Essential herbs and spices

Cafe Society
1

New cook here.

I’m learning to fend for myself in the kitchen. For many years I was banned from the kitchen by the family, not for fear of food poisoning, but because people wanted the food to be edible. Solved that problem, got rid of the family (j/k). Nope, I cook for myself. Now that I have a little more confidence in myself and my skills, I want to keep a well stocked kitchen so if I see a new recipie or want to give a little more zing to ground beef, I have the ingredients at hand.

What I am asking of you cooking Dopers is two quick-n-dirty lists:

  • What essential herbs (dried or fresh) and spices should I keep on hand at all times? What are the most used in your home?

  • What herbs and spices do I mix if I want to get the essence of ethnic cooking? Obviously I am not going to add Herbes de Provence to tacos, but what do I need to make something Italian? Mexican? German? Spanish? Indian? et al?

and a bit of advice

  • Which herbs and spices are very overpowering, even in small amounts? I already found that nutmeg multiplies exponentially in aroma and taste. What else should I be a little more cautious with?
    Access to ingredients is no problem: I have several large chain grocery stores that stock both dried and fresh herbs, a health food store that has a limited stock of organic herbs and salt-free spices, a few ethnic stores (Indian, Jamaican, and Vietnamese) several miles away (but worth the drive) and World Market (great selection of bottled herbs & spices, dried mushrooms & chilies, coffees, teas, wines, and imported foods.

So, a little help?

2

I would be lost without the following:

  • salt
  • fresh ground pepper (I use a blend of black, green, and pink peppercorns)
  • ground cumin
  • basil
  • oregano (I keep both Mexican and Greek Oregano around)

Second tier spices (ie, I wouldn’t be lost without them, but they’re nice to have around, and essential for some dishes)

  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg
  • rosemary
  • thyme

I also use a fair bit of the following:

  • fresh garlic
  • fresh squeezed lime and lemon juice
  • wine, both red and white

As far as ethnics, here’s what I do:

Mexican: cumin, Mexican Oregano, lime juice, garlic, fresh cilantro, maybe some basil depending on what I’m doing. Oh, and dried chiles :slight_smile:

Italian: Greek oregano, basil, garlic, pepper, red wine, maybe rosemary and Italian parsley

German/Spanish, I don’t cook enough of to say

Indian: Hell, you need every spice in the cupboard for Indian. Turmeric, coriander, cloves, etc. etc. If you’re really into Indian, I suggest you get an Indian cookbook and figure out what kinds of curries/spice blends you like, and keep them around.

For the record, I have WAY more herbs/spices than what I list above, but the ones above are the ones I’m constantly replenishing.

3

I suppose it might help with a list of what I already have:

Dried herbs & spices

  • allspice

  • arrowroot

  • basil
    *bay leaves (whole)

  • celery salt

  • chili powder

  • cilantro

  • cinnamon (whole and ground)

  • cloves (whole and ground)

  • coriander

  • cream of tartar

  • curry (hot)

  • curry powder

  • dill weed

  • fennel (whole)

  • garlic (powdered & whole)

  • ginger (whole [sugared] and ground)

  • juniper berries (whole)

  • lavender

  • lemon grass

  • marjoram

  • mint (crushed)

  • mustard seed (whole)

  • nutmeg (whole and ground)

  • orange peel

  • oregano

  • paprika (generic, not sure if Hungarian)

  • parsley

  • pepper (black & white ground, black whole – stoopid grinder broke)

  • poppy seed

  • rosemary (whole and crushed)

  • sage (rubbed – the stuff that looks like green dustbunnies)

  • savory

  • tarragon

  • thyme (whole)
    Blends

  • Herbes de Provence

  • Italian seasoning

  • Montreal chicken

  • Montreal steak
    *pizza seasoning

  • pumpkin pie spice

  • ‘seasoning mix’ (generic Mrs. Dash)

  • Tandoori blend

  • Thai seasoning
    What else do I need? How often should I replace what I have? With the Italian, pizza and pumpkin pie spice, I re-create my own instead of buying new.

4

IIRC, herbs and spices tend to lose much of their flavor after a year. What I do is refill bottles by going to the local Wild Oats supermarket - they let you scoop herbs/spices into little baggies and buy by weight. There may be other groceries and/or natural food stores in your area where you can do this. It typically costs me 25-50 cents each, and I just refill the bottle, then put a little sticker on the bottom with the month/year refilled on it. You don’t have to go quite that far, but at least with the refilling method, you save a lot of money and can feel better about tossing out the contents of a half-full container if you think it’s too old.

