# Herbs and Spices



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I've made this a multi-choice poll to stimulate and aid discussion.

What are your favourite herbs and spices. Which do you loathe? What are your favourite recipes?

I'm afraid my choices are mainly European because that's the sort of cookery we mostly go in for. (with one or two exceptions) My spelling is also appalling.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

We have a couple of favourites:

Tuna pasta bake - herb and spice free in the cooking but garnished with some chopped fresh tomatoes with an italian herb mix (oregano basil etc) and some cumin seeds sprinkled on the main dish.

The other is a Lamb and pea stew with rosemary and garlic. I like it because Rosemary is always available (Ingélou gets a little annoyed at this  ) in the garden and it tastes beautiful.


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## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

I voted basil but I like garlic almost as much.


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## Kivimees (Feb 16, 2013)

I voted other. The other is dill. The details are: I live in Estonia.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I could have voted for most of these, but in the end plumped for garlic, rosemary,ginger (or 'girger'!!!) and 'other'.
Other is cinnamon (where ya gonna run to?) which is lovely in savoury rice dishes and also on apple crumble. The taste of cinnamon really *sends* me. 

Turmeric (or 'trumeric') has had a very good press recently as a safeguard against dementia and other things. One thing I've noticed is that if you add a pinch to meat, it seems to tenderise it beautifully. This mainly applies to our Oriental Exception Recipe, which is chicken pilau. The chicken is cooked with cumin seed, chilli, ginger, garlic and turmeric, laid reverently on a bed of basmati rice, and then has half a packet of crisps crumpled over it. Yummy.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

I grew up eating food with very little flavour from herbs and spices and so I've grown fond of them now.
Garlic is listed in the poll - and I can happily sit and peel a couple of cloves and eat them raw. Sadly, this gets me scowled at nowadays. _It is forbidden_.
Last year I was dating a nice Turkish-German lady who introduced me to 'Sumac' - which I found beautiful on chicken or in a rice pilaf or even simply with onions.
However I'm generally open to trying combinations of food with herbs or spices that I haven't tried before.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I absolutely love herbs and spices. I use them in absolutely every meal. Even when I open a jar of tomato sauce (one of the few things I don't make by hand, although I have), I always add some herbs and spices.

Missing on the poll are other favourites:

Dill
Mustard (powdered seeds)
Thyme
Sage
Parsley
Cilantro (the Spanish name for Corriander; the herb, aka leaves)
Corriander (the seeds)
Black Pepper
Allspice
Cloves
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Bay Leaves
Nutmeg
Mace
Paprika
Safron
Chives
Marjoram
Yeast, Nutritional

I used to stock all of these, as well as making my home-made Curry blend. I generally just buy herb blends, such as Poultry Seasoning and Italian Herbs (the kinds without salt or other additives, just the herbs), and mix them together. This typically gives me Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Marjoram, Oregano, Tarragon and maybe some others. It's the lazy man's way, but herbs are all-purpose, so it doesn't really matter much in tomato sauce or over vegetables, unless I am making something in which I want one flavour only.

I have simplified my cooking substantially over the years, so I tend to have a few basic variations on a theme:

European, ie., black pepper and a blend of green herbs (dried or fresh)
Italian, ie., European plus tomato sauce
Indian, ie., Curry
Oriental, ie., Ginger, Garlic, Chili
Thai, ie., Oriental plus Coconut and/or Peanut

The schemas are pretty much endless and can be mixed, matched or adapted to what you have on hand. You can never go wrong with herbs and spices. They are my salt (which I rarely ever add to anything).

Nutritional yeast is really a very nice addition to all kinds of things. It imparts a rich umami flavour to salads, soups, vegetables (steamed, fried, boiled), gravies and sauces, etc. When cooking with little to no salt, yeast, the carrier of umami, makes every dish taste rich, wholesome and flavourful, without bloating your body with litres of retained water, giving you the salt and MSG headache, etc.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

One shouldn't forget:

Seaweed
Sesame Seeds, Poppy Seeds, Flax Seeds (Linseed), Sunflower Seeds
Culinary Oils (Sesame, Chili, Walnut, etc.)
Nuts, Ground (flavour, thickening, etc.)

Traditional Herb/Spice Mixtures:

Gomashio (Japanese)
Furikake (Japanese)
Zatar (Arabic)
Curry (Indian)
Mole (Mexican)

The ideas are endless and it's all made of basic, wholesome plant foods. There's nothing chemical or industrial or artificial: just good old real food with real flavour like we have known for eons.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I'll share a recipe that I got out of a newspaper about two or three decades ago. I rarely ever make those complicated things they publish, but this one has become a breakfast staple.

