Marinades have an unspoken mystique about them.
These contrived secret blends miraculously change poultry, seafood, meats and vegetables from bland to bursting with taste.
Using marinades has been around for hundreds of years, says food writer and cookbook author Peggy Trowbridge Filippone.
Marinades date back to pre-Columbian Mexico when cooks wrapped meats in papaya leaves to make them more tender, she writes in her blog on about.com.
These days, there are many simple flavor-infusing liquids to choose from.