Of Spice and Men

Jaxom

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I've already posted on here a few times that I'm getting ready to move. Loosing the home I've inherited and all that. I'm past the point of this bringing me down anymore, I'm actually looking forward to a move as a fresh start and all that jazz.

One of the things that I really want to work on is expanding my cooking ablities. Not to gloat, but I already have a pretty well rounded skills set. As the only child (son) of a single mom, I had to learn to cook at a young age. I was hungry and mom was tired from working all day! So I did what most do and chipped in with the cooking chores. I have to say I actually learned from the "best". Before my mother bought her first house, we lived with my grand parents. At the same time so did 3 of my great grand parents as well. So while my grand father and his father sat in the living room watching the news, something a young child would not be interested in at the time, I sat in the kitchen table watching my mother, grand mother and my two great grandmothers cooking. Oh the debates and down and out arguments on how do do things. Imagine 3 generatations of women cooking the same meal together!

The arguments weren't all that bad. But most importantly the food was excellent! The gut that I still have to this day (I'll be 45 in August) is proof of this. To this day I still don't like convience foods, fast foods or even common "munchy" type stuff. Give me that good ol' home cooking any day!

While I enjoyed learning from my family in this way, there's one thing that I didn't learn from them. And that was the use of spices and herbs. Each one of these women had a "go to" spice that they used in just about everything. For my grand mother and her mother's part, that was simply, "if it don't taste right, it needs more black pepper!" My other great grand loved rosemary, and finally my own mother relied heavily on bay leaf. And that was pretty much it. That is until I got into boy scouts.

Most of my scout leaders were ex-military. Because of the nature of how rations for our service men were done in the past was rather bland, most of these men often talked about their one chief complaint was the lack of flavor, or spice. So they them selves would experiment with this and that to enhance their rations. This willingness to experiment was then passed on to me in later years. I would say our scout troop was proably the only one to have a dedicated spice box that was nearly the same sized as every other troops standard patrol box!

Where this leads me today... I cannot get my hands on enough different spices and herbs! But this is my quadry. When seeking the "ultimate" spice collection via google, I see spice and herb sets or holders that are limited to 8..10...16 herbs. IMHO that's nothing to what's out there! How can any company call a 16 bottle spice rack an "ultimate" anything is beyond me when I can name easily 50 spices/herbs just off the top of my head! The largest rack I can find on the internet only holds 120 bottles!

So, what I'm trying to determine is developing a long list of what spices and herbs everyone uses. For arguments sake I cannot say these would be "must have" or such. because that all depends on each individuals style and interests in cooking. So what I would like to do is gather a list of suggested herbs and spices that here use.

Before posting though there's a few issues I wish to mention. I don't belive anything with the word "salt" in it is either a spice or herb. If I want more garlic and salt in a dish, I'll add more garlic and salt, not garlic-salt. I'm actually trying to avoid salt as much as possible for heatlh conciderations. Same goes for combo spices that we see more often in local grocery stores. I don't need McCormic to sell me a bottle of "italian seasonings" when I already have oregano, rosemary, thyme and garlic on hand. On the flip side of the coin, I can see having "curry" "red curry" and "madras curry" on hand, depending on what I'm making, even though the word "curry" just means a mixture of spices. This seems to be one of the exeptions to the rule, I doubt I could make the same by combining other herbs and spices together.

Futher concideration. Fresh herbs/spices are always best. When this isn't feasible, the next best is dried whole. To either be crushed in a pistol/mortor or coffee grinder. Futher more something like garlic, I have on hand diced, granular and powdered. While using clove is usually the best option this sometimes is not practical when using smaller quantities. Speaking of smaller quantities. Obviously if we were to come up with a list of several hundred spices/herbs, one would never be able to use that all within the time before some of them would begin to loose their freshness. For those spices and herbs that have some medicnal values above and beyond just tasting good, they also slowly being to loose this as well. So while I may end up assembling a list and evntaully building my own custom spice rack to hold them all. Ones that I don't use all that often will be purhcased in smaller quantities.

So without rambling on any longer, I've already done enough of that....what spices do YOU have in your spice rack?

Thanks,

Jax
 

Javamama

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I guess what you have depends on what you like. I like basic single spices mostly, but there are some blends I buy just because.
I do not have a spice rack, as all my spices are in different types of containers. I keep them in a small cupboard on a tiered stand so I can see everything.


The meals I use the most spices for are Mexican style, other than that I really just use a good sea salt, pepper, and whole foods for flavor - garlic, onion, peppers, lemon, tomato sauce/paste, etc.

I buy my spices from Penzeys. They are very good quality, no junk fillers.
I have alot of chili powders in different heats.
White and black pepper in their own grinders.
I use a Greek blend often.
I have a couple different paprikas.
A good cumin.
Dried parsley, this year I'll dry my own from the garden.
Bay leaves.
Dill.
Sage.
Not really a spice, but vanilla beans to make homemade vanilla extract - can't beat it.
Cinnamon from Penzey's is the best. I like all the varieties.
Whole nutmeg.
Cloves.
Allspice - not just for desserts! Goes great in Moroccan/Mediterranean dishes.

