18 March, 2020
The Essential Spice Rack
For people that are not normally home cooks that want to start cooking with the basics, there are a few essential spices you should stock your pantry with.
Black Peppercorns – Almost every recipe you make will have a note “salt and pepper to taste.” You shouldn’t use your table pepper shaker for this. Buy a cheap pepper grinder and a small container of black peppercorns. In many grocery aisles, packages of peppercorns will come with a built in grinder as the cap.
Kosher Salt – When salting while cooking, you don’t want to use table salt. Use Kosher salt instead. The people who write up the recipe use kosher salt. Kosher salt is more course than table salt. If you use Morton’s Table Salt and put in 1 tablespoon, the tiny grains pack together for a lot more salt. Your recipes will end up too salty.
Oregano – One of the most common herbs used in both cooked and cold dishes. Oregano is especially used in Italian cooking. Dried oregano is actually better for cooking than fresh oregano. When it is dried, the flavors and aromas are more intense.
Basil – Basil is always better fresh than dried. The dried basil loses a lot of its flavor and almost all of its aroma. When cooking with fresh basil, add it at the end. Cooking will also greatly weaken the flavor and aroma. Basil is a great accompaniment for tomato based salads and sauces. But keep dried basil on hand because it can be used when mixing into sauces, dressings and whenever you don’t have fresh.
Thyme – It is much easier to use dried thyme that fresh. Fresh thyme doesn’t last very long. Thyme is one of the herbs that retains most of its flavor when dried.
Cumin – Cumin adds an earthy, warming and aromatic character to food. It goes well with chili, stews, and soups. Cumin comes as seeds or as a powder. Most recipes will ask for the powder. If the recipe asks for seeds and all you have is powder, use a lot less of the powder as a substitute.
Chili Powder – When you buy chili powder in US stores, it is always a blend of spices unless is has a specific chili name on it. Most commercial chili powders have a blend of dried chilies, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and salt. You can make your own by buying something like ancho chili powder and creating your own blend. But that is usually more trouble than it is worth.
Garlic Powder – Most recipes that use garlic will ask for fresh whole, minced, or crushed garlic cloves. But garlic powder can be used as a substitute whenever you need to. The powder isn’t as aromatic as fresh garlic when it is cooked. But it has the taste and is very versatile.
Cayenne Pepper – If you like a little “heat” in your recipes, cayenne powder is the standard “red pepper” most people use. Cayenne is a type of chili pepper that is mildly hot. Most commercial cayenne powders you buy will be a blend of several chili peppers that make the flavor profile the manufacturer is after.