A perfect gift for the jewelry-loving foodie: rings made with actual spices sealed in resin and decorated with silver. The ring pictured above has ground cloves (the brown section), cayenne (red) and wasabi powder (green).
The rings are called "Amuse Bouche" and are designed by these two artists. I bet I know someone who would like one of these rings (even though a cook never wears jewelry while working).
Thanks to Gigi, The Roadside Scholar for the link.
Are your dishes coming out a little on the blah side these days? It’s probably because those little glass jars of spices on your spice rack haven’t been replaced since the Clinton Administration.
All spices and dried herbs lose their flavor over time, so the well-prepared cook keeps tabs on how old a particular item in the spice cabinet might be and is ready to throw out the weak and weary ones on a regular basis.
McCormick’s Spices has a webpage with some very useful information about keeping track of the relative freshness of herbs and spices in general, as well as their own products. In fact, you can even input some label codes from their products if you just can’t recall how old that container of allspice is. Generally speaking, dried herbs are good for about a year, while most spices will last up to four years under good conditions.
I have to own up and say that I don’t keep an extensive list of expiration dates for all of my spice cabinet contents, but I also use just about everything with enough frequency that the likelihood of one of them lasting beyond their lifespan without being replaced is pretty small. I have also wised up in recent years and try to buy the smallest sizes of the least-used items (typically baking spices), so that I have a better chance of using them all up, or at least not throwing away so much. Still, it wouldn’t hurt. Or you can take the cheap-n-dirty approach and just throw out everything in your spice cabinet once a year and start over again.
Let me also say that I am routinely taken aback to arrive at a cooking client’s house and find that the extent of their herb and spice collection is a jar of “Italian seasoning” and some Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. You don’t have to have one of everything, but here are some things that I think EVERYONE ought to have in their spice cabinet:
Dried Herbs:
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Bay Leaves
Baking Spices:
Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Allspice
Ground Ginger
Whole Nutmeg
Cooking Spices:
Ground Cumin
Ground Coriander
Coriander Seed
Paprika
Mustard Powder
Black Peppercorns
White Pepper
Turmeric
Prepared Spice Mixes:
Madras-style Curry Powder
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Celery Salt
Those are just the basics, mind you, so don’t grouse because I don’t have things like Old Bay seasoning or chervil on the list. I also don’t have other basic items like vanilla extract or baking powder on the list because strictly speaking they’re not herbs or spices. It’s a starting point for those of you who think cheese-garlic popcorn powder is a spice.
Comments:
When mom and I cleaned out Grandma’s house there were spice containers that were way more on eBay than as actual cooking ingredients.
In fact, he still had one…that she used….from Slade’s spice mill. Slade’s. the old barely legible building along route 16 in Chelsea. In maine we are still tossing things we find here and there it’s hard to break the Yankee tradition.
Posted by jo [URL] at 02/02/07
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