The spices of life

[matthewdaly]

I bought a spice rack probably over ten years ago when I started realizing that kitchens can be used for more than boiling water and microwaving burritos. It came along with eighteen bottles of herbs and spices. Of course, I have to bear my share of the blame for buying an eighteen-slot spice rack, but at the end of the day I suspect that I am sadly provincial AND they were needlessly esoteric or perhaps taking unfair advantage of the Marjoram Glut of 1997.

Let us review these bottles. Ones in parentheses are not part of the original set, and sit in separate bottles above the rack.

Well-understood: Chopped onion, garlic salt, onion salt, oregano, parsley, sweet basil, thyme, (cinnamon), (dill weed), (nutmeg)

Opened but probably only used once for a specific long-forgotten recipe: Bay leaves, fennel seed, savory, (cayenne powder)

Never opened: Allspice, celery seed, coriander seed, dill seed, mustard seed, marjoram, peppermint, spearmint

So, in celebration of spring cleaning rituals and the simplification of life, I'm in a vague mood to start acknowledging that my spice rack is not the House of Lords and some of these hereditary peerages might need to be wiped out to make room for exciting twenty-first century e-spices. Not even the things I use a lot are immune; I can chop my own damned onions and I think that I will be replacing the garlic and onion salts with their respective powders.

Any nominees for expulsion and membership would be most welcome.

Comments

[deane]

I find a sprinkling of allspice to be nice on pancakes, french toast and the like. Basically, any place you might use cinnamon will likely also take well to a bit of allspice.

I generally find garlic powder to be pretty awful and not taste much like garlic. If I'm not in the mood to crush my own then the small jars of chopped/crushed garlic in oil are an excellent substitute.

[matthewdaly]

Interesting. I've never made pancakes for myself, as I'm more of an omelet guy, but there's no reason I can't try. I guess I'll need to get a mortar and pestle, as the allspice is not ground but rather in petrified berry form.

I agree that garlic powder isn't much like working with cloves, and I couldn't imagine cooking with it. But it is a nice seasoning for pizzas and fries, and you need it for marinades. To be honest, I don't know how the dehydration process affects its properties as a vampire ward; you'd have to think that it would be more powerful but it's hard to find trustworthy research on the web.

[deane]

I suspect that the absence of published data on the effectiveness of garlic powder against vampires is in itself and indication that it doesn't work very well. Doubtless evolutionary pressure is keeping the body of researchers quite small.

[elissaann]

Try the marjoram! It's a slightly different slant on oregano.

Garlic powder is an odd idea, when garlic is so easy to use fresh.

Taragon is full of virtue, and I use savory often.

To curry favor, favor curry

[matthewdaly]

Ha! Shame on me for not referencing PDQ Bach first.

I am very appreciative of a different slant on oregano. I've been making a lot of pasta and pizza lately, so I've been overusing oregano and basil.

Spices

[prairierabbit]

There is a lot of great information and many easy recipe ideas in the Penzey's catalog, which is free here:

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeyscatalog.html?id=chXSfRfi

(No affiliation other than a very happy customer--fresh spices, in the amounts you wish, VERY reasonably priced if you buy by the ounce in the ziplock bags.) A certain Gypsy is a convert.

Dill seed is great for pickles of all sorts, and in making a creamy dill dressing for cucumber salad when fresh dill isn't available. (I use yogurt and sour cream, but either works alone.)

Bay leaves are great for soups or stews, as long as they are removed before serving. A-hem.

Some of the others are common in German/Scandanavian food--allspice and coriander especially. Sauerbraten uses bay leaves and mustard seeds, along with other things like juniper berries and cloves. If you don't cook those foods, they you may want to skip those.

Also, if herbs are stored at room temperature, especially in a kitchen, most are best consumed within a year or so. Seeds tend to hold up a bit better, but if you've had them for 10 years you may need to use more to taste much. So, you may wish to consider replacing those which are "original" to the set that you wish to try.

Speaking of providing way too much information...

Re: Spices

[matthewdaly]

Wow, the Penzey's catalog is fabulously informative. I'll have to buy something from them just to get on their mailing list! I went out and got one of those two-page laminated study guides that Barnes and Noble sells to try and learn about the spices, but a few paragraphs is so much better than one thin row in a highly packed table. One of the best-kept secrets around here is that Lori's (our local organic grocery) sells good spices in bulk and they don't blink if you buy it a teaspoon at a time for fifteen cents a pop.

It's funny, because I expected that the spices would be shot after all this time, but it doesn't seem to have turned out that way. If the thyme and dill weed are weak, then I'd almost be afraid of them at full strength. ^_^ I've had to refill the oregano and basil and parsley so far and wasn't knocked over by an increase in strength. Perhaps it is a ringing endorsement of glass jars out of direct sunlight or maybe my dysthymia renders me unqualified regarding the potency of spices.