Cleaning out my spice rack last night gave me an idea. Spice shelf space is limited, which made me wonder which spices are really important. Also, I love making lists.
So here's the first of what may or may not become a running series called "If You Only Had 10."
If I only had 10 spices for my spice rack, these are the ones I'd choose in order.
1. Peppercorns and kosher salt: Kitchen gadgets are mostly worthless but a good pepper mill is not a gadget, it's an essential item. (Also makes a great housewarming gift!) Once you get used to freshly cracked pepper (not to mention the great sound cracking pepper makes), there's no going back to the ground variety. As for kosher salt, it goes better on vegetables and in dishes than ordinary salt and can be used to make homemade ice cream in a pinch.
2. Basil: There's no spice as romantic as fresh basil on tomatoes or basil-steeped olive oil or pesto. While dry basil maintains the sweetness of its fresh cousin, all the subtle flavors are lost. Problem is basil is a pain to grow in the winter. Fortunately grocery stores keep fresh basil stocked year round and it does keep in the fridge. Cooking basil for a long time will make the kitchen smell wonderful, but it will also make the basil it lose its flavor so eat it raw or put it in a dish at the last minute.
3. Oregano: If oregano was a person, it would be the owner of an Italian restaurant. If you're too lazy to make your own spaghetti sauce, try adding a little fresh oregano to jar sauce and see how much better it tastes. It's easy to grow indoors and hardware stores always have small pots with oregano seeds already in them.
4. Lemons/Garlic: The most important fruit/vegetable
combination. Lemons are great as a direct spice on fish and their
acidity makes them ideal as a replacement for vinegar and in homemade
mayonnaise. Garlic is the most indispensable and pungent ingredient in
a kitchen. Garlic powder, on the other hand, is a horrid spice that fouls
up otherwise good food. Always use real garlic cloves.
5. Cayenne pepper: To
really spice up a dish, forget paprika and go for the jugular with
cayenne. Paprika adds more color but cayenne brings the heat and
nothing hides a bad-tasting dish's real flavor like spiciness. Tip: Save the red pepper flake packages from pizza, because they're just cayenne.
6. Cinnamon: The middle-relief pitcher of spices. It doesn't get
much respect but is universal in baking and used as the secret touch in
a variety of dishes, including barbecue sauces. To be honest, though, I
mainly use it on oatmeal.
7. Bay Leaves:
The enigma spice. People don't eat the whole leaves and therefore never
know what the real bay leaf flavor is, only that it makes soup or sauce
always taste better. The big problem with dry bay leaves is you're
supposed to replace them after a year, but only the most active
cooks go through a big container of bay leaves in a year. There's a lot of stale bay leaf out there.
8. Thyme: The strongest of the green herbs, it goes great in
soups and will take an otherwise dull chicken-noodle recipe to classic
dish status. Also works well in tea with a cold. It's the only green
herb I never feel bad about buying in dry form since fresh thyme
doesn't last long and, because of its strength, I like having very measured
amounts.
9. Vanilla: Another
flavor that makes baked goods like chocolate chip cookies so yummy.
Gets in the top 10 by because you can't substitute another ingredient
for it. Example: If a recipe calls for bay leaves and you're out, you
can use another spice like basil and get a
different but equally edible dish. If you're out of vanilla, you're out of luck.
10. Rosemary: It was between rosemary
or cilantro for the final spot. Rosemary won since it's easier to
store dry and cilantro really needs to be fresh. Didn't hurt that
rosemary goes better on homestyle dishes like red potatoes and pork
chops.
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