Whenever I browse through department stores, I’m always, naturally, drawn to the kitchen supplies. One thing that always catches my eye is the spice racks. I currently possess a spice drawer filled with an assortment of little glass jars because my kitchen is small and counter space is at a premium. I love how a collection of spices adds ambiance to a kitchen though, so I have a poster of spices on my fridge instead!
The interesting thing to me about spice racks is that most of them come pre-labeled and filled. I wonder how they make the decision to choose what they did? Never mind that most of these spices are pre-ground and will lose their prominent flavor by the time they reach you, or that a lot of the “spices” in a spice rack are actually dried herbs, but most of the selections to me seem completely out of tune with the palette of the consumers buying them, and fail to emphasize the spices that a well stocked spice rack should maintain.
The spice rack that is currently hibernating in my storage closet came fairly well-equipped with 16 jars of various herbs and spices. Of those though, sesame seeds seem fairly odd to fill a compartment, and I can’t remember the last time I wished I had some dried parsley and chives. I also think I have enough celery seed to last me the rest of my adult life. Suffice to say, although some of these spices are quite useful (can’t go wrong with pepper, for instance) that this spice rack doesn’t exactly suit my needs as a cook.
So, I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I think I’ve designed the ultimate spice rack. At least, for me.
But first, an explanation.
Herbs
Most dried herbs are completely inferior to their fresh counterparts. You can recognize the herbs pretty easily because they’ll be the green leafy things. If you’ve ever tasted fresh basil, rosemary, sage or parsley, you’d have to have one whacked palette to agree that even the best dried versions can even come close. There are some herbs that do well while dried, though not necessarily in the same applications. For instance, dried thyme and oregano are great in dressings and stews. If you’ve ever cooked with fresh bay leaves, you’d no doubt agree that they’re much better than dried, but freshly dried bay leaves are still fantastic in soups or cooked with lentils and beans.
Spices
Cilantro is definitely much more flavorful and aromatic fresh, but cilantro seed, also known as coriander seed, is a wonderful spice, with a wholly different flavor than the plant. Spices basically comprise everything that isn’t herbs – the seeds, the barks, the fruits and so on. With the exception of cinnamon, I prefer to have all of my spices whole. Not only do they retain their flavor longer, but quite simply you can always grind spices, but you can’t make ground spices whole again, so they have a lot more applications.
Roots
Ginger, garlic and onions are often offered as powders. Good quality ginger, garlic and onion powder definitely have their uses, but for how often I have a use for them in my kitchen compared to fresh, it doesn’t pay to have much of it around. Fresh ginger, garlic and onions are cheap and easy to use, nutritious and far more versatile than their powdered counterparts. When I say fresh, I mean actual cloves of garlic, not mashed garlic preserved in a jar.
Salt and Pepper
When people talk about seasoning food, they usually talk about adding salt and pepper. Black pepper belongs in a pepper mill, not ground in a spice rack. Four pepper mixes are actually peppercorns in three forms and a non-pepper berry. I have each separate in my spice drawer, and I think they all have their own individual purpose (though I can’t remember the last time I used pink peppercorns for anything whatsoever). Black pepper is essential, the others are not. Grinding pepper releases its aromatic oils and should be ground fresh, like coffee. I go through around 60g of pepper a month (which means I eat over a pound of pepper a year, which is kind of weird to think about), so I like pepper a lot.
Salt is a mineral, and I’ve never seen salt in a spice rack, it’s just sort of a given in any house. Salt simply makes food taste good. In many cases, salt isn’t used to make food salty, salt is used to make a food taste more like itself. It is usually a flavor enhancer, not a flavor of its own. Salt doesn’t get enough credit and has a bad reputation, but think of how awful food would be without salt. It’s a sad world you just imagined. I buy a 1.36kg box of Windsor Kosher salt about twice a year and fill up a pinch bowl that sits on top of my stove. I prefer Kosher salt for pretty much everything but popcorn, since the grains don’t stick so well. It has more texture and dimension and is “less salty” than table salt, so I find it easier and more satisfying to take an actual pinch and add it to food.