Buy the herbs and spices whole when possible - cumin seeds rather than ground cumin, sage leaves rather than ground sage, whole nutmeg instead of ground, etc. This helps preserve flavor for longer. If you don’t have one, get either a smallish mortar and pestle or a dedicated spice grinder. You can buy a small cheap coffee grinder for this, but don’t use it for coffee too or you’ll overwhelm the spice flavor with coffee, plus the oils of the coffee beans are hard to get out of the grinder. For nutmeg, I bought a little microplane grater and very gingerly but firmly grasp the nutmeg and slide it along the grater.

For stuff like ginger and garlic, I prefer to use fresh whenever possible, though I keep the powdered forms around for when it’s more convenient or if the freshness isn’t quite up to par and I don’t have time to run to the store.

5

As someone else mentioned, it’s probably best to build up the supply a little at a time, as you need specific ingredients. Most ethnic cookbooks have a section describing the more unusual ingredients, and as you look through recipes that you want to fix, you are more likely to get a list of herbs and spices that you are most likely to use.

That said, I always have salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, mint, dill weed, red pepper flakes, parprika, and cumin on hand, as well as fresh garlic and fresh ginger. I grow thyme and mint easily in my backyard, so I have lots of fresh thyme and mint on hand nine months of the year.

Some tips about storing and using herbs and spices:

As someone else said, they have a relatively short shelf life. It’s better to frequently buy small amounts in bulk than to buy a bottle, especially for something you don’t use often, or something you’re just experimenting with.

Dried herbs and spices can be stored in tightly closed containers in the freezer, to make their flavors last longer. I store whole nutmeg, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes in the freezer.

Dried herbs and spices nearly always benefit from a brief sauté in a small amount of oil. If you are browning meat, or sautéing onions and/or garlic, add the dried herbs or spices after you have finished sautéing the vegetables and before you add the other ingredients. The only exception to this is if you are cooking something for a LONG time, in which case spices should be added early, while herbs should be added relatively close to the end of the cooking step. If I do Hungarian goulash in a crockpot, for example, I sauté the paprika with the onions and meat, then add the liquid and let it cook. I don’t add the marjoram until a half hour or so before we are going to eat.

Remember that you can always add MORE, but you can’t take it away if you add too much. If you are experimenting, add a little at a time until you get the flavor your want.

6

In addition to the great info above, may I suggest the Penzey’s catalog which you can request from their website. Lots of great info about herbs and spices, plus recipes. I order from them all of the time. Once you get on their mailing list you’ll get a new catalog three or four times a year. The only time I buy anywhere else is if I don’t plan ahead and need something right then. If you have one of their stores close to home even better. I’ve only been to one once since it’s two hours away but I found the staff very helpful. It was fun to just wander around smelling samples.

7

Absolute minimum: Coarse Pepper or a means of producing it, Sage, Paprika, Parsley, Basil, appropriate Onion and Garlic entities, and what you consider proper for French and Italian cooking. We keep a bottle each of “Fines Herbes” and “Italian Seasoning” on hand for the latter two uses, supplementing with basil and fresh garlic.

In buying paprika, pay the extra for a quality product, rather than procuring a generic or standard French’s/McCormick preparation – presuming you want it for a flavoring not merely a garnish.

For cooking beef dishes and for several ethnic cuisines, having Rosemary on hand is important. We keep it because we enjoy rosemary in several dishes, and prefer breaking up the intact needles to the convenience but less flavorful taste of pre-powdered rosemary.

Buy cheap dried parsley and throw it away after a few months, buying another bottle – it’s my experience that it loses flavor even dried, that more expensive “quality” products are equally prone to do so, and that the cheap stuff flavors quite as well as the expensive until they lose flavor. But if possible, grow fresh parsley in an indoors pot (outdoors if your climate permits) and snip it for cooking; it’s far better than the dried.

Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon – there are things where they’re absolutely essential, but only in those particular uses.

Some people find oregano essential to Italian cooking – I find that the Italian seasoning mix gives me the right relative amount without supplementing it (which is, for me, not true with basil).

Thyme and marjoram are necessary ingredients of the Fines Herbes and Italian Seasoning combos – you should have them on hand, either individually or in the mixtures.

Barb uses Fennel Seed in preparing a couple of sauces, but it seems to be a less-than-standard taste. The same would hold true for dill, which we don’t use but which some people find essential in certain dishes.

Chili powder and crushed red pepper are important to some dishes.