I'm not a fan of thyme or basil or oregano or curry so I don't keep them.
 

sufficientforme

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Let me just say "I understand" LOL my spice cupboard runneth over!
I am a huge spice fan and no you will not find garlic salt or onion salt in my cupboard. I even have overflow in my pantry of more spices :hide
Well I must disclose I do love Janes Crazy Salt I do use that in a recipe that calls for salt but very little.
A huge pet peeve is not having the spices I need for a recipe so I tend to stock up, I really do not worry about going bad, most tend to keep long after the 6 month time line of being opened :hide
Must haves that I use regularly are:
Garlic powder
Onion powder (since hubby and kids despise onion this is how I hide it)
Janes crazy salt
mixed pepper
Cinnamon
Parsley
Oregano
Basil
Paprika, hungarian, regular and smoked
Cumin regular and smoked
Chili powder green, chipotle and regular
Curry mild
Red pepper flakes/Cayenne pepper
Sage
Thyme
allspice
celery seed
nutmeg
Okay I tried to picture what I grab the most and I would say those are it but I am sure I missed several!

418_100_4250.jpg
 

TanksHill

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I really don't have much to contribute to the varieties mentioned above. I use the basics. But one thing I do is buy in bulk and store in 1/2 pint canning jars. Sometimes even those go quickly.

For the basics I grow and dehydrate my own. Oregano, parsley, basil etc...

This is a great idea. Maybe when your done you could post a master list for us.

gina
 

tamlynn

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I found out I have a Penzey's store right next to me. I still haven't been there, but I really want to go.

Spices I use frequently:

Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cumin
Chili Powder
Pepper
Curry powder

not too many, I guess

Herbs I try to grow:

rosemary
thyme
basil
chives
cilantro
oregano
parsley
 

SKR8PN

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Jaxom........I feel your pain and I have just one word for you.
Penzey's.


They not only have the freshest and best herbs, but they also have quite a few spice blends that are to DIE for.

I love their Southwest, their Adobo, the Turkish and Lemon Pepper seasonings. Their cinnamon selection is outstanding as well!!

I gave up on trying to keep all my herbs and spices in any kind of "collection". They stay in whatever jar they happen to come in and I just make space in my cupboard for them all.

Oh and one more tidbit.....ya just GOTTA try their Chipotle pepper!!
 

Ldychef2k

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I make a few seasoning mixes that really do work well for me. They do have salt in them, but if you don't use it, then leave it out.

First one is bacon salt. I found bacon salt in the bulk section at my local grocer, costing $9 a pound. I bought 1/2 cup, then kicked it up with coarsely ground pepper, granulated onion and granulated garlic. Ended up doubling the volume and thus extending the impact.

The second one is a lot more complex, and worth every minute. I used to sell this stuff. It is basically a mole (pronounced MOH-lay) powder. Mole is a Mexican sauce which can have 30 or more ingredients. Basically, the powder is a combination of powdered chiles and other ingredients: Kosher salt, Mexican oregano, granulated onion, granulated garlic, California chile powder, New Mexico chile powder, paprika, cumin, pasillas powder, black pepper and cocoa powder.

I also use quite a bit of chipotle powder just on its own.
 

Woodland Woman

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These are the spices I use most frequently:

Basil *
Thyme *
Oregano *
Rosemary *
Marjoram *
Garlic Powder
Garlic Cloves *
Savory
Dill
Dill Seed
Parsley *
Cumin
Turmeric
Sage *
Ginger
Cinnamon
Cayenne Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper
Chili Pepper
Black Pepper
Ground Mustard
File'
Chives *
Cilantro *

* denotes what I am currently growing

I make my own blends also:

Italian
Chinese
Cajun
Mexican
A mixture for sausage
 

tortoise

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I MUST have thyme for cooking fish.

And I CANNOT survive without fennel, basil and parsley. I go through basil and parsley in enormus quantities. I make fabulous italian.

Against popular opinion, oregano is not the classic italian spice. The flavor is actually fennel, usually in the sausage.

I also use huge quantities of garlic and onion. Garlic minced in a jar and fresh onion.
 

freemotion

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I just can't have a spice rack. It doesn't work for me, so I got rid of it years ago. I save small jars with tight-fitting lids and use those to put my herbs and spices in (baby food jars, small jelly jars, etc. I ask friends and family to save them as I rarely buy anything that comes in a jar anymore!) I keep spices and baking items on one side and all the main-dish herbs on the other. I also have rows of antique glass-top canning jars in pint sizes with rubber rings that have the larger quantities in them....mostly what I grow and dry from my garden or from other's gardens.

I keep most of these jars in a kitchen cabinet on plastic turntables. I have the "bulk" herbs from the garden on an upper shelf, to restock my daily-use jars.

I won't give my list, as it is sort of a repeat of other's lists already posted. But I want to add my favorites. My new favorites are the fermented flavorings. I ferment minced fresh garlic and store it in the fridge in a jar for quick minced garlic without the chemicals. I also do this with hot peppers. I ferment an Italian salad dressing mix with fresh herbs from the garden. I make fermented yellow mustard, brown mustard, and horseradish mustard.

I use salt! I love salt. I have Celtic sea salt, Redmond Real sea salt, and homemade sea salt for things that need to be really white. I also have kosher salt for cheesemaking but would prefer to make more homemade sea salt for cheesemaking in the future.

I tend to make mixes, too, for convenience. Some mixes I've made in the past are Chai tea, sausage seasoning, salad dressing, herbes de provence, tabouleh salad. I plan on making lots of sausage seasoning mix in preparation for hog processing day this fall.
 

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