The Spice Rack
Heat, light and air will gradually diminish the quality of spices. Stainless steel or glass are often used as spice containers. Stainless steel looks cool, but too much stainless steel makes a kitchen look cold to me. You handle spice canisters a lot and it’s a pain to keep fingerprints off of steel. Glass containers are my preference because glass is a terrible conductor of heat and is easily made in to air tight containers. If someone would just design some airtight, opaque glass spice containers, I’d be set. Just put a strip of transparent glass so you can see what’s inside and how much, please! I wouldn’t be unhappy with a pop-top adjustable grinder on there either. The rack itself should be attachable to my oven door handle and be able to contain 12 individual spices. At the door handle it will always be in reach and the width of an oven is easily enough for 12 storage compartments.
The Spices (and Herbs)
- Turmeric
- Paprika
- Ground Cinnamon
- Fennel Seeds
- Dried Red Chilies
- Cumin Seed
- Coriander Seed
- Bay Leaves
- Whole Cloves
- Whole Nutmeg
- Dried Oregano
- Dried Thyme
Turmeric is essential in most curry powders. Aside from curries, I love adding it to rice in place of saffron and I think it’s very nice in creamed corn! Since I can’t imagine preparing curries without turmeric, this is definitely important to me.
Sweet Hungarian paprika is so much different than the paprika your mom sprinkled on deviled eggs. It’s an essential component of chili powder and if you’ve ever had a true goulash, you wouldn’t be questioning this.
Obviously essential for baked goods and on my breakfast oatmeal, but also as a component of Chinese five spice, curries and certain meat dishes. I put cinnamon in my egg rolls and moussaka, for instance.
Fennel seeds are another one of the curry and five spice ingredients, but fennel seeds marry so well with pork and Italian cooking to me that I couldn’t part with them.
Chilies can obviously be used to add heat to food, but it also adds a lot of flavor. I usually add dried red chilies in place of black pepper whenever I cook with tomatoes.
Cumin adds such a unique smoky earthiness that it’s completely unsubstitutable. Chili powder without cumin would be like poutine without cheese. Cumin, along with coriander seed, are also a common base for a lot of curries.
Grinding freshly toasted coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle is so pleasurable that I occasionally do it just for fun with no culinary value at all. Actually, that’s a complete lie. But, I do use it in basically all of my brines. I love the lemony notes of coriander seeds and, like cumin seed, it is an essential ingredient in a lot of curries. I don’t think most people are even aware of what coriander seed tastes like, but it’s in a lot of sausages and is a dominant flavor in Montreal steak spice.
I actually don’t think dried bay leaves are essential, but that’s mostly because I am fortunate enough to have a bay laurel tree on my window sill. Soup, stock, rice, beans… anything liquid or cooked in liquid just wouldn’t be the same to me without bay leaves.
Another ingredient to comprise five spice and to be used in curries, but also useful in baking. If nothing else, what else are you going to stud your holiday ham with?
Freshly grated nutmeg makes eggnog, and is wonderful with spinach, pasta, bechamel and so forth. I bought a microplane just to grate nutmeg. A little goes a long way, which is good, since nutmeg nuts take up a lot of space in a spice jar.
Dried oregano is hardly essential in my repertoire, but I do add it to salad dressings on occasion, and people like it.
Dried thyme adds a nice herbal earthiness to stews, I add it to ground meat fairly often, and to jerk marinades. Obviously, jerk marinade wouldn’t be the same without allspice, but other than Jerk marinades, I don’t use allspice in anything, so I guess I’d just have to substitute cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pepper to compensate, if these were the only spices I had.
Obviously, a spice rack alone will not do. Every kitchen should be stocked with basic condiments (oil, vinegar, mustard, etc.) and every window sill would ideally host a small herb garden. With that and these spices, you could cook or bake virtually anything. Sure, your Winnipeg rye might suck, but how often would you use caraway under normal circumstances? You could imitate most spice blends, though it’d be good to have some Old Bay kicking around somewhere. Just keep the saffron stashed away for special occasions.
What would be in your spice rack?
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