What's YOUR favorite spice?
what's YOUR favorite spice?
I WAS gonna call this blog "I wanna be just like my mom", but I thought the current title was more captivating. I"m here to write tonight about spices.
I'm staying over at my parents house tonight after picking up my dad from the airport. This worked out perfectly, because I have to borrow his SUV tomorrow to pick up my Eames Lounger (!!!!...and if you think THAT'S exciting, just know it's the first of two cool chairs I'm about to get, I'll take pictures when they're all situated). Anyway, it's also perfect, because I have a couple rather extensive recipes I'm making for dinner on Friday, and even though I have to go to Thaitown anyway, I thought I'd do a little shopping in my mom's spice cabinet. This is no ordinary spice cabinet, mind you. My dad custom made it for my mom, with the idea that when she retires all she'll be doing is cooking anyway (more true than misogynistic). It's pretty much the spice cabinet of all spice cabinets, floor to ceiling shallow shelves, and alphebetized, and it makes me swoon with envy. So as I was stealing tablespoons of ground coriander and loas powder from my mom (I snagged a few cans of coconut milk, too, she doesn't mind), I was reminded of the good things in life. Like garam masala and turmeric. The thing is, spices are never good on their own. But combined well, sensitively cared for, and nurtured (and heated, too!), they can make life so unbelievably pleasurable. Anyway, I thought about my favorite spices. They have to be:
1. Rosemary (the pure versatility of use is astounding...sweet, savory, lamb, baked goods, it's endless!)
2. Basil (same here, though I've never made baked goods with it, it IS versatile, from pasta and pesto to thai curry...mmm)3. Curry. Now I know I'm cheating a little here, because "curries", depending on the country from which they hail, are all different (like Thai versus Indian, and they vary regionally as well) plus they're a combination of lots of different spices, but I wanted to include it anyway.
3. Cardamom. I recently made my own rooibos chai. It was an entire saturday afternoon of combining cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg together in different combinations, taste-testing and burning my tongue, filling, and sealing my seal-yourself teabags with an iron. Anyway, after several rounds of beating open cardamom pods with a rubber mallet (best 99 cents I ever spent...at least on a kitchen gadget), I began to really enjoy it's unique aromtic quality, so I'm going to include it here. And hopefully soon I'll try my coffee and cardamom souffle recipe.
Here are a couple of my least favorite spices:
1. Star anise. Blech! And I even like anise okay! Unlike some, I've always been a friend of Sambuca and the black licorice. Star anise is a staple in Chinese cooking (though not as much the friend rice and sweet and sour chicken variety as the 'duck hanging in the window' kind) thought I didn't know much about that 'til a recent trip to Hong Kong, where I realized that the smell I so loathed was that of this yicky, yucky, spice.
2. Paprika. I don't care what my brother says about the hugarian variety versus that kind we get here, I feel it's totally useless. Unless Andreea's making me goulash, I frankly don't see the need. Some may argue that it peps up deviled eggs and serves as a fantastic coloring agent (well there WAS that time my cousins came to Passover dinner with a 'moses crossing the red sea' paprika-stencilled on top of the mashed potatoes ...no I'm NOT kidding).
3. Parsley. And finally, my number one cooking pet peeve. Parsley. A perfectly fine garnish when kept whole and on the stalk, parsley (IMHO) ruins everything it touches when added as a spice. For instance, parsley in chicken soup. Also, parsley in my beet/carrot/apple juice backstage (Blue, I think you'll feel me here). I'm just saying, it's useless. Comepletely useless. And it's a crutch. A crutch for cooks who don't know what else to do so they throw a little parsley on top and call it a night. Blech, parsley.
Anyhoo, here's the point of the blog. Comment me back with YOUR favorite (or least favorite) spices!
warmly,sar
I WAS gonna call this blog "I wanna be just like my mom", but I thought the current title was more captivating. I"m here to write tonight about spices.
I'm staying over at my parents house tonight after picking up my dad from the airport. This worked out perfectly, because I have to borrow his SUV tomorrow to pick up my Eames Lounger (!!!!...and if you think THAT'S exciting, just know it's the first of two cool chairs I'm about to get, I'll take pictures when they're all situated). Anyway, it's also perfect, because I have a couple rather extensive recipes I'm making for dinner on Friday, and even though I have to go to Thaitown anyway, I thought I'd do a little shopping in my mom's spice cabinet. This is no ordinary spice cabinet, mind you. My dad custom made it for my mom, with the idea that when she retires all she'll be doing is cooking anyway (more true than misogynistic). It's pretty much the spice cabinet of all spice cabinets, floor to ceiling shallow shelves, and alphebetized, and it makes me swoon with envy. So as I was stealing tablespoons of ground coriander and loas powder from my mom (I snagged a few cans of coconut milk, too, she doesn't mind), I was reminded of the good things in life. Like garam masala and turmeric. The thing is, spices are never good on their own. But combined well, sensitively cared for, and nurtured (and heated, too!), they can make life so unbelievably pleasurable. Anyway, I thought about my favorite spices. They have to be:
1. Rosemary (the pure versatility of use is astounding...sweet, savory, lamb, baked goods, it's endless!)
2. Basil (same here, though I've never made baked goods with it, it IS versatile, from pasta and pesto to thai curry...mmm)3. Curry. Now I know I'm cheating a little here, because "curries", depending on the country from which they hail, are all different (like Thai versus Indian, and they vary regionally as well) plus they're a combination of lots of different spices, but I wanted to include it anyway.
3. Cardamom. I recently made my own rooibos chai. It was an entire saturday afternoon of combining cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg together in different combinations, taste-testing and burning my tongue, filling, and sealing my seal-yourself teabags with an iron. Anyway, after several rounds of beating open cardamom pods with a rubber mallet (best 99 cents I ever spent...at least on a kitchen gadget), I began to really enjoy it's unique aromtic quality, so I'm going to include it here. And hopefully soon I'll try my coffee and cardamom souffle recipe.
Here are a couple of my least favorite spices:
1. Star anise. Blech! And I even like anise okay! Unlike some, I've always been a friend of Sambuca and the black licorice. Star anise is a staple in Chinese cooking (though not as much the friend rice and sweet and sour chicken variety as the 'duck hanging in the window' kind) thought I didn't know much about that 'til a recent trip to Hong Kong, where I realized that the smell I so loathed was that of this yicky, yucky, spice.
2. Paprika. I don't care what my brother says about the hugarian variety versus that kind we get here, I feel it's totally useless. Unless Andreea's making me goulash, I frankly don't see the need. Some may argue that it peps up deviled eggs and serves as a fantastic coloring agent (well there WAS that time my cousins came to Passover dinner with a 'moses crossing the red sea' paprika-stencilled on top of the mashed potatoes ...no I'm NOT kidding).
3. Parsley. And finally, my number one cooking pet peeve. Parsley. A perfectly fine garnish when kept whole and on the stalk, parsley (IMHO) ruins everything it touches when added as a spice. For instance, parsley in chicken soup. Also, parsley in my beet/carrot/apple juice backstage (Blue, I think you'll feel me here). I'm just saying, it's useless. Comepletely useless. And it's a crutch. A crutch for cooks who don't know what else to do so they throw a little parsley on top and call it a night. Blech, parsley.
Anyhoo, here's the point of the blog. Comment me back with YOUR favorite (or least favorite) spices!
warmly,sar
posted by sara leib at 12:48 AM
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