These lists are terrible. Get rid of the herb/spice blends. Curry powder, cajun seasoning, ras al hanout, and herbs de province are redundant. Their base components are already included, and you're far better off mixing them based on the dish you're making
Thai should include lemongrass and shallot, among a million other mistakes in this. No reason not to include cayenne is Mexican food
I could rant for a long time. Ignore these lists, use a wide variety of spices. Prioritize fresh when you can. Spices have a shelf life even when dried
It would have been extra awesome had the spices been sorted alphabetically in each category so you could compare cuisines without having to scan each entire list
What even counts as UK food? Maybe its harder for me to say because I live here so to me a lot of it is just food. There are probably things I see as normal foods but someone outside the UK may not have heard of it and I am going to be unaware of that.
Look at regional recipes perhaps? Cornish pasty or haggis. Well both of those have black pepper and that is certainly a very common ingredient here for pretty much anything savoury.
Garlic is fairly popular, IIRC it was once considered as something for the poors because it grows easily here while the rich would have imported more exotic spices. This would likely influence a lot of recipes that get written down too, and why things like curry are pretty popular.
There's a London dish called Eel Jelly that used to popular when the Thames was full of them. I'm genuinely curious about it since I'm not British and I hear all the time "Haha colonialism they don't even use the spices" so I'm wondering what they actually use in traditional recipes. I'd guess onion, garlic and leek with pepper coming in with the Indian colonisation instead of immigrants.
It's not Eel Jelly. It's actually Jellied Eel. The difference is that with a name like "Eel Jelly" it would seem to be a dish made by adding Eel to Jelly. But Jellied Eel is actually eel cooked in such a way that it becomes jellied. Eels are naturally high in collagen, so you don't need anything special to make them jellied.
Back in the day that was a bonus because eels were poor people food, and the fact they became jellied resulted in a bit of natural preservation, which was important for poor people's food in the days before refrigeration.
As for the spices used, I imagine before colonization it was whatever naturally grows in the UK for the peasants, and whatever grows naturally in Europe for the nobility, who were often tied to or from European noble houses. Here's an article on some of the things that can be foraged in the UK. I imagine that a lot of the spices that used to be used are no longer used. They were probably replaced with better spices that don't have a bitter aftertaste, or have a stronger pleasant taste.
Not from London but found a few recipes online and it appears to always include: eels, gelatin, onion, black peppercorns, salt, vinegar. Then sometimes: bay leaves, carrots, parsley, lemon juice, cloves, fish stock.
What do you (all) think the most important things are in a spice rack?
I've used all these spices, but for a lot of them I tend to use the fresh version: fresh garlic, cilantro / coriander, ginger, and cinnamon in stick form. I like making Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and often "General European" food. So, maybe for me, the powdered / bottled priority is:
Ha, that's what I'm trying to avoid. It's easy to just buy all the spices, but I'm trying to limit it to the ones I actually use. For coriander, I just use fresh cilantro / coriander. I very rarely use coriander powder. Pepper, obviously, but that doesn't live in the spice drawer.
From your setup, "Dill Weed"? Do you ever use that? Dry parsley? Dry chives? Pumpkin Pie Spice? I don't think I've ever used any of those. Also, you have celery salt, kosher(ing) salt, truffle salt and salt substitute. Do you really use all of them?
I do have to say, your setup is great. Everything in the same kind of bottle, everything labelled well (even the 3 special ones), and all alphabetically sorted. I bet your kitchen is a great place to cook.
Dill weed is great for making lemon dill roasted potatoes. They go great with spanakopita.
Dry chives I put in last weeks mashed potatoes, and dried parsley in a stew ( I like fresh but it is good as a backup).
The pumpkin pie spice is actually an imported Indian finishing spice my Indian coworker brought over for me. You put a pinch of it into the dish of say curry/lentils right at serving. I put it as Pumpkin Pie spice because it seems to be a mix of cloves, nutmeg, Cinnamon and a few other things. It reminded me of Pumpkin Pie spices enough that I skip the regular pie recipe and just put a few spoons of that into the pumpkin filling. People love it.
Celery salt, because as a vegan to get a chicken/turkey type broth soup celery and sage can trick your taste buds into tasting chicken like.
Kosher Salt is for my homemade bread, it is super course and it does a better job of letting the yeast rise (while still controlling it).
Salt Substitute is actually Black Salt (already had the label stuck on the jar). Its a sulfer like mineral salt made by burning something. Since we are vegan if you want anything to smell and taste eggy, like an eggless salad, this does exactly that. But also adds good flavour in recipes.
Truffle Salt-- hard to source here so still empty right now.
A bit lazy to list "Cajun seasoning" as one of the main Cajun spices.
Same this with curry powder ๐. Both are basically just combinations of the other spices listed.
And garam masala
And ras al hanout
And herbes de province
And all-spice ๐ฅ
You gotta add curry powder to your powdered curry spices if you want the true boss power
Similarly, the North African Ras el-hanout (head of the shop) is a spice blend.
From my u derstanding, za'ataar is basically just oregano.
Uhm... sumac anyone?
Thai is missing both lemongrass and chillies which are like the two main spices I think of with Thai food.
Thai basil (holy basil) is also different than regular basil. It should be noted that itโs not the same as Mediterranean basil.
