for grading flavorants such as seeds. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  shows a process for determining amounts of flavorants for each compartment. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  shows a process for selecting compartment contents from a cooking process. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  shows a two compartment spice pack  100  according to the present invention. A first compartment  102  and second compartment  104  are formed from sealable front layer and back layer. Any number of compartments may be so formed, but two are shown for clarity. Each compartment is arranged in the order of use, such that the first compartment  102  includes a tear line  110 , instructions  106  associated with the use of the spices in the compartment, and second compartment  104  includes tear line  112  and instructions for use associated with that compartment which may be located above or below tear line  112 , and additional compartments are similarly marked and have associated cooking instructions, such that a cook may tear open each packet in succession and follow the instructions associated with the particular cooking step. 
         [0015]      FIG. 2  shows the back view of the packet of  FIG. 1 . The labeling for the rear side may be unrelated to the cooking step labeling of the front side, which front side labeling is typically aligned to the seal divisions  102  which separates one compartment from an adjacent compartment, or the seal divisions  102  may be unrelated to the front side labeling. In one embodiment of the invention, a shopping list  202  and culinary information  204  is presented on the back side, along with any required information such as nutrition facts, manufacturer information, and the like. 
         [0016]    The first compartment typically contains spices such as seeds, which are fried in oil at a temperature elevated sufficiently (greater than 100° C. and less than the “smoke point” of cooking oils of approximately 230° C.) to release these flavors into the cooking oils, the contents of the first packet known as temperature released flavorants, as a high temperature cooking cycle is required for them to be released, whereas the other contents of the spice pack provide flavoring at lower cooking temperatures (100° C. and below), which other packets are added after the first cooking step. In one embodiment, the contents of one or more compartments are cooked together or separately in an oil or cooking fluid which supports a temperature substantially greater than the boiling point of water, such as greater than 120° C. or well above natural simmering temperature of a sauce containing water, and either before or after the oil-cooking step, one or more compartments are cooked together or separately at a temperature which is at or below the simmering temperature of water, such as well below 120° C., which is elevated above 100° C. to take into consideration the increase in boiling point due to salts and other additives which may increase the vapor phase temperature of water. 
         [0017]    The culinary information  204  which appears on the back side of the package may contain, for example, historical information about the origins of the food item to be prepared, cultural context related to the food item to be prepared, or other information relevant and specific to the dish being prepared. 
         [0018]    The shopping list  202  which appears on the back side of the package may contain the food items required to prepare the dish, or sources for the more exotic items required, or any information which assists in the acquisition of the required items for preparation of the dish associated with the spice packet  100 . 
         [0019]    In one embodiment of the invention suitable for Asian Indian cooking, the first packet contains mixtures of flavorants such as seeds, leafs, roots, or plant saps of Coriander, Cumin, Mustard (including black, brown, and white), Bay Leaf, or Asafetida, which are optimally heated in oil at a temperature greater than 100° C., substantially above the simmering temperature of a sauce containing water. In this embodiment, the second and any subsequent packets may contain one or more of Coriander, Red Chili Powder, Powdered Turmeric, Powdered Garlic, Garam Masala or its constituents (Black pepper, Cloves, Cinnamon, Brown cardamom, Cumin seeds, Dry Ginger, Nutmeg), Bay leaves, Cardamom, Sugar, Salt, Black Pepper, Black Cardamom, Black Salt, Cinnamon, or Roasted Cumin. 
         [0020]    In one embodiment of the invention, the contents of one or more compartments are related to the preparation of a beverage such as Chai, where a first compartment contains spices including at least one of dry ground Ginger, Fennel seed, Cloves, Cinnamon, Sugar, and dry Tulsi, which first packet of spices is added to boiling water and simmered for 2 to 5 minutes. The second compartment of the package may contain a second step spice combination which requires a shorter boiling time, where the second compartment contains fragrant spices such as cardamom and loose tea leaves which should be boiled or steeped for a shorter interval of time than that associated with the first compartment. The benefit of the two-step packaging is the fragrance of spices of the second compartment are retained if the tea and certain fragrant spices such as cardemom are added in a second step after the slower flavor releasing spices of the first step are completed. 
         [0021]      FIG. 3  shows a process for batch grading of flavorants with variable potency, such as seeds. In a first step  302 , the flavorant is separately prepared. For a batch of seeds, this may require frying the seeds in oil, since the flavor released by some types of seeds varies greatly, such that a greater number of seeds would be required for a recipe with seeds having weak flavor compared to the number for seeds with strong flavor. In step  304  an assay of strength is made, such as by human tasting, and in step  306  a strength Sk is assigned for this particular flavorant of this particular batch for use in determining the amount of seed to use. The grading system may be any which provides a numerical value for use as a weighting coefficient for use in determining the amount of this ingredient to use in a later preparation step. For example, a seed with “usual” potency may be assigned a strength of 1, and a seed with “weak” potency may be assigned a strength of 0.75, and a seed with “strong” potency may be assigned a strength of 1.5. Similarly, a second step flavorant used in a subsequent simmering process rather than an oil-based first cooking step such as chili powder may be rated with a numerical potency which is later used in determining the amount of that flavorant to add to a particular spice packet. 
         [0022]      FIG. 4  shows a process for flavorant grading, where a list of ingredients and quantities is used in step  402  to convert to a weighted quantity for each, such that if A, B, C are the seeds for a first packet, and Sa, Sb, Sc are the respective strengths of those seeds, the quantity for each would be converted  404  by division of A/Sa, B/Sb, C/Sc etc. The compartment would then be filled  406  by quantities A/Sa+B/Sb+C/Sc, etc. The processes of  FIGS. 3  which produce relative strengths may be performed for certain ingredients, with the other ingredients which are more stable over time and batch to be assigned strength=1 (uniform weighting). 
         [0023]      FIG. 5  shows a process for converting a recipe to a packaging order. Step  502  identifies flavorants such as seeds or spices that are to be cooked in oil, which flavorants are separated and packaged in a first compartment in step  506 , whereas step  504  identifies flavorants that are part of a simmering cooking step, which are placed in one or more subsequent compartments in step  508 . 
         [0024]    The objects of the invention are not limited to those particular examples provided, and can be applied to any process for cooking food or preparing beverages where multiple cooking steps at different temperatures and times are desired, each cooking step having a nuance or particular process step required for maximizing favor, and the individual ingredients may be subject to selection by a knowledgeable chef based on assay of the flavor intensity prior to packaging. Therefore, while specific examples are provided herein for understanding the problem and the invention which solves this problem, the invention is not limited to only the examples provided.