Had to chuckle. At present, I have Hungarian sweet, Hungarian half-sharp, Spanish smoked sweet, smoked bitter-sweet, and smoked hot paprikas in my cupboard. Methinks it’s time for some goulash or a whole boatload of deviled eggs. 
Hopefully that doesn’t apply to salmon. There is no comparison between Atlantic and Pacific salmons. Atlantic is just. . .bad. And forget farmed.
Heck no, the fresh run, pale pink, fatty atlantic fellow is a fair few notches above it’s pacific cousin. Especially smoked.
I agree with the disdain for farmed salmon in general (although good versions can be found)
As for spices. Fresh is pretty much always preferable for anything that is a leaf. (Bay, thyme, tarragon. coriander, oregano) Basil absolutely has to be fresh and the small leafed greek bush basil is my favourite.
Check, check, check, California Sweet, check.
Time to re-order.
Thanks everyone! I’ve definitely noticed the difference with freshly ground pepper, and a microplane (I didn’t have nutmeg in mind, but it should work) is already on my Christmas list. I don’t see much else whole other than cloves, fennel, and rosemary, but I haven’t really been looking. What else do you all buy whole but use ground?
While I cook much more than my peers, I still feel like my spices are sitting around for a long time (some are older than that cinnamon). I’ll scope out the nearby Whole Foods and another store where I got myself a crack baggie sized portion of rubbed sage a few months back.
Regarding fresh herbs, I really don’t mind dried basil for some applications, such as my tomato-based sauce for pasta. When basil is the main flavor then I pick my plant. I was disappointing the few times I’ve purchased fresh parsley. I didn’t notice much flavor at all (not that I notice that in dried, either.) I don’t think I could taste something as say, “yep, that’s parsley in there.” Maybe if I made a pesto from it.
A few spices that folks here have mentioned that I’ve never tried outside of a mix are tarragon, marjoram, some varieties of paprika (I actually used to think that it was just a flavorless pretty powder used to garnish deviled eggs), mace, chervil, and saffron. I’ve had stuff with saffron in it but I’m not convinced it did more than add a yellow color.
I have some turmeric and ground coriander seed that I’m not entirely sure what to do with.
Better still, a nutmeg mill like this. Really convenient and produces lovely little tissue-thin nutmeg shavings - and also enables me to use nutmeg as a table condiment as well (nutmeg, parmesan and black pepper on pasta bolognese is fantastic)
Ooo…California sweet. I’ll have to check that out and see how it compares to the Hungarian and Spanish paprikas.
Ruken, turmeric and coriander are good ingredients for Indian curries, off the top of my head.
Hell, yes, fresh rather than dried when it comes to herbs! But if you buy fresh, be very scrupulous in selecting them, and then look them over carefully before using them. Weird things happen in the refrigerator crisper drawer…
Buying the cellophane packets of spices saves a BUNDLE. I hoarded empty coffee creamer containers to hold my herbs and spices. The packets enable you to buy all kinds of goodies, and you can sniff and experiment to your heart’s content.
I also agree that freshly-grated nutmeg is from a completely different planet than the ground stuff.
And here’s the best tip of all: go shopping in ethnic markets! Not only are they fun, but you can buy a gazillion different spices you’ve never seen before. And you wouldn’t BELIEVE the difference in prices of ground cardamom from an Asian market compared to cardamom at the local supermarket!
Above all, HAVE FUN!
~VOW
Do not be afraid of salt. I’m not a big fan of “salty” tasting foods – lots of restaurants are simply too salty for me. But salting your dishes at home bring out a wonderful flavor profile.
So don’t hesitate to get yourself some Diamond kosher salt. It’s in thin flakes and it tastes wonderful – not like the nasty metallic aftertaste of regular tablesalt or the strong taste of chunks of sea salt.
If a recipe calls for something ground (mustard seed, cumin seed, peppercorn, clove, coriander, cardamon, dill seed, etc.) get the whole seed and toast it before you grind in. Put the seed in a hot dry skillet for a few minutes. Give it a shake every 20 seconds or so. You don’t want it to start smoking, you just want it to become aromatic. You’ll be amazed how much flavor comes out of something that’s been toasted, then ground!
Ha, we have all those except the bitter-sweet. But in return, we have home-made cayenne, because even in the most excruciating Texas summers and in our shitty-ass rental-house soil, I can still grow bumper crops of cayenne. (It makes whatever gets ground next in our [del]coffee[/del]spice grinder more … interesting. :D)
An herb that a lot of people seem to have not heard of that is a staple in my cooking is “savory.” I know it means something else, but there is actually an herb called that and it’s very good.
From Penzey’s, if you like Italian food, I would recommend “Bouquet Garni” as a simple herb blend. It’s great for sprinkling on pizza or pasta. I forget what all is in it but it all goes together really well without having to get a bunch of different jars out of the cupboard.
Penzey’s Pasta Sprinkle is our go-to blend lately. Goes on a lot more than pasta!
If you do only one thing, get yourself a pepper grinder and peppercorns. Then take a pinch of supermarket ground pepper and smell. Then grind some fresh pepper and smell. The preground pepper smells like pepper. The fresh pepper smells like flowers, there is a whole new range of flavor in fresh pepper that has compeletely evaporated from the ground pepper. It’s a whole different thing. Ground pepper really only adds heat to a dish, fresh pepper adds pepper flavor as well as heat.
As far as cinnamon, in the United States all cinnamon is actually cassia. True cinnamon has a different flavor profile, it’s subtler and less intense. If you’re used to cassia, then true cinnamon might seem wrong to you.
I have a dedicated pepper grinder that I use for whole cloves. I use freshly ground cloves just about every time I cook pork, with a dry rub of pepper, cloves, garlic, salt, and a bit of brown sugar.
Coriander, cloves, cardamom, allspice, mace - all much better freshly ground with a coffee mill or sometimes if I’m in the mood, with a mortar and pestle. Separating the cardamom seeds from the dried pods can be a little fiddly though.
Savory is nice! You might find it labeled “Summer Savory.”
According to canning cookbooks, sage can become bitter during the canning process, and savory makes a nice substitute.
~VOW
One thing I can’t recommend highly enough is a good spice organizer such as the ones from this site. I bought the sheet of magnetic material and cut it to fit the inside of the cupboard door. Then put some 24 cans in there with spices I use often. Saves a lot of space and you can instantly find what you need.
Oh, it definitely has a taste - bitter-sweet, grassy, earthy. Medieval cooking uses it quite a bit. Most modern recipes call for, like, just a couple of threads of it - that shit doesn’t fly with me - if you can’t taste it, don’t use it, that’s my philosophy. I spend a tiny fortune on saffron every year. Threads only, the powder is not to be trusted.
I’ve hear two different versions of this - some say “Madagascar, Seychelles, Reunion & Comoros”, others just “Reunion & Comoros”. So you’re probably right.