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The Spice Pantry

The exotic scent of spices—rich, alluring and almost magical. Fragrances that infuse the air with an enthralling bouquet. That is what spices do to me—transport me to a dreamy and transcendental place. But spices do more than add flavor and interest to ordinary ingredients. They were a vital commodity on the Silk Road.

Spices are used liberally throughout the recipes in this cookbook. They are my friends, each one having a very specific color, texture and flavor—always adding excitement to any meal while warming the heart. When I was growing up, I never saw my mother use a measuring spoon. This is typical with Old World women, who use their fingers to sprinkle a little of this or throw in a little of that. They cook from a place of passion and intuition, continually adding spices and tasting till the desired state perfection is achieved. Since I started cooking, I have become something of a scientist with spices—experimenting with blending them to attain unique flavors. I encourage you to do the same. Eventually, when you feel confident with your spices, you can decide how much to add of a particular seasoning without measuring. In time, your intuition will guide your senses to play with spices like an artist mixing paint to achieve that ideal color. Brilliant reds, yellows, greens, and a dozen other shades in every imaginable shape, size, and texture sit in my spice rack, mysteriously telling me how to use them. They will talk to you too.

YOUR SPICE PANTRY

I have developed this must-have seasoning and spice pantry for myself and it can be the foundation of your modern Silk Road-inspired cooking, as well.

A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER

Store dried spices in clean, airtight bottles, in a cool, dark place. Whole spices will keep for a year or two.

Ground spices will lose pungency after four or five months. Aroma is the best indication of freshness. A rule of thumb: little smell, little taste.

Whole spices ground by hand provide the best flavor and aroma. Grind your spices as you need them and do not be tempted to grind too much, as the surplus tends to lose potency and flavor when stored. Some spices, such as cloves, turmeric and cinnamon are difficult to grind at home and are better bought already ground.

Spice grinders come in an assortment of styles, with varying functionality. Some people prefer the look and feel of a mortar and pestle, while others want the efficiency and convenience of a coffee grinder or electric grinder.

ALLSPICE is the dried unripe fruit (actually, the berries) of Pimenta dioica, a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, Southern Mexico, and Central America, and now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The English, who thought it combined the flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, coined the name “allspice” as early as 1621. Allspice is indispensable in Middle Eastern cuisine, where it is used to flavor a variety of stews. In America and in Great Britain, it is used mostly in desserts, because it has a wonderfully strong aroma that balances sweetness and heat. In Silk Road cookery, it is used in both sweet and savory applications. It does indeed taste like a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Although allspice is available ready-ground, it is best to buy the spice whole to retain its flavor, and grind just before use.

Medicinally, allspice has been used as a deodorant and has also been said to provide relief for indigestion and gas.

BAY LEAF grows on the coast of the Black and Mediterranean Seas. It refines and adds aroma to many sour dishes and is typically added to soups and stews because of its pungent flavor. Since these leaves are so pungent, one is generally enough for a dish, and the leaf is removed prior to serving the dish. Look for pale, green and unbroken leaves for best flavor. They’re usually sold dried.

BLACK PEPPER is native to India and has been a prized spice since ancient times. It was cherished for its ability to add pungency to bland foods, and to disguise a food’s lack of freshness when there was no efficient means of preservation available.

Pepper became an important spice that stimulated much of the spice trade, due to its varied uses. Pepper loses flavor and aroma when exposed to the air, so airtight storage helps preserve its original spiciness. Once ground, pepper’s aromatics can dissipate quickly, which is why it’s best to grind whole peppercorns immediately before use.

CARDAMOM comes from the seeds of a plant that, like ginger, can be propagated through its rhizomes (stems that grow mostly underground, in tangled masses). But unlike ginger, it is the seed-pods that find their way into the spice pantry. These can be used whole or split, but either way, must be cooked. You can also bruise (lightly smash) the pod to open it, and fry the seeds before adding the main ingredients to the pan. And you can pound them with other spices to make a blend.

Cardamom has a distinct, warm, sweet, pungent aroma and tastes like a combination of citrus, camphor, and eucalyptus. Toasted, ground, or in its whole form, cardamom’s versatility is incredible; it infuses all kinds of dishes with a distinctive flavor note. Curries, breads, desserts, rice, tea, and coffee can all benefit from the addition of cardamom. Bruised green pods have a stronger and sweeter aroma than black cardamom pods that are found in Asia and Australia.

