What's the spice you use most?
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Penzeys has a couple of blends I really like:
Pie Spice:
“Hand-mixed from: cinnamon (China, Korintje, Ceylon, Vietnamese), vanilla sugar (sugar, vanilla bean), mace, ginger, nutmeg, anise seed and clove.”
Good anywhere you’d use cinnamon, but also surprisingly good on hot, buttered popcorn.
Mural of Flavor:
Mural Of Flavor
Mural of Flavor blends over a dozen spices and herbs, creating a wall (hence mural) of flavor so delicious, there's no need to add salt.
Penzeys (www.penzeys.com)
“Hand-mixed from: spices, shallots, onion, garlic, lemon peel, citric acid, chives and orange peel.”
Good on meats, sandwiches, but the surprise to me was adding it to chowders makes it taste like Chicken in a Biscuit crackers.
A few comments have mentioned penzeys. I only now realized that the random picture I grabbed was penzeys. I will have to try their stuff.
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Cumin, coriander, and especially sumac. Sumac is SO good.
Oh yeah. Kinda hard to find sometimes.
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Salt by a large margin, but other than that i think it is Rosemary.
ooo I don’t use a lot of rosemary, I should. Stew or wellington comes to mind for me.
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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.
cumin, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder are my heavy hitters
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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.
Complete seasoning is one of my favorites and it has msg
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A few comments have mentioned penzeys. I only now realized that the random picture I grabbed was penzeys. I will have to try their stuff.
They have physical stores here that are great!
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What do you use MSG for? You really use it in everything?
Yeah! It’s like salt but for savory things. There’s a pretty good chance that if I’m cooking with salt and pepper, I’m making something savory, and in those cases MSG improves the flavor of it basically always.
For example: I frequently air fry broccoli. As a base, I toss it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and MSG. If I want it spicy, I’ll add red pepper flakes. Sometimes I substitute salt for season salt for a different vibe. Other times I add garlic powder, or make a balsamic glaze for them. No matter what it’s prolly gonna have salt, pepper, and MSG.
It also goes really well on meat in general. Some cuts of beef don’t really need it cause they’re super savory to begin with, but especially some of the cheaper cuts that aren’t as flavorful.
Another big one is chicken breast. Thighs have more flavor, but when it comes to texture, I like the chicken breast meat better, so in order to boost that savory chicken flavor, I’ll add MSG.
It’s really hard to describe it, MSG is literally just like, pure savory. It’s not quite a salt replacement, tho i could see someone calling it salty, but it really boosts that savory/umami flavor.
Honestly the only time I don’t add pure MSG is when I’m cooking with things that have it included already. A lot of asian food has MSG in ingredients like fish sauce and oyster sauce, it’s totally possible to boost the MSG content of a dish without sprinkling msg onto it.
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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.
Cumin here too, followed by Berebere mix which is the one I buy in bulk, keep the bag in the freezer. I don’t buy the cumin in bulk because it’s cheap in stores here.
Unless you are counting onion & garlic, but those almost always fresh and I’d call them veg more than spice.
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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.
My favorites are crushed dried chilis, smoked parika, cumin and nutmeg. I often use vegetable bouillon as a spice as well.
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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.
People sleep on bay leaves. You really can taste the difference. The experiment I did was to make the standard Kraft blue box mac and cheese, but I added bay. Since I know mac and cheese the bay flavor stood out. It’s just an herb flavor and I use it in any liquid that I’m also using any other herb.
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- Garlic salt
PepperSalt- Paprika
Garlic salt or powder. The salt is usually a blend and often has sugar. I just make my own blend but prefer fresh almost every time.
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Salt by a large margin, but other than that i think it is Rosemary.
Love rosemary with garlic and lemon. I use it on my dry brined turkey under the skin, crushed in quinoa and in herbal bread. So good, definitely my favorite herb.
Sorry basil, I do love you too but it’s not close.
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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.
chilies, followed very closely by garlic
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People sleep on bay leaves. You really can taste the difference. The experiment I did was to make the standard Kraft blue box mac and cheese, but I added bay. Since I know mac and cheese the bay flavor stood out. It’s just an herb flavor and I use it in any liquid that I’m also using any other herb.
you really need (reasonably) fresh bay leaves tho. They lose flavor fast. If they’re (Reasonably) fresh you can smell what it tastes like.
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Garlic by far. Salt, Pepper, Garlic.
After that I use quite a bit of cumin
Is… garlic a spice?
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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.
I love using turmeric. You’d be srprised how well it pairs with so many things, plus it’s very healthy. It goes naturally with a lot of middle eastern and south asian food, but you can also add it to sauces and soups for warm and earthy notes (if that’s your thing like me).
As for spice mixes, I love Cadaver’s greek seasoning. It’s pretty simple (salt, pepper, organo, with a few others) and you can enhance pretty much anything with it
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Is… garlic a spice?
Sure, why not
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Garlic by far. Salt, Pepper, Garlic.
After that I use quite a bit of cumin
Garlic and cumin. So versatile. Same for me. So many dishes from salsa to refried beans and salads. Gotta have garlic. Infinite possibilities.
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My local Asian market sells powdered sriracha sauce. If you get this in your kitchen, everything you cook will be sweet, sour, spicy, and red for about a week before it’s gone. It’s fucking good.
I like shichimi togarashi, myself. It’s got seaweed flakes, sesame seeds, and roasted orange peel, plus the peppers. It’s really good on rice, pasta, and ramen.
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Sure, why not
I’m convinced!
