How to Stock a Spice Cabinet

A household spice cabinet is a daunting to face for the first time. What spices do you need? How should you store them? There are several things to consider in stocking your first spice cabinet, so here is a quick rundown.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Choose a dark, cool and dry cabinet in which to store your dried herbs and spices. Dark and cool because light and temperature affects the flavors of spices, causing them to dissipate prematurely, and dry to avoid mold.

2. Collect the hardware that you will need. Airtight metal canisters are better than jars, again to avoid the light. Additionally you will want a grease pencil, computer labels or a label-maker in order to identify the contents of your canisters. Finally, you will want a fine Microplane grater for nutmeg, one or two good quality peppermills for pepper and an electric blade type coffee mill for everything else.

3. Whenever possible, get whole spices in preference to ground because whole spices give you better, fresher flavors and they have a much longer shelf-life than ground spices do. Not all spices are available in whole form, so purchase those in smaller quantities and replace them every six months or so. Whole spices are good for about two years. Whole spices are available through numerous on-line sources in addition to your local spice shop. When labeling spices, add the date in grease pencil so you can rotate them in a timely manner.

4. Herbs are a different issue. Fresh herbs are now available in the produce section of most grocery stores, so we don’t have to be as reliant on dried herbs as we once were. Some recipes call for dried herbs in preference to fresh ones, however. In that case, again, purchase small quantities and dispose of them after six months.

5. Stock with your favorite herbs and spices! Some basics are included here, and you can use these as a starting point, but branch out by experimenting with things that sound interesting to you and to herbs and spices that compliment your cooking style.

Tips & Warnings

• Allspice. This is not a spice blend, but a single spice that tastes like a blend. Get it in the whole berry form.
• Bay Leaves. This is the one herb that is actually better in its dried form than it is fresh. Try to find the Greek variety.
• Cayenne Pepper. The African variety is hotter, and the Indian is more complex. Since it is only available ground, get it in smaller quantities and replace it often.
• Celery Seed. A wonderful addition to chicken or tuna salads as well as pasta salad and a necessity for any type of pickle.
• Chili Pepper Flakes. Choose wisely–they vary greatly in heat factor and flavor.
• Chili Powder. It is a mix of spices, but you can get it in coarse form from a good spice merchant. Very useful for chili, of course, but it is also a great addition to grilled meats.
• Cinnamon. Actually you will probably prefer cassia to true cinnamon. For most applications the more common cassia flavor, normally marketed in this country as cinnamon, is the strong “cinnamonny” flavor that we have come to love.
• Cloves. Again, buy whole and grind your own.
• Curry Powder. Even if you are not a curry eater, it is a rich and complex addition to simple dishes such as chicken salad, elevating it to something special. Like chili powder, curry is a blend. Get it through a reliable spice merchant and replace it often.
• Mustard Seed. Yellow or brown. Brown is spicier, yellow is more “mustardy.”
• Nutmeg, whole nut. Very complementary to dairy, it will brighten up your omelets and scrambles!
• Paprika. Again, only available in powdered form. Get the Hungarian sweet variety to start, later you can branch out to hot paprika and the deep and delicious smoked Spanish paprika.
• Peppercorns, black and white. Keep each in its own grinder. Tellicherry is the classic black peppercorn with a great and complex flavor. White is white–you only need it if you are making light colored sauces that you don’t want black specs in, otherwise just stick with black. Though tempting, stay away from peppercorn mixes–the flavor is just not as good as Tellicherry.
• Salt. The mother of all seasonings, it does not abide by the same rules as the others. It is already a million years old–it does not lose its flavor. Even though salt grinders are trendy, they are totally useless. There is no point in grinding salt fresh, as coarse salt has no more flavor than the fine varieties. There are, however, a wide variety of salts available. Start with a good quality kosher salt for cooking and a high quality sea salt for the table. Then, if you like, you can start experimenting with red salt and black salt for seasoning seafood, smoked salts and pure, moist, fleur de sel! None of these require the cool dark of the rest of your spices.

Resources

• World Spice Merchants of Seattle - just one of many online spice merchants.

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