What is marinating and what types of marinades are there?

Flavor and texture—that's what a marinade adds to your meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, and bread. But this preparation technique has a long history and various forms. What exactly is marinating, and what types of marinating can you use? We'll explain.

Marinating: an age-old technique
For a good definition of marinating, we'll first delve into the history books. Did you know that marinating is an age-old process? Marinating meat originated in Roman times. Wars were fought with the help of horses. These horses, if they hadn't already died in battle, were often not strong enough to survive. Therefore, they were slaughtered and eaten. But horses that had endured so much fighting were tough meat. Hours of cooking often didn't help and was certainly not practical at the time. By adding homemade vinegars, the tendons and muscles of the horse meat became more tender. And later, it turned out that the meat also had a longer shelf life. The foundation of marinating as a cooking technique had been laid. In the many years that followed, this technique was expanded and further developed. It was applied to meat and eventually also to fish. Besides vinegar, people also started using sour fruits, such as pineapple, in marinating to change the texture of meat. Interesting detail: in the Netherlands, zuurvlees is the oldest dish we know when it comes to marinating meat.

What exactly is marinating?
Based on this, we can conclude that marinating involves adding an aromatic (sometimes acidic) liquid or dry substance to raw materials like meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, or bread, with the aim of making the ingredient more tender and flavorful. The advantages of marinating are numerous: you enhance the flavor and change the texture of the ingredient with this technique. The technique is relatively inexpensive, increases the yield of the final product, and also makes it visually more appealing. Marinades are available dry, water-based, oil-based, or a combination of water and oil.

Dry marinades
A dry marinade is a mixture of dry ingredients, usually herbs and spices. Dry marinades are generally used as a spice mix, giving the product a pleasant appearance without the use of liquid. Dry marinades can be applied dry as a rub , for example. Properly applied dry marinades generally guarantee a tasty, crispy crust on meat, for example.

Water-based marinades
Water-based marinades penetrate the core of the product, creating a full, spicy flavor. Water-based marinades require several hours of processing time, depending on the size of the product being marinated. These marinades are suitable for baking, roasting, and grilling.

Oil-based marinades
Unlike water-based marinades, oil-based marinades don't require a processing time because the oil doesn't penetrate the product. Products marinated with oil-based marinades can be cooked directly. No fat is needed for frying. End products marinated in this way lose less moisture and are less susceptible to external influences, resulting in a longer shelf life. Oil marinades also often give the final product a beautiful color and appearance. Examples of such marinades include World Grills .

Marinades at Verstegen
Around 1985, we at Verstegen began producing marinades. This became possible when Verstegen opened its own sauce kitchen. We then launched two lines of marinades: culinades and marinades .

Culinades were products without binding agents and were offered in flavors like lemon, pepper, and garden herbs. These products have been discontinued over the years. Water-based marinades initially came in flavors such as Western , Grill Provençal , Meat , and Chicken . These products remained, however, and were and still are widely used in the market.
We now offer a wide range of different marinades. Want to know more? Contact one of our specialists .