Common Spices (Part 2)

(The second part of 灶王 [zao wang] - The Kitchen God Series)

In the first part (read here), I was discussing all the necessary tools that you should keep in your kitchen in order to prepare the most delicious curries, pastes or other spice mixes.
Today, I would like to focus briefly (that doesn't sound like the luckiest combination of words) on all kinds of spices (followed by the 4th chapter devoted to herbs) commonly used in curries, pastes and mixes all over the world. This will be a very long list, so I will not go into lots of details. I am preparing a series of articles devoted to a deeper explanation of particular herbs and spices that I use in my little miracles (published periodically, so don't leave for good- Thanx).

So how should we make this a bit easier for you ? I sugest that before I get to the further details, I shall start with the most basic question :

WHAT EXACTLY ARE SPICES ?
Generally speaking, seeds are dried parts of plants. Here are some:

• Seeds - cumin, coriander, cardamom, mustard seeds
• Buds - cloves
• Flower parts - peppercorns
• Bark - cinnamon, cassia bark
  
• Roots - galangal, ginger
• Leaves - curry, bay leaves, kaffir lime leaves

Most of them are of tropical origin and almost all of them come from Orient. A few exceptions would be vanilla, new spice or chilli (originally from Central America).

I decided to focus on the most common ones and therefore orgnized them in several sub-categories according to their frequency of usage...

Let me start with the absolute irreplaceable 'Duh' spices:

• Salt - I prefer coarse sea salt for it is rich in minerals. Used mostly as seasoning or a preservative. But remember! Excessive salting may lead (in a long run) to several non-pleasant health conditions, such as high blood pressure. Grind in a mortar prior to seasoning. If using fine salt, store in a salt shaker together with a few grains of rice (this prevents salt from getting clumpy).
  

• Black pepper - available whole, crushed or powdered. Together with salt forms an inevitable seasoning of any kind of dish.
  

• Chili pepper (chilli or chile) - there are all together more than 400 kinds of chillies out there available fresh, dried, powdered, as a paste or sauce. The hotness of different chillies generally depends on their size, color or their ending. The general rules are: the smaller, the hotter; the pointier the hotter; red ones are 2 - 3 times spicier than the green ones...What makes a chili pepper hot is not its skin, but seeds and veins. So if you don't fancy a real burntmouth effect of most of them, de-seed them prior to using in cooking. Paprika powder is also a good substitute, for it is not that hot.

Additionally, some fresh spices will fairly often come handy. Here are some of them:

• Ginger - can be bought fresh, powdered, pureed, dried, candied or pickled. In some curries, ginger is very thinly sliced and eaten as an ingredient. In Japanese cuisine, the pickled ginger (pink or white) is used as an accompaniment to sushi. The Chinese variety has less flavor. In Asia, candied ginger is often eaten as candy after meal. Ginger tea is also famous for its digestive friendly effect (burning calories, frankly speaking).
  

• Garlic - the most common fresh spice ingredient, an essential in almost any spice mixture you can imagine. Available fresh, pureed (soaked in water and blended to a paste) or pickled. always fry sliced garlic at a low heat and take great care not to burn it, otherwise it will turn brown and taste bitter.

• Onions - there are several varieties of onions, depending on the origin of a particular spice mixture. Generally, the taste doesn't differ that much, but you should keep in mind the nneed of adjusting the amount then. Shallots or scallions are at least 3 times smaller, generally less juicier, sweeter, but spicier than the Wester type. Spring onions are mainly used as garnish rather than in spice mixtures.
  

• Limes, lemons (or less commonly oranges) - both, grated zest and juice are used. When buying lemons, always check on the growing conditions. Most of the store bought skin fruits have undergone a chemical treatment, so it is not the best idea to use the skin in cooking. If this is the case, you might want to look for its dried grated version instead.
  

Basic spices starting from lime (the green ball up top) clockwise: Onion, shallots, garlic, chili flakes, crushed black peppercorns, coarse sea salt, dried orange peel, red chili pepper, plus powdered ginger and fresh ginger in the middle.

These guys, you might want to have ALWAYS handy, but most of the time will bring you nowhere, so : On your next trip to the store, you might want to stack up on a couple of easy-to-get spices like (widely used all around EUROPE):

• Cinnamon - in its powdered form particularly popular in puddings, cakes, mulled vine,.. while whole sticks are added and later discarded in Indian curries or in Chinese dishes.

• Cloves - favorite accompaniment of cinnamon. Usually added whole, but discarded before eating.

• Caraway seeds - very common in European cuisine notorically present in potato dishes, breads or on cheeses. Reacts well with alcohol, therefore it is added in liquors, gins, schnapps or akvavit (up here, in Scandinavia).

• paprika powder - the national spice of Hungary, comes as mild or spicy. Paprika powder is very sensitive to high temperatures. Always stir in after taking the frying pan off the heat for a minute to release all the flavor.

• nutmeg and mace - both of them very aromatic, used grated, mostly in sweet cooking, such as puddings or in milk or cream based sauces. Nutmeg is generally a tiny bit sweeter than mace.

Advanced spices starting from bay leaf (the green leaves up top) clockwise: whole cinnamon and its powdered form (the little pile on the left), cloves, nutmeg powder, paprika powder mild, paprika powder strong and caraway seeds.

These are always handy in the kitchen, just to enrich the flavor of your everyday dishes.
Later on, depending on the region where a particular spice mixture comes from, you will definitely need to strengthen your spice collection with a few regional wonders.