Your spice management philosophy - fresh or dried?

Cafe Society
1

I made a bit of a mess in the spice rack thread and this topic really needs its own thread.

Pretty much any spice or flavoring that I can get fresh in the produce section, I will get. Too many times in the distant past have I bought a jar of something like celery seed and have 90% go to waste because I don’t make cole slaw again for months.

I think I have less than a dozen dried spices on hand. I’m in bed at the moment so I will wait and a full inventory tomorrow, but off the ToMH I can think of the following dried/bulk spices I have on hand:

Cinnamon
Cream of tartar (not really a spice but it takes up a spot in the spice rack)
Turmeric
Old Bay seasoning
Paprika
Poppy seeds
Laurel
Curry spice

I think that’s about it; there might be a couple I’m forgetting.

The following spices are always purchased in the produce section along with the rest of the ingredients of whatever it is I’m cooking, and either minced or ground in a mortar.

Garlic
Onion/shallots
Ginger
Star anise
Assorted nuts
Cilantro, parsley and other aromatic leafies
Lemongrass
Chili peppers
Tamarind
Rosemary (it grows wild around here along side the weeds)
Basil

Some other things don’t really qualify as spices for the purpose of a “how big is your spice rack” discussion because they wouldn’t go into a spice rack:

Bullion cubes or consommé.
The canister items: Flour/salt/sugar/coffee/tea

Other flavorings come from liquids such as:

Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Hoisin sauce
Chili paste
Rice wine or sherry

And of course lime and lemon juice need to come from limes and lemons. The bottled stuff is, at best, a vague approximation of the fresh and limes/lemons are not that rare and not that hard to squeeze.

I don’t use oregano for anything.

What is your preferred set of spice rack staples?

2

If it’s a leafy green, then we try to buy fresh. Everything else is from Penzey’s. I use basil and oregano in damn near everything, so they get bought fresh on a weekly basis when they aren’t growing outside. I grow my own chilis, but since Aleppo pepper is a standard around here, we keep it in a shaker on the table.

The easiest way to envision our spice cabinet is to just open a Penzey’s catalog. We have almost all of it.

3

We use a lot of both dried and fresh. Some dried herbs are not permitted in my home: basil, cilantro and parsley chief among them. Dried shallots are also right out. Also ground ginger, which really doesn’t resemble fresh. I never use dried garlic or onion, but have been known to use the powdered form when making something like a chex mix. The main thing with dried herbs is not to keep them too long. My son has an herb rack in his kitchen that has been there since he got married (a wedding gift). The herbs are dead, having given up their essence several years ago.

When making soup or stew, fresh herbs in the bowl just before ladling the soup in is heaven. Dried herbs and ground spices generally work pretty well for most dishes, though.

4

I like using fresh herbs, but I don’t go out of my way to get them. Right now I’m trying to work, trying to find a second/full-time job, taking care of someone disabled, and helping other family members down on their luck. Saving time is a HUGE thing, as is purchasing seldom-used items in a form that won’t go bad quickly. So while I prefer fresh garlic if I’m running around a lot I may not have time to go to the store and thus use some alternative.

Also, I grew a lot of parsley this year, a year’s worth, more or less, but there’s no way I can keep that much parsley fresh for 10 months until I can grow more. So I dry vast quantities of it. That is, after all, why people first started drying herbs, to preserve them. Sure, I can buy it year round, but I’m poor and dried does well enough that I’ll take it from my garden, dry it, and spend money on, say, higher quality protein items or fresh fruit all winter long which I can’t obtain from my garden.

Gotta say thought, that outside my own garden Penzey’s is my favorite source. That said, if I get a good price break these days I feel I have to use cheaper sometimes.