Cardamom loses its flavor and aroma quickly. It’s best to purchase it in its whole pod form and grind what you need when you need it. Even the pods will lose up to 40 percent of their potency during their first year in storage.

CINNAMON is native to Sri Lanka. The brown bark of the cinnamon tree, which is available in its dried tubular form known as a quill, or as ground powder. Although available throughout the year, the fragrant, sweet, and warm taste of cinnamon is a perfect spice to use during the winter months. The two varieties of cinnamon, Chinese and Ceylon, have a similar flavor; however, the cinnamon from Ceylon is slightly sweeter and more refined, with a greater concentration of oils. Which should you use? It depends on what you’re cooking—and your budget. Ceylon cinnamon is more difficult to find; you will have to seek it out in specialty spice shops. Cassia, as Chinese cinnamon is known, is more widely available; it’s what’s usually stocked at your local grocery store. Keep cinnamon in a tightly sealed glass container in a cool, dark, and dry place. The refrigerator will help extend cinnamon’s freshness. If it no longer smells sweet, it’s stale and should be tossed.

CLOVES have a strong, peculiar aroma and a sweet-hot-spicy flavor. They can easily overpower a dish, particularly when ground, so only use a dash. They are often used in curry powders, hot drinks with wine, punches, fruit juices, desserts, and stewed fruits.

CORIANDER refers to the seeds and leaves of an annual herb; in the U.S., the leaves are called cilantro and the seeds are called coriander. And in some places, the leaves are known as Chinese parsley.

Whatever you call it; this distinctive herb has a flavor that can be likened to a blend of lemon and sage. All parts of the plant are edible, but it’s the fresh leaves and the dried seeds that are commonly used in cooking, and many cultures have made it an integral part of traditional dishes.

CUMIN is an aromatic spice with a distinctive, bitter, earthy flavor with a hint of lemon and a strong, warm aroma due to its high oil content. Cumin “seeds” are actually the small dried fruit of this annual plant, which is a member of the parsley family. Native to the Mediterranean, cumin is sometimes confused with caraway, but it is hotter to the taste, lighter in color, and larger. Sold whole or ground, the seeds come in three colors: amber, white, or black. Amber is most widely available. If you find the black variety, be warned; it has such a complex flavor that it should not be substituted for the other two. Cumin is a popular ingredient in Middle Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean, and Mexican cuisines, and is one of the main ingredients in curry powder. Toasting the seeds enhances their flavor.

CURRY POWDER is a blend of several spices that are ground and mixed in certain proportions. (Every Silk Road cook has a favorite formula; in the West it is typically sold pre-mixed.) It is composed of coriander, turmeric, chilies, cumin, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cassia, and clove. Curry’s popularity in recent decades has spread outward from the Indian subcontinent to figure prominently in international cuisine. Consequently, each culture has adopted curry into its indigenous cooking to suit its own unique tastes and sensibilities. It’s a true global phenomenon. It is common to toast curry powder in a dry pan for 30 seconds or until fragrant before using it, to add depth and flavor.

FENNEL SEEDS are native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean area. They are often confused with anise, which has a similar shape. However, fennel seeds are smaller and green or yellowish brown in color; they are also sweeter and less pungent than anise. The seeds have a distinct licorice flavor and is used widely in Mediterranean cuisine, on the Indian subcontinent, and in the Middle East. They are an essential ingredient of the Oriya spice mixture in Bengali cuisine and in Chinese five-spice powders. In many parts of Pakistan and India roasted fennel seeds are consumed as an after-meal digestive and breath freshener.

GINGER is a rhizome—a plant whose stems grow largely underground in a tangled mass. Native to India and China, it takes its name from the Sanskrit word stringa-vera, or “with a body like a horn,” meaning an animal horn such as antlers.

Fresh ginger is essential to Asian and Subcontinent cooking. It is used in pickles, chutneys, and curry pastes, and in dried and ground form is a constituent of many curry powders. In the West, dried ginger is mainly used in cakes and cookies, especially ginger snaps and gingerbread, but it’s also used in puddings, jams, preserves, and in drinks such as ginger beer, ginger wine, and tea. Ginger root is available in various forms; the most common of which are whole raw roots, powdered (dried ground) ginger, and crystallized ginger.

