# Spices & Herbs
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** food-cooking
**Created:** [January 12, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104 "2023-01-12T15:07:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/1 "2023-01-12T15:07:50Z")
What’s your favorite spice and herb?
Spice - Cinnamon. I love it BUT not in savory dishes, only sweets. I love cinnamon & sugar on my toast, I love cinnamon bread, rolls, donuts, etc. But I do not like Red Hots or any other so-called cinnamon candy.
Herb - Basil. The scent alone is so wonderful. I even buy a basil scented cleaner. I grow a basil plant every summer to use in spaghetti and various other dishes. Every time I walk by it, I grab a leaf and crush it in my hands so I can smell it.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/2 "2023-01-12T15:17:55Z")
Big fan of nutmeg, it goes in a lot of my Italian and mexican cooking. It is nearly cinnamon, not so in-your-face but you miss it if it isn’t there.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/3 "2023-01-12T15:18:24Z")
> [@TRC4941](#):
>
> Herb - Basil. The scent alone is so wonderful. I even buy a basil scented cleaner. I grow a basil plant every summer to use in spaghetti and various other dishes. Every time I walk by it, I grab a leaf and crush it in my hands so I can smell it.
I feel that way about rosemary.
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### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/4 "2023-01-12T15:18:34Z")
Cayenne is my favorite spice… I even put it in mashed potatoes (it’s excellent).
As for herbs, I’ve always like sage.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/5 "2023-01-12T15:25:37Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> As for herbs, I’ve always like sage.
yes, but like cloves and turmeric it is one of the herbs with which I have a very conservative hand
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/6 "2023-01-12T15:26:25Z")
For spice, I really really like cumin, and I’ll put it anywhere I can get away with it. Grilled cheese, grits, pimento cheese–it’s so warming and savory.
For herbs, it’s a toss-up between dried thyme and fresh rosemary. One of my all-time favorite recipes is salmon fillets baked on a bed of rosemary sprigs and chopped onions and topped with thinly sliced lemons and olive oil.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/7 "2023-01-12T15:38:24Z")
Unless you count garlic as a spice, I’m most fond of basil. It finds its way into most of my cooking. A few years ago I discovered [Basil herbalea “Wild Magic”](https://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/view/?id=4471), which is both highly ornamental and good-tasting. I carry over cuttings from it every year.
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### Author:  [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/8 "2023-01-12T15:46:37Z")
I love everything about thyme and cardamom. Rosemary too.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/9 "2023-01-12T15:52:27Z")
> [@TRC4941](#):
>
> What’s your favorite spice and herb?
Wow, that’s like asking “who’s your favorite kid?” but I’ll give it a try:
Spice - Cayenne pepper probably, at least judging by how much I use it. Even in things that aren’t traditionally spicy, like say a standard tomato-based spaghetti sauce, a little bit adds some ‘bite’ and interest to it.
Herb - Agree with the OP, can’t beat fresh basil. Has to be the fresh stuff. I can’t think of any other herb that is so much different between fresh form vs. dried form. Dried oregano? Dried thyme? almost as good as their fresh versions. Dried basil? A sad, virtually tasteless pale shade of the fresh stuff.
When it does come to strictly dried herbs, thyme for sure. I love thyme in most everything.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/10 "2023-01-12T16:03:53Z")
> [@solost](#):
>
> Wow, that’s like asking “who’s your favorite kid?”
Indeed. But giving it a try:
Spice - White pepper. It goes in just about every savory dish I make.
Fresh herb - basil.
Dried herb - thyme. It’s a close call with rosemary, but while the scent of rosemary is wonderful, the texture can be annoying, so thyme wins.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/11 "2023-01-12T16:08:22Z")
By usage:
Herb: Coriander/Cilantro
Spice: Hungarian paprika
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/12 "2023-01-12T16:15:34Z")
My goto herb is thyme. It seems to enhance all meats and is almost necessary for vegetables. Now that I’m typing this, I wonder what thyme would do to my mashed potatoes
> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> Dried herb - thyme. It’s a close call with rosemary, but while the scent of rosemary is wonderful, the texture can be annoying, so thyme wins.
And can overpower some dishes if not used with a deft hand.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/13 "2023-01-12T16:21:00Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> I wonder what thyme would do to my mashed potatoes
Uh, just make them awesome. One of my go-to sides is garlic smashed potatoes (think mashed, but without cream, with lots of roasted garlic, and chunkier) and I would not think to serve them without thyme and sometimes also rosemary.
ETA: Now that I think of it, is garlic an herb. or a vegetable? If herb, it would be a close call between garlic and fresh basil as my favorite herb.
My least favorite Herb:
[ ](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TSDNEWK_FE001-H-2021.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/14 "2023-01-12T16:26:35Z")
> [@solost](#):
>
> One of my go-to sides is garlic smashed potatoes
I make those for guests and as simple as it is it gets the best reviews of anything I cook. My base is small red or golden potatoes roasted until done, use my potato masher until chunky, add a ton of butter and rebake like 15 minutes. Next time we all get together on our summer weekend I’m going to make them as the base of a baked potato bar.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/15 "2023-01-12T16:30:56Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> I make those for guests and as simple as it is it gets the best reviews of anything I cook.
Have you tried them with roasted garlic? Easy method: Take a whole head of garlic, cut the top off to just expose the cloves, put garlic in a very small bowl or ramekin, drizzle olive oil over, and microwave for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes (careful- it’s very easy to nuke it to death; have backup garlic on hand).
Then pop the roasted cloves out of their skins and smush them up well into the potatoes.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/16 "2023-01-12T16:34:18Z")
My favorite herb is probably thyme. And I don’t know how anything but black pepper could ever be my favorite spice. It’s indispensable.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/17 "2023-01-12T16:38:14Z")
Thyme and cumin are getting lots of love in this thread (I wavered between cumin and white pepper myself, as a favorite spice) so let me suggest a spice blends that permit syou to enjoy them in combination. It’s are available from Penzey’s, or make your own:
[Za’atar](https://www.feastingathome.com/zaatar-spice-recipe/) (Penzey’s spells it “Zatar”). There’s lots of ways to make it, but along with sumac and sesame seeds, I always include thyme, cumin, and white pepper.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/18 "2023-01-12T16:54:06Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> For spice, I really really like cumin, and I’ll put it anywhere I can get away with it.
I love cumin. We go through a good bit of it.
Herbs? We have many basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary plants and use them all when appropriate.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/19 "2023-01-12T17:52:17Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> let me suggest a spice blends that permit syou to enjoy them in combination. It’s are available from Penzey’s,
LOL. How embarrassing. No, I wasn’t having a stroke; I was in the middle of editing from plural to singular (I thought I had two blends to recommend, then I realized one doesn’t contain thyme) when my phone beeped. I was expecting an important text, so I thoughtlessly hit “send” so I could concentrate on that.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spices-herbs/978104/20 "2023-01-12T18:07:29Z")
> [@solost](#):
>
> Have you tried them with roasted garlic?
No but sounds awesome. Maybe for the potato bar ill make roasted garlic butter so that people can use that if they want because adding more butter never hurt anything.
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