Too brassy.
Absolutely my favorite Herb.
My favorite Spice was probably Ginger.
1996 was a great year.
Not that I haven’t felt the horror of auto-correct myself, but this made me snicker.
The image of Cheyenne, Wyoming, being kicked up a notch, preferably by an asteroid, thus the bam! tickles my fancy.
On the other hand, I like cayenne peppers just fine for a really neutral heat, but I don’t find they add much flavor the way other peppers do. I’d rather have something fruity like a habanero, or hot and sweet like a roasted hatch. But cayenne is still a solid go-to for adding heat to a dish where I don’t want a noticeable secondary flavor.
Which is why I use it in my Bloody Mary recipe.
The visual of Cheyenne being blasted into space is going to make me smile all day.
A few of you mentioned cardamom. I’ve never tried it, but am curious. What does it taste like? Is it close to cinnamon?
It’s more perfumey – it’s kind of in that general class of Christmas spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves, but distinct. I would say there a eucalyptus or camphor-like flavor it it.
I’ll have to try it. Thanks
There’s different kinds, but usually people are talking about green cardamom if they don’t specify. It’s used in everything from Swedish baking to Indian cooking to flavoring Middle Eastern coffee.
There’s also brown cardamom, which is bigger and has a smokier and more restrained flavor that green. But you’ll want green. (Oh, there’s also “white cardamom” and that is harder to find yet, and that can be bleached cardamom or a separate type of cardamom.)
For all the folks talking about cinnamon, here’s what I posted in the Random Facts thread a couple of years ago.
To the OP, the flavoring agent we use the most of is definitely garlic. I buy the quart jars of minced garlic once every month or two, and it goes in most of the dishes I cook.
I have, and regularly use, most of the spices mentioned above, depending on the recipe, but can’t say any are particular favorites.
I guess I’m not sure what garlic is classified as but I use it in practically everything. I too buy the minced garlic in jars. I’m sure we’ll get flak for that!
I find it has a distinct cola-like flavor, especially in the aftertaste. I’ve suspected cardamom to be one of the secret flavor ingredients of Coca-Cola, but googling doesn’t turn up too much.
The loamy soil of Wyoming imparts a delicious umami flavor to my entrees.
…not buying that, eh? Ok, I blame spell-check. I didn’t think it looked right.
Cardamom would certainly be in keeping with those types of concoctions. My dad used to make a liqueur with about a dozen different herbs and spices in it, with cardamom a major component. That’s how I first learnt of it and it’s mysterious flavors — not through food but drink.
If you’ve ever had rice pudding for dessert at an Indian restaurant, cardamom is generally the predominant spice in it. It’s also used in most chai tea and Swedish cardamom buns.
Cardamom is used (infrequently due to cost) in our house for occasional ‘spiced’ coffee via French press, or in a very few baked deserts.
The other main use is for making my Nuka-Cola syrup. It’s a soda base composed of various fruit juices, spices, sugar, and radiation so that you can make homemade Nuka-Cola rather than a batch that had been sitting around for a few hundred years.
Why yes, I have the Fallout Cookbook, why do you ask? 
There are two cardamoms that are used in Indian cuisine : Green and Black. The green cardamom is a small cardamom with a sweet flavor and is harvested green (duh) from the plant. The black cardamom is harvested ripe and has a more smoky flavor.
Green cardamom is used for delicate flavors like desserts while black is used mostly in meat or curry dishes.
Depending on the part of India, a trinity of three spices (ground together) is also used and termed as the hot mix (Garam Masala) for recipes : cloves, cardamom and cinnamon
Cardamom is very inexpensive at Indian stores and a one time cost of like 5 dollars lasts us 2-3 years
There are two main types of cinnamons too but that’s another post.
Yes! This bears repeating. Find an Indian grocery in your area. Even if it’s a bit of a long drive, it’s very worth it because you can stock up on spices that will last you a long time. Aisles full of big bags of whole spices that are indeed very inexpensive. It’s like being a kid in a candy store if you like spice.
Many of the spices you can find in an Indian grocery can be used in other than just Indian cuisine: Dried chili peppers, cumin, star anise, mustard seed, and Indian bay leaves, to name a few. Have you priced bay leaves in a western grocery lately? They’re like $5-6 for a tiny container. You can get an enormous package of Indian bay leaves for like half that.
Whole, unground spices last for years, unlike their pre-ground equivalents that go stale in a couple months, so stock up on the whole spices you use and an inexpensive coffee grinder like this one to grind the spices as needed (an added bonus with whole spices is that you can toast them in a dry pan on the stovetop before you grind them for extra flavor).
