The Spice of Life

Most people, including most professional chefs, use spice that has already been prepared. That is to say it has been ground up, ready to use. 

The main exception to this is probably black pepper, which you should always grind yourself.  Not difficult.  You can buy a pepper grinder just about anywhere and the peppercorns are available in any supermarket.

Of course you can, if you wish, go to the trouble of buying a pestle and mortar, tracking down the raw spices and then grind them yourself. If you do this, you will be richly rewarded with deep and penetrating flavors.  You may also find that you get tired of doing it very quickly.  However I would highly recommend it for a special occasion, or a wet weekend in Bargo.

Generally speaking, though, the shop bought variety are fine, providing you don’t keep them hanging around in a cupboard for too long.  They will lose their flavor.

As with herbs, it’s very important that you learn the taste and smell of each individual spice and, uniquely, its pungency. This last item is one that is frequently overlooked, even by experienced cooks.

Just about everybody is aware that chili needs to be used carefully for obvious reasons.  But for some reason they do not pay the same attention to turmeric,– which is quite delicate,– and, say, star anise which can strangle an incautious palate at a hundred paces. Both give themselves away, however, if you simply take the lid  off the jar and sniff them.

Mixing spice

Generally speaking, it is a rare thing to add more than a couple of spices to the same dish.  The obvious exceptions to this are Asian and Indian dishes, where the carefully blended mix of flavors will be both traditional and subtle.

You have a choice with these.  You either follow a recipe, or you use one of the many excellent pre-prepared pastes that are now available.  I tend towards the latter choice, although I do still mix my own spices from time to time.

You should do the same.  It’s fun and you learn a great deal about which spices mix well and which are best kept as an individual flavoring.

However you choose to cook with spice, treat it with respect and always add it a little at a time, tasting as you go.

Remember also, that the flavor will change with the length of cooking time.  It may deepen, or it may lessen in its effect.  Only experience will teach you what each individual spice does and how quickly it does it.

One excellent way to test the effect of adding spice, is to cook your rice with something like cardamom seeds.  These come in little pods that needed to be cracked open and the seeds extracted. Do this by placing them on a stable surface, place the flat of a cleaver blade over them and apply a bit of pressure.  They will open easily.  Use about two pods for one dish of rice.

You could also add some turmeric to the same rice dish.  This will turn it yellow and also add a subtle flavor which complements the pungency of the cardamom. Call it saffron rice if you like, very few people will be able to tell the difference.

Rice is a good way to test any number of flavorings.  Personally I find it a bit boring on its own, and I frequently add something to it to jazz it up a little.  Experiment.  You will be pleasantly surprised at what a difference a new flavor can make.

You will also be pleasantly surprised at your growing reputation.