My “other” would be “cardamom”. Great in many sweet, and a few savory, dishes. And a few seeds in your coffee transports you to a caravan on the Rub Al 'Khali.
Now, what do you guys mean by “curry” as a “spice”? Curry leaf? That’s good stuff, but it’s pretty rarely used in the US, and for the dishes that do use it, it’s usually a small addition to the overall flavor.
Perhaps you all mean “cumin, tumeric, cayenne pepper, coriander, usually some mustard seed, and sometimes some other stuff, all mixed together”, but then you wouldn’t have listed those as separate spices.
I was going to point that out, but didn’t have the time. I’ve never even seen curry, the actual spice. Even curry powder, the mixed blend, has no specific set of ingredients. I generally make the spice mix myself now, but still use curry powders to get that genuine Americanized Indian restaurant flavor.
We use a ton of spices and have a decent garden of fresh stuff (including a pretty bay leaf tree), but I honestly can’t answer the poll. Favorite? I use what is applicable to a situation/recipe.
I included a vote for bay leaf, because I use it in all my stews, but I have to confess…I don’t actually know what it tastes like. :o I don’t know that I could distinguish between a stew made with bay leaf and one without. I just use it out of tradition.
I can’t vote, as I’d vote for all them (unless by basil, dill, and parsley you mean the dried types.)
You’re missing clove on the list, which is what I was initially looking for. I guess in the frequency I use dried spices, it would be: powdered chiles/dried chiles/chile flakes of all kinds, black pepper, paprika, cumin, caraway, allspice or clove, thyme, cinnamon, marjoram, rosemary, nutmeg or mace. But all those I use with regularity, so the difference in frequency may not be that much between them. If you count fresh ginger root, than that will be up there in the top four or five. I pretty much use all of them fairly regularly, with the exception of anise (only specialized uses for me) and savory (I’ve been out since my plant died.) Also, I tend not to use garlic or onion powder except occasionally in a dry rub or Creole-type spice mix.
I, too, use MSG shamelessly when I feel it is appropriate.
This is savory. The main varieties are summer savory and winter savory. It’s an herb in the general ballpark of thyme/sage/oregano, that sort of thing.
A whole chicken brined in salt, sugar and cumin and then grilled (either butterfly or rotisserrie) is the best easiest Peruvian chicken you can make, and it is awesome. Accompany with a garlic aioli…
Garlic and cumin are the two that I simply cannot add too much of, in anything. And I try!
Meatballs with cumin, fried in more cumin, tossed into albondigas made with more cumin…YUM!!!
My favorite spices are black pepper, garlic (not so much powder but the real thing), basil, parsley, fresh (French) tarragon, thyme, rosemary and curry… but my favorite go to herb mix is Herbes de Provence; I use that for about 50% of my cooking.