*Indian Cream of Wheat* (also known as Wheatlets, Semolina or Farina)

2 T butter
½ c cream of wheat
1 ½ c water
honey, to taste
pinch (or more!  ) turmeric

¼ t salt
½ c mixed raisins, flaked coconut, chopped nuts

Melt butter over low heat, stir in cream of wheat and toast until golden, about 15 minutes. Bring water, honey, turmeric and salt to a boil in saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in cream of wheat mixture and raisins, nuts etc. Cook over medium-low heat until most of the moisture is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Serve with light cream, milk or yogurt. Serves 1-2.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Yummie to almost all of them.
Patatoes from the oven with rosemary and garlic are a favourite from all in our household.
I've grown a lot of basil from seed for the last two summers to make pesto. It's great but very time and space consuming. Our garden is much smaller than my green ambitions....
A few leaves of Lovage, Levisticum officinale, are very good in Bolognese sauce. An easy plant, needs good soil and lots of water.

View attachment 56671


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

^^Brotman stole my Gizmo, Herbs is the spice of life! Used in the right context almost any herb will enhance the recipe!

One herby favourite I will have on the menu later this week is belly of lamb roll, stuffed with Allspice, lots of chopped flat leaf parsley, Cicely, Caraway and Chives! Served with a King Edward tater mash, Black Currant Jelly and cream gravy!

/ptr


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Cilantro and garlic are a necessity in the kitchen


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

I picked every herb/spice on the list + black pepper. I also love white pepper, it's more expensive, but oh so good!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'm the lucky recipient, practically daily, of colorful dishes containing fresh garlic cloves and ginger grown in our backyard.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> I'll share a recipe that I got out of a newspaper about two or three decades ago. I rarely ever make those complicated things they publish, but this one has become a breakfast staple.
> 
> *Indian Cream of Wheat* (also known as Wheatlets, Semolina or Farina)
> 
> ...


Problem is with all those ingredients they gotcha cumin an' goin'.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Paprika would be top of the list for me in terms of favourite spices (not mixed), and then I would put chilli. 

Zatar is one of my favourite combinations, but then again there isn't much I don't love about traditional middle eastern stuff.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Yeah. I love paprika too!!


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I like to chew on cloves or cinnamon instead of chewing gum. It freshens breath and kills germs in ones mouth, without the added poisoning from artificial sugars.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

You know, my favorite additive is scallions! I so totally love that! Garlic. Yeah. I'm addicted to it. And it's supposed to be good for you too!


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

marinasabina said:


> I picked every herb/spice on the list + black pepper. I also love white pepper, it's more expensive, but oh so good!


Try Malabar black peppercorns. It's all I ever put in my pepper mill since I first tried it a few years ago.

It's wonderful to see some of the lamb dishes posted here. My favorite meal. For me, it MUST have Rosemary. My wife grows fresh herbs every year. She is not a fan of many dried herbs and seasonings. She always says your food is only as good as your ingredients. You HAVE to have fresh!

I too am a garlic nut as well. Tough to have too much of that. We put it in almost everything. As long as my wife eats it too, we never smell it on each other after meals. I do wonder sometimes, if when in public, we are not ghastly 'walking stink bombs' completely comfortable in our oblivious offensiveness.

V


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Paprika would be top of the list for me in terms of favourite spices (not mixed), and then I would put chilli.
> 
> Zatar is one of my favourite combinations, but then again there isn't much I don't love about traditional middle eastern stuff.


Oh yes - I forgot about paprika, but I love it, and usually find that it helps my rather iffy digestion. You've reminded me of one of the meals I used to do but haven't for a while - Hungarian Goulash, darling, *how* could I have neglected you for so long?!?


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Garlic, rosemary, sage all are lovely for roasts.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

They all have their uses.

I see that my space cabinet has three Indian ones that i don't think have been mentioned yet: Charnushka, Ajwain and Kala Jeera. And then there's Asafoetida (aka Hing), which is the worst smelling one, but it works as an onion/garlic substitute, more or less. In fact, it's used by those who won't eat those.


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

I am a big fan of cinnamon it smells great as a tea it is also great for cancer & diabetes.It lowers blood sugars to normal levels.


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