Thirteen Spices

Spice Up Your Life!

Last week's Thursday Thirteen was about my kitchen friends, my favourite herbs. Today's is about the other lot I depend on quite a bit: Spices!

I have an old-fashioned mortar and pestle and tend to grind the whole spices when I need them, but some are too much of a pain to do that way, like cinnamon, so I do still buy some powdered. They go off more quickly though and lose their pungency.

1. Caraway Seeds
I love these in breads or sprinkled on rolls. Try them scattered into stir-fried white cabbage with a little butter and black pepper. Add them to some boiled potatoes, drizzled with olive oil. Bake in the oven and they magically transport you to Germany!

2. Cardamom
These I use in quite a few Indian dishes. They are good added to rice pilafs or fried with other spices before adding the onion etc.

3. Cayenne
I prefer Cayenne to Chili for heat personally, as the flavour is more nuanced.

4. Celery Seeds
I love these in salads and chicken dishes. I made a Chicken and Mushroom Pie the other day and added some to that.

5. Cinnamon
What would Christmas be without this spice? It has an affinity for dried fruit and any dishes with apple. Baked apples with butter, brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon - the taste of Autumn!

6. Cloves.
My family adores Bread Sauce. Steep a many-clove-studded onion in warm milk with bay leaves and pepper corns for a wonderful base to the sauce. (Strain out the spices/onion etc before making the sauce.)

7. Coriander
One of the twin pillars of Indian cookery. This is the seed not the herb, which is also useful. Crush it and fry it in oil with cumin and mustard seeds before adding vegetables for a delicious Indian curry.

8. Cumin
The other pillar of Indian cookery, it's also very happy to be used in Mexican dishes. I add it to Salsa, chili and black bean dishes for a depth of flavour the chilies alone cannot provide.

9. Mustard Seeds
I like them in curries and salads and in mixed-seed bread. Fry them till they start to pop before adding the other spices and vegetables.

10. Nutmeg
Freshly grated nutmeg, tipped into milk sauces makes a lovely, delicate difference. I like to grate lots of it into my home-made cheese sauce for Macaroni Cheese. It's also good in combination with cinnamon in Christmas dishes.

11. Pepper
Freshly ground pepper livens up most of my cooking! Sometimes, though, in sauces or pale coloured dishes, I prefer to use ground white pepper which is less obtrusive, both in terms of flavour and appearance.

12. Vanilla Pods.
Nothing like the extract you buy in bottles, this has a robust flavour. I keep a pod in a jar or caster sugar. It permeates the sugar and a spoonful of vanilla sugar from the jar scattered on sweet dishes, makes a real statement!

13. Saffron.
Because they are expensive, dried saffron stamens are a special treat. They have a beautiful, delicate flavour, so don't go thinking you can substitute it with Turmeric, as I made the mistake of trying, once! Infuse some warm milk with a few strands and try a special Persian Rice Pudding, made with basmati rice, cardamoms, raisins and flaked almonds.

I hope I've enthused someone to start looking in their spice cupboard with renewed inspiration!