Extraordinary spices

Question

What rare spices do you know and like?
How do you use them to create uniquely tasting dishes?

Asked by n/a

Answer

I tend to cook a lot of Indian and Asian dishes, so spice is something very close to my heart. Of the many spices available, I tend to use the relatively common ones, partly because I'm not able to obtain some of those I'd like, such as curry leaves.

In Indian cuisine a spice mix is referred to as a masala and probably the most well known masala is garam masala. This is a very important blend of spices for preparing Indian food, unfortunately, the recipe changes as one moves from North to South India. Every chef has his or her own special blend. A basic garam masala consists of:

• Coriander seeds
• Cinnamon bark
• Cloves
• Green cardamom seeds
• Star Anise
• Nutmeg

All of the above are ground to make a wonderful, aromatic spice mix.

In addition to garam masala, other common spice I use are:

• Cumin seeds
• Turmeric
• Black cardamom
• Asafoetida
• Fenugreek seeds
• Black mustard seeds

For Asian cooking the most important spice mix is 5 spice powder. This again lends a wonderful aromatic flavour to Asian dishes. typically it's comprised of:

• Star Anise
• Fennel Seeds
• Cinnamon or Cassia
• Szechwan Pepper
• Cloves

As with garam masala, there are variations.

With other cuisines, I tend to use a lot of fresh herbs but spice does play a part. Some of the spices I use in French and Italian dishes are:

• Juniper berries
• Nutmeg
• Cloves
• Ginger

In my home cuisine we tend to use a lot of paprika, both sweet and hot as well as cloves and cinnamon.

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