Together with us, picture: You recently agreed to the terms of your first apartment contract. Naturally, you and your roommate invite a few friends over for dinner before even unpacking, and then you quickly realize that the only spices you own are a tiny tin of saffron that you bought with your entire paycheck because it smelled so good and a jar of garlic powder that seems to have solidified from years ago. Which implies that even if you’re probably going to order pizza tonight, it’s now extremely evident that every home chef requires a good assortment of basic spices.
Lastly, even though your neighborhood store should carry all or the majority of the spices on our list, we prefer to purchase from companies who stand behind their premium, fairly sourced spices, even if these products are often more expensive. If you are unable to do so, try to get jars with the label “fair trade” wherever you can.
Our Top 20 Spices and Herbs:
Dried Fennel Seeds
As early as 490 BC, dried fennel seeds was recorded on Greek tablets under the term “márathon.” Yes, this is the same fennel that gave rise to the Greek city’s name, which means “a place full of fennel,” and therefore to the race. These days, Turkey, Egypt, and India are usually the places where its seed is gathered. Fennel seed has an earthy, licorice-like taste and is almost as green as the plant it matures into. Fennel is a taste that combines well with pig, so you may remember it from sweet Italian sausage. However, it can be used in a variety of dishes, such as filling biscuits, sweet panna cotta, roast chicken, and spicy oil poured over fresh tomatoes.
Nutmeg
Numerous historical stories state that nutmeg spice was so valuable to Dutch colonists that they exchanged the Banda Islands of Indonesia—then the sole supply of the spice in the world—for Manhattan when they sold the island to the British. It is now grown in the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and the Caribbean. Ground nutmeg loses its vibrancy with time, so if you can, purchase it whole. Nutmeg is very fragrant and has a nutty sweetness. It is now a common ingredient in many recipes, ranging from spice biscuits to a (strong) pinch in béchamel.
Green Cardamom
From delicate yeasted breads to hearty stews, Middle Eastern and Scandinavian cuisines all include these flowery seeds hidden within light green pods. When used sparingly, cardamom’s sweet, piney, almost menthol-like taste and scent might overshadow a meal, but when combined with other spices, it mixes in well and creates a wonderful, subtle perfume. One of the three options is to either add the pods straight to the food you’re preparing, grind the whole pod into a powder, or break the pods apart, take out the seeds, and then pulverize them. 1 teaspoon of crushed cardamom is about equivalent to 10 entire pods or 100 seeds. Discover cardamon in a delicious way with a large cardamom bun or a straightforward carrot cake, or try this take on molokhia or these quick seekh kebabs.
Also read: Using Spice Make Unique Dish
Cinnamon Sticks
Despite being one of the most often used warm spices, cinnamon is far from simple. Purchasing cinnamon from well chosen spice suppliers might result in a strong, aromatic flavor that leaves you wondering whether it was sweetened.
Whole Clove
Spicy-sweet cloves, which are bright pink while fresh, dry to a deep reddish-brown color and have a molasses-like taste. They go well with pumpkin crumb cake, mulled wine, and the broth of beef pho. Cloves are native to Indonesia, but they may now be found in India, Sri Lanka, and Zanzibar. Varieties cultivated in various places might have varied forms and can have variable degrees of sweetness or smokiness, but they will always generate the same underlying taste notes. For instance, cloves from Sri Lanka are richer and plumper than those from Indonesia.
Coriander
The fruit of the same-named plant, though we prefer to call it cilantro in the US, is these yellow-brown seeds, which have an entirely different taste from the delicate, fresh leaves. Coriander seeds, which are crisp and floral, give food an immediate lemony freshness. Whole pickle brines and Indian curries, crushed into marinated lentils, or blooming in hot oil for a burst cherry tomato sauce are some of our favorite ways to enjoy them.
Cumin Seeds
After thousands of years as a mainstay in Central and Western Asia, Spanish and Portuguese immigrants finally brought cumin to North and South America. Conversely, the aromatic, zesty, somewhat musty spice appears in a wide variety of dishes, such as Moroccan tagine and north Indian dal palak, as well as northern Chinese lamb noodles and Mexican carne asada. The seeds are usually fine enough to add straight to food, but pulverized seeds work better for incorporating into foods like chili.