What's the spice you use most?
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It’s not that serious!
To our patron saint Anthony Bourdain it was!
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I use way too much garlic to bother with a press. Just chop it. It’s faster, easier to clean and you can more easily vary the size of the garlic bits.
Here here!
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Some top ones for me: MSG, Chicken Bouillon, Smoked Paprika, Thyme, Garlic powder, and finally, controversially, bay leaves.
MSG goes in basically anything. If it gets salt and pepper it’s probably also getting MSG for me. I do a lot of chicken, and whenever I do I’m almost always adding some chicken bouillon to add some flavor to it. I really love Thyme, and find myself just adding it somewhat randomly to things. Smoked Paprika is a perfect flavor that’s so unique, I add it to anything I want to have a bit of a kick, like chili, ect. Not that it’s like spicy or anything, just it adds a little something to those dishes that you can’t really get elsewhere. Garlic powder is an all around great utility, and I tend to “dump” this stuff on things.
Last but not least, Bay leaves. I swear, I’m like the #1 consumer of these things. I throw them in anything. Anything savory with a decent sauce/soupy base is PERFECT to add a bay leaf to. If you use em often you can really taste the difference, since fresh bay leaves really pack a punch in flavor.
“Controversially bay leaves” has me dying
I also add bay leaves to everything. I found my local co op has them in the bull spice section, they are so freaking fresh.
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You are my spice hero! Perfect list. My only note is that Herbs de Provence is also a mix, just like curries.
Oh you’re right, I messed that up. Oops.
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Capsaicin
My house we eat a lot of spicy food. I refuse anything with capsaicin extract, I think it’s cheating and flavorless. We had a bottle of capsaicin extract on the spice rack for six years, I finally threw it out a few months ago. It was only cracked open once, because… well, one drunken night forever ago some fellas decided to try it…
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What’s a spice vs whats an aromatic?
But based on frequency and amount.
Flavacol.Based on preferred spice, smoked cumin.
I could be wrong, but my guess is an aromatic is something you cook with, but ultimately remove from the dish. Spices stay in
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I don’t think garlic is a spice until the moment it’s dried and ground. Then maybe it’s a spice. Fresh garlic, I agree isnt a spice it’s… what is garlic a vegetable?
What the hell is garlic?
I never use it dried, probably why I don’t think of it as a spice
In Danish, garlic is called ‘white onion’ so I probably mentally classify it as belonging to that family, which it also does belong to botanically. -
Cumin, coriander, and especially sumac. Sumac is SO good.
What does sumac taste like?
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…Other than salt and pepper
For me it’s cumin. It’s one of the few spices I buy in bulk and actually use up my supply.
In the winter it may lean towards cardamom thanks to copious amounts of chia.
Coriander in every dish along with salt and pepper. People just don’t realize how much it adds to food. Garlic and onion powder in 95% of the dishes
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“Controversially bay leaves” has me dying
I also add bay leaves to everything. I found my local co op has them in the bull spice section, they are so freaking fresh.
people say they dont taste like anything so its a bit of a controversial subject.
Theres a huge conspiracy post from years ago about them that had me dying laughing when someone shared it with me, so here for you and anyone who many not have read it.
The Vast Bay Leaf Conspiracy
The Vast Bay Leaf Conspiracy by Kelly Conaboy Maybe you’ve had this experience: You throw a bay leaf into a broth, and it doesn’t do anything. Then you throw the rest of the bay leaves you bought …
Medium (medium.com)
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Apparently my palate is not so refined. I can definitely tell that one is better than the other, but only slightly.
I’ve heard this a lot actually. Maybe it’s like the cilantro thing. Some people taste it differently.
It’s a huge difference for me. Night and day. Garlic and…sour memories of garlic.
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Not counting sugar? garlic powder or Cinnamon and vanilla. I use garlic powder to go with salt and pepper in a 7:2:1 ratio as like a base for everything from tuna salad to bean burritos. Thrice a week I make overnight oats with Vanilla extract and cinnamon.
Note my favorite is smoked paprika, I just know fewer recipes and synergistic flavors.
I normally don’t think of sugar as a spice but Flavor by Ottolenghi seems to use sugar as a spice.
There is a little sugar in most recipes but not a lot of it
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What’s a spice vs whats an aromatic?
But based on frequency and amount.
Flavacol.Based on preferred spice, smoked cumin.
Aromat is MSG I think
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What’s a spice vs whats an aromatic?
But based on frequency and amount.
Flavacol.Based on preferred spice, smoked cumin.
Oh I misunderstood. Yeah its interesting what is considered a spice in these comments
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Fun fact: before it became mass produced sugar was originally considered a spice
A recent cookbook I was using seemed to use sugar as a spice. It was used only in small quantities.
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Marjoram
I just consider it one of the standard Italian spices… I rarely use it on its own.
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I could be wrong, but my guess is an aromatic is something you cook with, but ultimately remove from the dish. Spices stay in
See i consider onions and garlic as aromatics since they add depth and flavor with a more volatile flavor that is more aroma based.
So like dried chilis? Or bay leaves? They often are removed and not eaten but i would think they are spices.
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Oh I misunderstood. Yeah its interesting what is considered a spice in these comments
Yup. Cause its more or less something that amplifies/modifies flavor of the original items, and that can mean a lot of things to a lot of different cooks.
Its also cultural. Food is a really interesting history and up until recently was not so easily shared.
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Thyme. Not that often, but whenever I use it, I use loads.
You can never have too much thyme. \runs
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…Other than salt and pepper
For me it’s cumin. It’s one of the few spices I buy in bulk and actually use up my supply.
In the winter it may lean towards cardamom thanks to copious amounts of chia.
Paprika I’ve found to be pretty key for anything chicken.
But I use MSG for basically everything now.