LEMONGRASS is native to India, but is widely used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. This is a very pungent herb and is normally used in small amounts. The entire stalk can be used, (though by the time it gets to the supermarket you might want to remove the harder outer layers). The stalk can be sliced very finely and added to soups. It’s also used in curries. The light lemon flavor of this grass blends well with garlic, chilies, and cilantro.

MUSTARD SEEDS are native to Asia, and have been used in Indian food for over two thousand years. The French have used mustard seeds as a spice since 800 CE, and it was among the spices collected by the Spanish during their explorations throughout the fifteenth century. Mustard seeds bring a hot and spicy flavor that enhances sauces and salad dressings, and is often used in pickling and boiling vegetables. In Indian cooking, they are fried before use. There are three different types of mustard seeds: yellow, brown, and black. The yellow mustard seeds are the largest and are milder than the others. The brown seeds are most commonly used in Indian cooking, while the black seeds, which were very popular in the West, have now become difficult to find.

NUTMEG is native to the Spice Islands in Indonesia. Nutmeg is a seed encased in an edible fruit that is the size of a peach. It has a sweet, aromatic, nutty flavor that is associated with sweet, spicy dishes such as pies, puddings, custards, cookies, and spice cakes. In fact, in the U.S., that’s how it is most often used. But nutmeg combines well with many cheeses, and is included in soufflés and cheese sauces. In soups it works with tomatoes, split peas, and black beans. It complements vegetables like cabbage, spinach, broccoli, beans, onions, and eggplant. Nutmeg loses its flavor and potency very quickly, so if you want to use nutmeg that actually contributes flavor to your recipe, it’s best to buy whole nutmeg seeds and grate them by hand as needed.

PAPRIKA is a red powder that is made from grinding dried red bell and/or chili peppers. Hungary, the country where most paprika is produced today, exports six types of paprika, ranging from mild to hot. Paprika powder ranges from bright red to brown and varies from sweet and mild to pungent and hot, depending on the type of pepper used during processing. Sweet paprika is the standard, although it is mild in flavor. The hot paprika gives your taste buds a jolt.

Paprika only releases its flavor when heated, so when you sprinkle it over colorless dishes it improves the food’s appearance, but not its flavor. This is why it is often used as a garnish, not a spice. However, you can use it as a flavoring by stirring the powder into some oil before adding it to a recipe. It’s important to remember, when using paprika in sauces, that it has a high sugar content and burns easily. Add it only when liquid ingredients are present and do not cook it over high heat for too long.

SAFFRON originates in Western Asia and Persia. It is the world’s most expensive spice because it is harvested by hand. It takes about 13,125 threads to get one ounce of the stuff.

It’s the star flavor in Spanish paella, and many Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. The threads are usually soaked in hot water before they are added to the dish, which helps them blend in with the other spices. Saffron also imparts a lovely, luminous gold color is used extensively throughout Central Asia to flavor and color festive rice dishes.

SALT is an essential nutrient and mineral needed by the body to maintain electrolyte balance. Its importance as a preservative and nutrient and its ability to enhance the flavor of food gave it a near mystical power.

Civilizations, cities, and entire economies have been built on this oldest geological commodity. Before spice routes were established, merchants traveled “salt routes” and traded and exchanged it in places where salt was scarce. Sea salt is an excellent all-purpose salt that I use extensively in my kitchen. Kosher salt is a relatively pure salt that contains no iodine or other additives. Its moderately coarse texture makes it an excellent “pinching salt” for cooking. The naturally tinted salt that has appeared on the market in recent years is most often coarse, and must be ground for use.

TURMERIC comes from the root of Curcuma longa, a leafy plant in the ginger family. India is the world’s primary producer of turmeric, although it is also grown in China and Indonesia. Turmeric is mildly aromatic with a scent reminiscent of orange or ginger, and has a pungent, bitter flavor.

It is often used in place of saffron to provide color, since it is a brilliant orangey yellow. Turmeric has been used medicinally throughout Asia to treat stomach and liver ailments, as well as headaches, due to its anti-inflammatory properties.