Sunday, November 21, 2010

Spice Cupboard

With some help from my wife I organized my spice cupboard today. This is what I currently have in it (very roughly from back to front, which also translates very roughly into least used to most used):

  1. "Italian seasoning"
  2. cinnamon sticks
  3. lemon pepper
  4. garam masala
  5. red pepper flakes
  6. alum
  7. cream of tartar
  8. paprika
  9. whole nutmeg
  10. whole cloves
  11. whole yellow mustard seed
  12. "curry powder"
  13. Tony Chachere's "salt alternative"
  14. whole peppercorns
  15. powdered ginger
  16. Lawry's seasoned salt
  17. parsley flakes
  18. chili powder
  19. dill weed
  20. fennugreek seeds
  21. nigella seeds
  22. sage
  23. celery salt
  24. ground black pepper
  25. tamarind concentrate
  26. poppy seed
  27. "fajita seasoning"
  28. star anise
  29. saffron threads
  30. ground mustard
  31. whole caraway seed
  32. chipotle powder
  33. whole allspice
  34. ground cloves
  35. ground mace
  36. whole fennel seed
  37. ground cardamom
  38. ground nutmeg
  39. cayenne pepper
  40. ground cinnamon
  41. whole coriander
  42. marjoram
  43. whole cumin
  44. tarragon
  45. thyme
  46. oregano
  47. ground coriander
  48. ground turmeric
  49. bay leaf
  50. ground cumin
  51. kosher salt
Of course this doesn't count other spices that I have other places, such as: in baskets above the cupboards (including powdered peppermint leaf [important to some Indian recipes], powdered spearmint leaf, black mustard seed, dried basil leaf, and lots of others); on the back of the stove (Sriracha sauce and Tabasco sauce), in the garden on the deck (fresh chives, rosemary, thyme, and oregano); and, in it's own special place where it won't corrupt other spices, asafoetida powder.

I like to have a good selection of spices on hand. What do you think? Anything obvious I'm missing? Some things on my wish list are: curry leaves, whole cardamom pods and dried green mango, but I get along without them.

I'll go ahead and cross-post this to the Queen's Kitchen.

2 comments:

Scott Little said...

The list looks pretty good to me. I would highly recommend picking up some green cardamom pods. They go very nicely with cinnamon and cloves. I also have some black cardamom pods which are more earthy. I don't use them as often, but they are nice to use from time to time. Amchoor powder is also on my list of things to pick up. You didn't mention dried fenugreek which is something I have been meaning to pick up as well. I keep a pretty good selection of dried chilis on hand (ancho, guajillo, pasilla, chipotle, cayenne). I find them to be very useful for a number of dishes.

Kristen said...

A friend of mine just had a neighbor give her a huge tin of Saffron. Later she looked it up and found out how expensive it is.

 

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