Questions tagged [spices]
Culinary use of spices, defined as the edible but non-leafy parts of certain plants.
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What factors cause differences between dried herb/spice brands?
Just bought some sainsburys brand dried ginger and noticed the quality was very different from some batts brand dried ginger which I already had in the cupboard for some time.
The difference in eating ...
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Why are spicy curries red in color
Most curries that are spicy have a red color, does it come just from adding chili powder.
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When would a cook reach out for a mortar and pestle rather than an electric grinder for spices and a sharp knife for herbs?
The last person I witnessed use a mortar and pestle was my grandmother, and even she was dissatisfied with how a few grains of coriander might regularly fly off.
But mortar and pestles remain very ...
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Does it make sense to use a burr grinder to crack spices into a uniform size?
A blade grinder produces spices of many different sizes, and I have no intention of using a mortar and pestle — on account of it being the 21st century, and due to my lack of confidence that they test ...
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What ingredient(s) create the savory finish in Palestinian dukkah?
Middle Eastern friends introduced me to Palestinian-style dukkah, which is based on wheat berries rather than on the nuts used in Egyptian-style dukkah. While some of the recipes I've tried at home ...
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Similarity between cardamom and rosemary
I have noticed a similarity in taste between cardamom and rosemary.
I was wondering if anyone could explain to me, perhaps from the point of view of phenols or chemical components or mixtures or ...
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Added too much cayenne to my spice mix, how to fix it?
Added too much cayenne powder to my spice mix, now it’s too hot. What can I do to fix it and tone down the heat?
The mix contains sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, pepper, allspice &...
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Grains of Paradise -- weak batch?
Stumbling upon mentions of Grains of Paradise, I got curious and ordered some. But what I got hardly does anything.
Sampling the grains straight there is prominent heat, maybe one quarter as strong as ...
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Should I coat chicken in oil before marinating?
I am marinating chicken thigh with salt, pepper, paprika and oinon powder. Some video I've seen on the internet use oil to mix in the spices, and some don't. I just sprinkle the spices on and call it ...
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Mellowing whole peppercorns
I'm developing something with whole green peppercorns in it. I've done a test that began with cooking up veggies in 1 liter of water, no fats, with 2 teaspoons of pepper. The dried corns had been ...
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Are packaged masalas to be used in combination with or instead of other spices?
My grocery store sells a variety of masalas, or spice mixes, marketed for various dishes. For example, there is chicken masala, korma masala, chana masala, goat masala, etc.
Are these packaged mixes ...
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How should I use Mole Amarillo Powder?
On a recent trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, I bought an unlabelled bag of mole amarillo (yellow mole) powder from a spice vendor. I neglected to ask them how it should be used in recipes. While I'm used to ...
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Too much nutmeg?
Short version:
Is about 3 g nutmeg too much for a single meal?
Long version:
This evening, I prepared 2 big dishes of spinach lasagna. I like to eat rather spicy, but I overdid it a bit this time, ...
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Toasting dry rosemary
When I want to flavor my focaccias or bread loaves with spices or herbs, I add them dried to the dough instead of topping the final product before baking. In this way, I don't lose them when I slice ...
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Do spices grown in higher altitude above 1500m for e.g. ( Himalayan foothills ) have any special feature or higher potency?
Do spices and herbs sourced from the foothills of the Himalayas such as Black Cardamom, Ginger, Pepper, etc have higher potency or flavor profile?
Compared to hills, they would lack nutrition, but how ...
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If you coat meat with spices how do you prevent them from burning when frying or grilling?
We are always warned when cooking with dry spices (e.g. chilli powder, cumin, coriander etc.) not to let the spices burn when cooking as they will turn bitter.
If one wishes to use a dry rub (e.g. ...
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Why doesn't Greek cuisine use a lot of spices, compared to neighbors?
According to what I know almost all countries in the Mediterranean which surround Greece use a lot of spices in their cuisine. Greece itself has been occupied by such countries for hundreds of years. ...
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Can I save my vinegar soaked caraway seeds?
I prepared some quick-pickled onions (the variety that you only keep in the fridge for a few days) and used a "boil the vinegar then pour it over" method. I accidentally dropped about 40g of ...
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What spices need to be cooked before use due to food safety concerns?
I recently purchased a home curry kit which comprised of various powdered spices (including chilli, cumin, coriander etc.) and a separate curry sauce. To use, the meat or veg is fried until browned, ...
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Why does my curry taste flat
I made a curry using onions, garlic, tomato passata, coconut milk, coriander (leaf and ground), cumin, cardamom, star anise, ginger and chilli powder. I tasted it and it felt like it was missing ...
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Is sassafras root and licorice root the same thing?
I don’t want to make root beer I just want to know if licorice root and sassafras root are the same thing.
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What is the name of the tool which involves a ball inside a sealed container that is shaken to grind up spices?
I have seen a tool which is in two parts. In either part, you place both the plastic ball that comes with the tool and spices. You then screw the two parts of the tool together (it's plastic, it's ...
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Minimum time/temp for clove-flavor infusion?
I'm tweaking a recipe for cooked eggnog. The first step is to bring a combination of milk, light cream, and cloves to a scant boil. After that, the cloves are discarded.
I want to see if I can get ...
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Is Moulin Rouge Ground Cinnamon the Cassia or Ceylon type?
I bought this big container of cinnamon a few months ago and I can't find any info as to the type of cinnamon it is: Cassia or Ceylon.
Can anyone identify the type of cinnamon here?
https://www.amazon....
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Spice blend replacement?
I have been using something called "Tandoori Blend" from spice hunter for years, but they don't seem to make it anymore. :(
I don't think it's a regular tandoori, since it's colored more ...
