Ooo… Mace is a good one. Very versatile–used in sweets and savories, and is an indispensable part of my homemade bratwurst recipe.
I don’t cook beans much, but summer savory is my secret ingredient in many meat dishes, for much the same reason. Stews, soups, meat pies…even smoked meat gets a little in my olive oil baste.
Ditto with scrambled eggs/omlettes/frittas, etc. Just a tiny bit of nutmeg really enhances the flavor
I came in here to mention that. My husband has taken to adding anchovies to beef stew, and I never would have believed it does not add any fishy taste at all, nor that it boosts the meat flavor. Umami!
Mushroom powder (bouillon). The one we buy has dried mushroom as the first ingredient, then salt & MSG & such. Check the ingredients - if mushroom isn’t first, it won’t be nearly as good.
It goes in anything savoury, essentially it’s another choice for adding umami.
I add a pinch of sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar when I make fresh basil pesto. I think it brings out the flavor of the basil, especially if I’m using grocery store basil which can be kind of big and bland.
A tablespoon of instant coffee granules (or to taste) in a pot of baked beans. Gives it a smoky, unidentifiable flavor that people like.
A tablespoon each of vinegar and olive oil in potato salad. Cuts down on the amount of mayo you need and gives a nice tang.
I’m now making my own garam masala mixes and have almost completely quit using generic “curry powder”. It’s worth it.
A small jolt of brown mustard in scrambled eggs is good, as is cream cheese.
A small amount (like a pinch) of cinnamon in tomato-based spaghetti sauce.
Vanilla extract and a tsp of baking spice in buttermilk pancakes. Some damn fine eating.
I add about a teaspoon of Gebhardt’s chili powder to my pot roast. Excellent!
Also look up recipes for “chaat masala” for a different blend of spices that is often used in Indian snacks. I use that as often as garam masala (which I generally use at the end of cooking time, or as part of a spice mix for a curry), but it has some ingredients that might be more difficult to find if you don’t have an Indian community near you (black salt and dried mango powder being the big ones.)
Cinnamon. In just about everything.
Second this. Also, horseradish powder.
A half-tsp or so of Cafe Bustelo instant espresso powder in anything chocolate. Gives a rich roasted flavor to the chocolate.
In my childhood, I knew a hostess who always secretly added caffeine powder to her punch when she threw a party. Everyone always commented how her parties always had the best conversation and lasted well into the night. (Warning! Do not try this at home! The 70’s were different; these days you’d probably go to jail for it.)
I bought the book 660 Curries, which is a kick-ass Indian cookbook. It has masalas from all over India, so I’m experimenting with them as they come up. Today’s lentil & spinach soup recipe calls for balti masala, which has all manner of good things in it. Mango powder is no problem, nor is nigella (black onion seeds) or most other Indian spices. There is a Savory Spice about six blocks from my house.
I put a tiny dash of cinnamon in almost anything I make that involves ground beef.
Would you be willing to share your bratwurst recipe? I finally got a grinder attachment for the Kitchenaid and I really want to start making homemade sausages.
DAMN!
I was going to say horseradish - just a bit in savory dishes, no so much as you’d notice but just to give a tiny little kick.
Sure. Here’s what I came up with based on my memories of the bratwursts I’ve had in the Thuringen area of Germany (which are my favorite brats). This recipe has been through several iterations and experiments, and this is what I’ve finally settled on:
Bratwurst
100.00 pork or pork-veal mixture
2.00 salt
0.35 caraway seed
0.20 mace
0.30 white pepper
0.20 marjoram (dried)
8 mL milk
Those are expressed in percentages. So, for every 100 g of pork, it’s 2 g salt, .35 g caraway seed, .2 g mace, etc. Makes it easy to scale up and down and calculate and keep consistent. I grind all the spices (except the dried marjoram), but sometimes I only grind half the caraway, and keep half whole. You can also incorporate onions into this, if you’d like. I don’t have any proportions for that, as I haven’t tried adding onions myself, being happy with the recipe as-is. I use 100% pork shoulder for the meat.
ETA: This is also great just as a patty for something like a brat burger. In that case, you can just use regular ol’ ground pork, but grinding your own is always the best way to go, provided you do it correctly. (Main point being keeping the meat chilled and grinding parts cold so your meat grinds cleanly. If the meat gets too warm, the fat doesn’t getting ground in distinct chunks, it starts clogging up the grinder plate, and the grind turns into mush which makes for terribly textured sausage.)
Nutmeg in my creamed spinach. Very subtle earthy note.
In case anyone who hasn’t seen the movie wants to know the secret ingredient, I’ll put it behind a spoiler box:
Nutmeg (and mace) tend to pair well with anything cream- or milk-based.