And Mexican missing cilantro
And galangal
These lists are terrible. Get rid of the herb/spice blends. Curry powder, cajun seasoning, ras al hanout, and herbs de province are redundant. Their base components are already included, and you're far better off mixing them based on the dish you're making
Thai should include lemongrass and shallot, among a million other mistakes in this. No reason not to include cayenne is Mexican food
I could rant for a long time. Ignore these lists, use a wide variety of spices. Prioritize fresh when you can. Spices have a shelf life even when dried
Would love a detailed, quality list, having a short hand when throwing together a meal is always ideal
Hungarian:
It would have been extra awesome had the spices been sorted alphabetically in each category so you could compare cuisines without having to scan each entire list
Dude thats amazing. Deserves its own post
Be the change you want in the world. That's what I'm doing hunting anon to post here
Everyone sleeping on dill. It's a travesty!
N0t in the Baltics they ain't
Accidentally killed mine this spring. What do you do with it? Figured I'd learn once I got some going.
Shouldn't be regular basil under Thai, it should be Thai basil. They are different.
I love a nice exotic rack, especially when it's on top of some thick dark wood.
๐ค
The UK:
Need to add the UK lol
Salt, pepper and all-purpose curry powder please.
What even counts as UK food? Maybe its harder for me to say because I live here so to me a lot of it is just food. There are probably things I see as normal foods but someone outside the UK may not have heard of it and I am going to be unaware of that.
Look at regional recipes perhaps? Cornish pasty or haggis. Well both of those have black pepper and that is certainly a very common ingredient here for pretty much anything savoury.
Garlic is fairly popular, IIRC it was once considered as something for the poors because it grows easily here while the rich would have imported more exotic spices. This would likely influence a lot of recipes that get written down too, and why things like curry are pretty popular.
There's a London dish called Eel Jelly that used to popular when the Thames was full of them. I'm genuinely curious about it since I'm not British and I hear all the time "Haha colonialism they don't even use the spices" so I'm wondering what they actually use in traditional recipes. I'd guess onion, garlic and leek with pepper coming in with the Indian colonisation instead of immigrants.
It's not Eel Jelly. It's actually Jellied Eel. The difference is that with a name like "Eel Jelly" it would seem to be a dish made by adding Eel to Jelly. But Jellied Eel is actually eel cooked in such a way that it becomes jellied. Eels are naturally high in collagen, so you don't need anything special to make them jellied.
Back in the day that was a bonus because eels were poor people food, and the fact they became jellied resulted in a bit of natural preservation, which was important for poor people's food in the days before refrigeration.
As for the spices used, I imagine before colonization it was whatever naturally grows in the UK for the peasants, and whatever grows naturally in Europe for the nobility, who were often tied to or from European noble houses. Here's an article on some of the things that can be foraged in the UK. I imagine that a lot of the spices that used to be used are no longer used. They were probably replaced with better spices that don't have a bitter aftertaste, or have a stronger pleasant taste.
Not from London but found a few recipes online and it appears to always include: eels, gelatin, onion, black peppercorns, salt, vinegar. Then sometimes: bay leaves, carrots, parsley, lemon juice, cloves, fish stock.
How is ginger in any way Mediterranean?
WOW, I have them all right now, and a few extra ones... except Ras El Hanout
How about Asians?
"Best I got is one tiny country."
India is literally the most populous country though?
...Where do I put my salt and pepper? ๐คทโโ๏ธ
Misses lemon grass
Fuck yeah coolguides
What do you (all) think the most important things are in a spice rack?
I've used all these spices, but for a lot of them I tend to use the fresh version: fresh garlic, cilantro / coriander, ginger, and cinnamon in stick form. I like making Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and often "General European" food. So, maybe for me, the powdered / bottled priority is:
That's a decent selection, but I would miss the pepper and coriander.
Ha, that's what I'm trying to avoid. It's easy to just buy all the spices, but I'm trying to limit it to the ones I actually use. For coriander, I just use fresh cilantro / coriander. I very rarely use coriander powder. Pepper, obviously, but that doesn't live in the spice drawer.
From your setup, "Dill Weed"? Do you ever use that? Dry parsley? Dry chives? Pumpkin Pie Spice? I don't think I've ever used any of those. Also, you have celery salt, kosher(ing) salt, truffle salt and salt substitute. Do you really use all of them?
I do have to say, your setup is great. Everything in the same kind of bottle, everything labelled well (even the 3 special ones), and all alphabetically sorted. I bet your kitchen is a great place to cook.
Dill weed is great for making lemon dill roasted potatoes. They go great with spanakopita.
Dry chives I put in last weeks mashed potatoes, and dried parsley in a stew ( I like fresh but it is good as a backup).
The pumpkin pie spice is actually an imported Indian finishing spice my Indian coworker brought over for me. You put a pinch of it into the dish of say curry/lentils right at serving. I put it as Pumpkin Pie spice because it seems to be a mix of cloves, nutmeg, Cinnamon and a few other things. It reminded me of Pumpkin Pie spices enough that I skip the regular pie recipe and just put a few spoons of that into the pumpkin filling. People love it.
Celery salt, because as a vegan to get a chicken/turkey type broth soup celery and sage can trick your taste buds into tasting chicken like.
Kosher Salt is for my homemade bread, it is super course and it does a better job of letting the yeast rise (while still controlling it).
Salt Substitute is actually Black Salt (already had the label stuck on the jar). Its a sulfer like mineral salt made by burning something. Since we are vegan if you want anything to smell and taste eggy, like an eggless salad, this does exactly that. But also adds good flavour in recipes.
Truffle Salt-- hard to source here so still empty right now.
Cardamom, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, smoked paprika, chipotle powder, cayenne, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg.
No European dishes then? No oregano, thyme, basil?
No not really. I honestly don't cook a lot, or well, but I'm not really into european food.
They left out the list for "American"
Oh no, a post that's not about the US! Quick, let's make it about the US anyway!
Why not? Americans are fun to laugh at.