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What is this seed pod?
Every now and then I come across this seed pod when I order Baingan Bharta (aka Punjabi Eggplant) from my favorite Indian restaurant. They're roughly 2cm (3/4 inch) long and about as thick as a ...
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How can I make a really gingery cookie?
I have tried various ginger cookie recipes over the years, for gingersnaps, gingerbread cookies, pfeffernusse, and most recently pepparkakor. I never find the cookies to be spicy enough—I assume, not ...
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Is there a guide for the purpose of each spice?
I'm wondering if there is a guide image or website that just lists most spices and what their purpose is, sometimes I don't know what spices to add to my food and it would help
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Grinding toasted spices without cooling
It is recommended when roasting whole spices in Indian cooking to cool them before grinding into a powder. Why do you need to wait for the spices to cool and what happens if you don’t?
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Can I substitute ketchup with tomato puree in marinades?
I want to experiment with various marinades the first time, and I've found great recipes but some of them require the use of ketchup.
While it sounds awesome, I find it unhealthy and prefer not to buy ...
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Is there some "trick" to be able to eat jalapeños without getting an "upset stomach"?
As a young teenager, I used to eat pizzas full of jalapeños and Tabasco on them, and very much enjoyed the spicy taste. In my mid-to-late 20s, I started feeling really sick when I ate these, even ...
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How to neutralize spicy vapors if inhaled during cooking to stop nostril burning sensation and coughing?
Yesterday I did something wrong when adding some pepper flakes into an extremely hot pan with oil. The air around me instantly got spicy, and everyone standing in my kitchen or within its vicinity ...
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Do certain spices really go bad? or will people without refined palates usually not tell the difference, specifically chili powder?
All my seasonings/spices are at least a year old (most several years). I recently threw out nearly a full bottle of paprika because it was so strong (thought it went bad). I realized I was just ...
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Do different "regions" really have a "general common taste"?
I have now numerous times heard things such as:
In the final step, the factory adds custom spices for the specific region for which this batch of hotdogs are supposed to be sold.
It is strongly ...
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What determines spice level in Indian cuisine?
When I dine out for Indian cuisine, I prefer to order my food hot on the mild/medium/hot/spicy scale. This question is two-fold.
For cooking Indian cuisine at home, what ingredient do I adjust
(from ...
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In what order should I put various "masalas" in chicken curry?
In what order, should I put the various masalas (en:spices) in my general Indian-style spicy chicken curry?
I have the following:
Chicken masala
Garam masala
Jeera masala
Chilli powder
Dhaniya masala
...
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What was Country Herb Chicken Sauce Blend?
An old hand-written recipe calls for one package of "Country Herb Chicken Sauce Blend", a presumably retired McCormick product. The recipe is quite similar to this one:
https://www....
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Name of an herb or spice that is small, dark spines [closed]
My question is about an herb that my mother used in her spaghetti sauce, and that I did as well using her recipe... And neither of us can remember what it actually was.
I remember the flavor, but ...
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How to preserve ground spices? [duplicate]
As soon as you grind a spice, it gets exposed to air and starts to lose its potency. I'm trying to figure out how I can grind them and reduce/prevent this from happening.
I guess you could put them ...
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Do I need to grind Ceylon Cinnamon sticks for coffee/tea, or can I add them whole?
I got some Ceylon Cinnamon sticks, but I haven't purchased the coffee grinder yet. I was wondering if I could add the sticks whole when I brew coffee or tea.
If so, how much per cup?
Do I need to ...
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Is there such a thing as a dish being bland from too many flavors?
My girlfriend has asked for my opinion on a few dishes that she has been experimenting with, and not being particularly well-versed in the language used to discuss food, I have been having trouble ...
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How do I age ginger?
For the past few months all I can find is young ginger from the grocers. I am in need of old ginger which I can't quite purchase.
I have tried to leave it out in the kitchen in an open basket (no ...
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Sweet = Sugar, Salty = Salt, Sour =?
I have thought of a funny concept on what makes things taste like this, taste like that, and it kinda looks like this:
Sweet = Sugar (C6H12O6)
Sour = ?
Salty = Salt (NaCl)
Bitter = ?
What I'm trying ...
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Are cardamom husks edible?
I have a recipe for a South Indian "allspice" mixture that includes cardamom among other spices. One begins with whole spices, toasted, and in the end they are ground in a coffee or spice ...
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Toasting and blooming spices
From what I've read, to make some spices more "potent", you have to toast or bloom them. Take cinnamon stick for example, in most Indian recipes, they call for it to be fried in oil (...
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How to clean/wash (Sichuan) peppercorns?
Tragically, I spilled over a bottle of Sichuan peppercorns on the kitchen floor, which is fairly dirty (we walk on it with outdoor shoes, and if you wipe at the floor with a cloth it will pick up a ...
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whole spices vs garam masala?
There are usually two ways of adding khada masala spices(cloves, cardamom etc) to a curry:
Add the whole spices in the beginning in oil
Add garam masala in the end
What kind of difference in flavor ...
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Adding cayene early makes it less hot
I have a favorite jambalya recipe. I usually saute the trinity (celery, onions, green peppers) for a short while before adding garlic and then a longer while later I will add my Cajun seasoning. For ...
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What are those spices?
I was organizing and labeling my spices cabinet when I run into those two spices that I cannot recognize. I'm assuming one of them is fenugreek. I'm quite sure I bought them when I had 'Indian cuisine'...
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How to deal with strong, sizable spices?
I've been making a lot of Indian food, and I've repeatedly had problems with certain spices being "overpowering" when you get a bite of them. I'm talking specifically about cardamom and ...
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