A variety of spiced goodness

I’m moving again (sigh), but it should encourage the cooking. Of late I’ve made a few things, but nothing really worth posting–peanut satay (chicken marinated in coconut milk, fish sauce, and Savory Spice Shop’s mild yellow curry powder, grilled and served with peanut sauce) and my very first fish curry (halibut, onions, garlic, coconut milk, and spices). I also made a couple loaves of rummy pumpkin bread which didn’t last the week.

Now I am beginning the marathon Christmas cookie-baking season, for I have very little money this Christmas for presents. Also, because cookies are delicious. So far I’ve been working on adapting my favorite cookie recipe ever–cardamom-flavored honey cookies–to 6000 feet. Once I work out the bugs, I’ll post that recipe. Molasses cookies are next on the list, then oatmeal raisin, pumpkin spice, and possibly chocolate chip (I think chocolate chip is rather dull, but it’s popular). I’m also toying with some other ideas–Aztec brownies with ancho chili and cinnamon and cookies flavored with ras el hanout (the ras el hanout blend I buy is heavy on the sweet spices and would make an interesting dessert).

Today I went to Savory again to pick up a few Christmas presents and refill my cardamom supply (it’s the spice I go through fastest). I also picked up some ground ancho chili, which should be interesting to experiment with, especially since I picked up a Spanish cookbook at a thrift store the other day. Savory sells nice gift sets if you’re looking for a good cook’s gift. I always find that sort of thing interesting–the Deluxe Curry Set is my favorite of theirs, but I find some of the others, the starter sets in particular, a little peculiar.

That’s a problem in general with starter sets, however, as the author of my favorite spice book (The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices) notes. Everyone has a different set of staples. Savory’s Deluxe Starter Set, for example, contains the following: granulated garlic, granulated onion, imported European basil, Greek oregano, Spanish sweet paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne, black Tellicherry pepper, Mediterranean thyme, and Saigon cinnamon. Of those, I never use granulated garlic/onion, crushed red pepper, or cayenne, and only use paprika for paella and hummus, which I don’t make often. The others, while staples, lean heavily towards the European herbs.

Even the really, really basic staples, like pepper and salt, vary. Most people use black pepper frequently; I use it in (a) chai and (b) spaghetti sauce. I honestly wouldn’t miss it in a kitchen. Erin uses red pepper far more than black pepper. On the salt side, I use Celtic sea salt, a very flavorful, mineral-rich salt for both cooking and finishing. Since I started using it (per doctor’s orders), I’ve consumed a lot less salt, but it’s more nutritious salt. But there are a fair number of people out there who don’t use any salt at all for medical reasons. Plain table salt (NaCl) is barely worthy of spice status, in my opinion.

My “basic spice cabinet” is heavier on the spices than herbs, particular “sweet” spices, which I use for Western baking and Indian cooking. A crack at such a list would probably go something like this:

-Celtic sea salt
-Pepper (for other people)
-Cassia cinnamon
-Cloves
-Ginger
-Allspice
-Cardamom (green)
-Cumin
-Mild red chili (ancho or chili rojo)
-Thyme
-Rubbed sage
-Basil
-Oregano
-Rosemary
-Saffron
-Garam masala (this is cheating because it’s a blend, but I use it often and rarely mix it up myself)

After that I’d start adding herbs and spices like black cumin (kala jeera), bay leaves, paprika/pimenton, sumac, anise/star anise, etc. I also like to keep Thai red and green curry pastes on hand, along with tamarind paste, lemongrass or lemongrass paste (the latter is slightly horrifying in preservative content, but tastes better than dried), and fresh garlic and ginger. I also use good-quality mild yellow curry and ras el hanout blends fairly often.

With that selection I can make a decent variety of Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern, and Italian dishes, plus holiday cookies. I do have at least 40 more spices, including grains of paradise (which I still need to get a dedicated pepper grinder for) and black cardamom (which I’ve never got up the courage to use–the mothball smell is offputting). Hands down, regular ground green cardamom is the spice I use most–I put it in almost everything, including cuisines that don’t often use it. I am madly in love with the strong, somewhat fruity scent of fresh cardamom (it does not hold up well over time, so hurry out and buy it fresh if you’ve never done so). I recently found cardamom lip balm and am on a quest to find cardamom soap or perfume.

As much as some people look down on preblended spice mixes, I’m a big fan of them–when they come from a good supplier with high turnover and a commitment to authenticity. Blends are a great way for non-ardent cooks and folks in a hurry to make food taste better without having a cabinet of 60+ spices (as I do). Besides, most of us aren’t prone to keeping lavender, sumac, rose petals, or sour mango powder (amchur) around on a regular basis (I do have both sumac and amchur, but I rarely use them–tamarind paste, rice wine vinegar, citrus juices are my preferring souring agents).

By the way, returning to the holiday theme, my other favorite spice merchant, World Traders, also offers gift sets, with a very different selection.