It’s time to invest in fresh new spices.
Sure, it will put a bulge in your grocery bill; spices cost a bundle. So before you hit the supermarket spice aisle, price-shop for bulk spices at specialty food stores and ethnic markets, if there’s time. Things such as sesame seeds often are less pricey if sold in bulk.
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Buy ground spices in the smallest amounts, because they don’t keep well. Oxygen, light and heat zap their spicy character over time.
Do a cupboard search first to eliminate tired and faded spices; make a list of fresh ones needed.
Some of the old spices can be used in a “potpourri pot” of simmering water along with orange and lemon-peel spirals and whole cloves. If you don’t have a commercial simmering crock, use a small, heavy saucepan half-filled with water set over ultra-low heat-with handle turned inward. Don’t forget to check the pan periodically to keep it from going dry. The idea is to fill the house with a pleasant spicy fragrance, not eau de scorch.
Here’s a refresher course on spice definitions, courtesy of McCormick:
Allspice is the berry of an evergreen tree, the only spice native to the Western Hemisphere. The name comes from its flavor, which hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.
Cardamom is native to India. It’s richly perfumed, with a sweet, refreshing flavor. Mountain-grown in Central America, it is important in curries and Scandinavian dishes. When ground, only the inner seed is used.
Cinnamon is the bark of a tree, and one of the oldest known spices. Brought from China by Arab traders, it is the most important baking spice. Real cinnamon sticks are light brown and can be pierced with a fingernail. More common are the hard, short, reddish-brown cassia sticks sold as cinnamon.
Cloves are the buds of a tropical evergreen clove tree, shaped like little nails with star heads. Marco Polo brought them back from China; they come from the Indian Ocean Basin.
Ginger is one of the earliest Asian spices known to Europeans. It is the rhizome (not root) of a plant and has a spicy-sweet, hot flavor. Fresh whole ginger can be kept in the freezer. Grate off as needed while still frozen. Crystallized ginger is the candied rhizome, eaten as candy and very expensive. To stretch, mince into cream cheese as a spread for fruit bread.
Juniper berries are the ripened fruit of an evergreen shrub. It takes three years for them to ripen and turn blue. They have a spicy pine aroma that complements sauerbraten, pork, game, cabbage and marinades. This is the flavor of gin.
Mace and nutmeg come from the same fruit. Mace is the lacy covering of the nutmeg; the two may be used interchangeably. It’s fun to buy whole nutmegs for grating fresh.
Turmeric is the ground rhizome of a plant in the ginger family. From India, it gives curry powder and prepared salad mustards their yellow color. Used in pickles, salad dressings and corn relish. You can lend color by adding it to cooking water for potatoes, noodles and rice.