Learning How to Spice Things Up!

You've heard of a food pyramid, try a spice pyramid!

I unfortunately come from a family with a rather bland palette or more specifically, my dad does not like anything overly spiced up so a lot of our standard meal time food was generic packets of spices with a ton of salt for flavor. That was, until the day I started to experiment within the spice rack for my fried egg sandwiches. As soon as I had that first taste of garlic powder, I was hooked. As I started dating one of my exes, I got to invade his spice cabinet which was full of more curiosities and soon enough I got a basic idea of how to use different spices in food to the point I could make my own spice mixes on the fly which saved me a hell of a lot of money back when I was living off the food bank. How do you get to this point where mixing spices comes to you as easily as mixing colors of paint to get new ones? Today we’re going to discuss that along with a few pairings that you are bound to enjoy.

First off, you need to learn what flavors go well with what food. Much like in my post on making your own recipe, you have about three ways to do this. Straight up experimentation can get you pretty far, especially if you have an idea of adding some spice that sounds like it would fit well into your food. Another is to consider what types of spices go with the nationality of the food you are making, for example garlic has a use in both Italian and Asian fusion dishes but while you’d put oregano into an Italian dish, you would not put it into a stir fry. The easiest way though, in my opinion, if you are starting out and don’t know your spices very well, is to look at the pre-made ones in the store. Grab that Italian spice mix and look at the ingredients or take a look at those little taco seasoning packets that cost about a dollar. They usually will list the spices they used along with the fillers, therefore you can just mix up the spices from your own storage instead of buying a packet each time.

Mint also has a very strong scent.

Now it is one thing to figure out what goes into the mix, but a whole other to figure out what the ratio is going to be for them. This is where you have to tread carefully because not all herbs and spices will have the same flavor strength. Cinnamon, garlic powder, and onion powder all are notorious strong flavors that grab your attention like the one child that screams the answer out over all the others in a classroom. Always add different spices slowly, figure out who is louder and adjust accordingly. I recommend doing this by nose, see what spices you can smell more of until you feel like they are roughly equal. If you are not good at that, make a test batch of that herb with whatever dish it’s with. One of the few spiced dishes in my family, Chicken Paprikas, is always tricky to balance the sour cream and the spiced chicken drippings  for the sauce together. Too much sour cream means it tastes more like sour cream; too much of the drippings and it becomes super runny. It’s usually a matter of guessing which amounts of which ingredient and everyone eating the dish and judging it like a cooking contest. Sometimes it ends up too much sour cream, sometimes it’s too much drippings, but there are always the rare occasions where the balance is perfect. Experience with the flavors is the key to success.

Try some Rosemary, it will work out nice.

Before I leave you to your spicy experiments, I will give you a list of what you should probably have in your kitchen and what works well with it. You can take this as a springboard to improve your food flavors and move on from there:

Basil: A favorite of my boyfriend’s, this goes well with a lot of foods but mostly is great for Italian dishes.

Chives: If you ever need a light onion flavor for a dish but not a whole onion, these little sprouts do it. Better fresh but that is expensive in the stores, so I’d recommend growing it. However, you can get it dried.

Chili Powder: A necessary for Mexican dishes and heat fiends of all kinds, I personally don’t use it much because I cannot tolerate hot spices but it is a must have for a kitchen because of how many who do.

Oregano: One of my personal favorites, works well with any hearty dish, especially if you want an Italian Seasoning vibe.

Thyme: Chicken and eggs are Thyme’s best friend. It also goes well in many other dishes if you like earthier flavors.

Rosemary: Great with chicken, fish, and many other dishes. Pair with thyme and oregano for a nice herb combo.

Cinnamon: Sweet but overpowering, use lightly. Perfect for baked goods.

Garlic powder: works with nearly everything except sweets. A god among the spices.

Paprika: Sweet and great on eggs or anything you need a dash of flavor and color for.

Pepper: Good with everything, always gotta have some! (Even with sweets, try Pfeffernusse)

That’s just a small list but it should help you get started. Put your recommendations in the comments below and I will see you all at Horror Tuesday.