I personally have never had occasion to use mace, allspice, cumin, turmeric, and a few other “standard” spices. I think they’re largely used in baking and/or pickling, both of which we seldom do.

8

Wheee! Thanks for all the help!

I also now do a lot of baking. I have personally established a “Random Act of Cookie” day where I will try out new recipies and bring them in at odd times of the year (basically the day after I get really p.o’ed. at something [work-related or otherwise], go home and take out my frustrations on the kitchen. Much less painful than waking up with a hangover, and much, much tastier. Hence my abundance of pumpkin pie spice and others (haven’t even mentioned the flavorings and decorations).

Anything else?

9

Salt and pepper, garlic, cinnamon, oregano, basil.

I have fresh growing parsely, chives, and rosemary on my kitchen window sill. Considering how expensive herbs can be, it helps to grow your own.

10

Then you’ll need caraway and anise seeds for inclusion in breads. Anise provides an oddly sweetening flavor to bread, and also tomato based sauces. I find that carroway works best in bread if you grind it to powder in a coffee mill just prior to use. Cut more coarsely, it’s essential to making tasty boiled cabbage. (that really is possible!)

11

For heaven’s sake, you’re better stocked than I am.

The only thing I would add, is my “dirty little secret.” MSG. I add it to lots of things, as that extra little “secret ingredient.”

Sure, some people claim to be sensitive or allergic to it, and I have no doubt a few people are. But most people who claim they’re sensitive to it, consume MSG and don’t even know it. I’m sure you know your friends & family well enough to know whether they are genuinely sensitive to it. If by chance you find yourself cooking for people you don’t know well, just omit it.

OK, one other thing. Citric acid. Also known as lemon salt. It looks just like salt. Think of it as dehydrated lemon juice, but it can bring out a surprising amount of flavor to a lot of dishes, and a bag of citric acid is way cheaper and more convenient than always having a jar of lemon juice sitting sitting in the fridge.

12

They usually jack up the price on it to a ridiculous degree and it’s often very hard to find, but a key ingredient of Scandinavian baking as well as several Indian dishes is:

Cardamom

Can’t go wrong with some of that in the house.

13

I’ve never had problems finding it relatively cheaply at bulk spice places, like Wild Oats and Whole Foods.

I don’t cook with it very often, but I do like to add it to coffee. Put some ground or whole cardamom in with the ground coffee, and drip as normal.

14

Wow, you have a lot of stuff already! It seems what you want most is a “dishes from around the world” recipe book so you can start using your herbs and spices!

These are my Absolute Basics from which I can build most dishes
Spices and seasonings: Black pepper, salt, garlic, chilli powder or Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, Balsamic vinegar, curry powder mix, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg.

Herbs: parsley, coriander (cilantro), basil, thyme, rosemary, Bay leaves
Ethnic spices (in addition to those above):
Indian: turmeric, saffron, fenugreek, cardamom, cumin, garam masala

SE asian: tamarind, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, shrimp paste, chinese 5 spice powder, red and black bean pastes, oyster sauce or Nam Pla.

Mediterranean: I use a lot of Basil, oregano, garlic, Balsamic vinegar and red wine in anything Italian, Spanish or Greek. I depends on the recipe, and more often involves buying the right cheese or meat than buying a new herb or spice.

In my experience of German and Scandinavian cookery the cooks (my German and Norwegian friends) have used Caraway and Black onion seeds plus the usual kinds of spices and herbs.

I can tell you that Irish cookery relies heavily on onions rather than garlic, and white pepper rather than black, but generally there’s nothing special about it.

15

Nothing to add to the ingredients already listed. You’ll find that you go through pounds of some spices, while that lonely bottle of fenugreek sits dusty and alone in the back of your cupboard. Natural selection and all that.

Suggestions:
Reconstitute dried herbs in warm water for about 30 minutes before adding to a dish. This eliminates chewy bits. Same for whole dried chilis.

Add fresh herbs at the end of the cooking process or as garnish. They give up their flavor very quickly and you end up with blander food otherwise. There’s nothing like the fragrance of something like turkey soup poured hot over a few sage leaves or some cilantro.

Dried basil: has the flavor and consistency of petrified tea leaves. Don’t use it.

Fresh basil: do not refrigerate; it turns black very quickly.

Saute spices in a bit of oil, as I think someone mentioned. It allows them to give up their oils to the dish and impart deeper flavor.

Careful with the universal use of olive oil. Many olive oils have an intense flavor of their own and can add an unwanted flavor to a dish.