Spices
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Several kinds of Salt, Black and Cayenne pepper, minced Onion.
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1,171 Posts
Lots of salt. And a variety of peppers, pepper powders, bunch of garlic powder. A decent amount of dill and pickling spice, all the more commonly used baking spices, vanilla extract. Also a bunch of dried herbs like parsley, thyme, oregano, ect. Some mixes like pizza spice and creole seasoning. Lemon pepper. Honestly, just a little of everything so I can be as creative as I want with cooking. I have a cabinet in my kitchen dedicated to JUST spices....and alot of them. If SHTF I gotta make the beans and rice appealing somehow.
I don't have time to type that list out. Or even write it out. 
Probably something over 150 whole spices, ground spices, and blends including some freeze-dried as well as the standard dried and some fresh put up in alcohol or acidified in oil.
My motto is that you can never have too many seasonings, but you'll always regret not having something you want.
Probably something over 150 whole spices, ground spices, and blends including some freeze-dried as well as the standard dried and some fresh put up in alcohol or acidified in oil.
My motto is that you can never have too many seasonings, but you'll always regret not having something you want.
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25,424 Posts
I grow:
Parsley,
sage,
rosemary,
thyme,
oregano,
marjoram,
mint,
ginger,
horseradish,
...
Parsley,
sage,
rosemary,
thyme,
oregano,
marjoram,
mint,
ginger,
horseradish,
...
Seriously, some people like a lot of seasoning, some like a little. Some cook basic foods in pretty much one cuisine, others sometimes go wild in half a dozen or more.
If you are trying to figure an inventory for yourself, the real question is what do you use to make what you like to eat and how much do you go through of those things in a year.
Everyone needs salt and pepper. OTOH, a lot of people will live their whole lives without once feeling a desire for sumac or berbere, galengal or yuzu. However, I expect almost everyone who actually cooks everything from scratch will want at least a couple of dozen or more herbs/spices.
Even my All-American jello salad, cream of soup, and pound cake mom had about four dozen. She did venture as far as chili powder and curry powder over the years. Plus my father snuck some Old Bay on the shelf early on, and I added some anise seeds for the biscochitos when I was young. So she eventually got past my grandmother's 12 or so.
If you are trying to figure an inventory for yourself, the real question is what do you use to make what you like to eat and how much do you go through of those things in a year.
Everyone needs salt and pepper. OTOH, a lot of people will live their whole lives without once feeling a desire for sumac or berbere, galengal or yuzu. However, I expect almost everyone who actually cooks everything from scratch will want at least a couple of dozen or more herbs/spices.
Even my All-American jello salad, cream of soup, and pound cake mom had about four dozen. She did venture as far as chili powder and curry powder over the years. Plus my father snuck some Old Bay on the shelf early on, and I added some anise seeds for the biscochitos when I was young. So she eventually got past my grandmother's 12 or so.
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1,940 Posts
Allspice, Basil, Bay Leaves, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Cream of Tartar and Curry, Garlic, Nutmeg, Onion and Onion shreds, Oregano, Paprika and Parsley, Thyme, Salt, Pepper, Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning (Mrs. Dash), hot peppers (pizza packets ) and I don't know what else.
We never really got into spices until we learned to cook during the covid. Now I don't know how we ever survived so long without.
) and I don't know what else.We never really got into spices until we learned to cook during the covid. Now I don't know how we ever survived so long without.
Welcome to my world. Only the revelation hit me living with a bunch of furriners at age 18. (What's dukkah? Or ras el hanout? What do you mean Greek oregano is different?)
And then an Indian grocery with a wall of fresh spices in little baggies opened 5 blocks away..Just the smell when you walked in was to die for. Green cardamom and black cumin, fenugreek and curry leaves (no relation to the sickly yellow powder), what do you call this, how do you use it...get a cookbook, translate from the Hindi...
It's all downhill (or uphill, depending on how you look at it) from there.
Some people have years old bottles of spices that are pretty flavorless. Even bought from grocery spices pale in comparison to fresh ground from a spice store, for those the aroma stays amazing for maybe 6 months. You should try a spice store at least once it really is best case. That and growing your own herbs.
That said, in real life I do have some big bottles of spices I got from Costco or restaurant supply.
One thing not mentioned that is staple here is Chinese five spice powder, for pork marinade mostly chow sui.
That said, in real life I do have some big bottles of spices I got from Costco or restaurant supply.
One thing not mentioned that is staple here is Chinese five spice powder, for pork marinade mostly chow sui.
Love five spice powder. And you can get real Sichuan pepper here legally again. (Banned for import by the FDA from 1968 to 2005. You had to get connected to a Chinatown bootlegger to get the stuff. Thank you Dr. P... who used to work in the restaurant business. He was good for insider deals on diamond rings as well. Not sure how a Chinese managed to crack the diamond trade on 42nd Street, but he'd done that too. However, I only wanted Sichuan pepper. Psst, psst, Shorty sent me. Got a prescription here written in Mandarin for that stuff under your counter; slide it into my bag under the oyster sauce. )
)
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The Chinese 5 Spice Powder sounds similar to the stir-fry spice mix we make:
1t salt
4T sugar
1t garlic powder
1/4t devil dust (ground up dehydrated hot peppers)
1/4t black pepper
1/2t dried onion
1/2t ginger powder
1/8t cinnamon
1/4t fennel
1/8t anise seed
Put all this through the spice grinder.
Another use for spices beyond the usual that we have done. I have made dehydrated potato chips of many different flavors with a mandolin slicer. Snack crackers from a basic combo of ingredients. Chicken, Italian, garlic, onion, Cajun, dill, yadda yadda. Really any flavor you want. You can use powdered bullion or even gravy mixes, taco or fajita pouches etc.
This also works with flat bread, fry bread or sourdough pretzels. 😁 If you store powdered cheese or parmesan, dried mustard and butter powder, you can make some very interesting snack food. Really any spice will do to break up the monotony of breakfast lunch and dinner.
Forgot to add the pre fab popcorn salt/flavors/shaker additives.
This also works with flat bread, fry bread or sourdough pretzels. 😁 If you store powdered cheese or parmesan, dried mustard and butter powder, you can make some very interesting snack food. Really any spice will do to break up the monotony of breakfast lunch and dinner.
Forgot to add the pre fab popcorn salt/flavors/shaker additives.
Five spice powder has a rather different list of ingredients including 3 not in that blend:
Sichuan peppercorns
Star anise
Cloves
Chinese cinnamon
Fennel seeds
And then the FDA banned the Sichuan peppercorns as a potential carrier of some citrus canker, so you could only get stuff with a random 5th spice. Never mind the nearest citrus tree growing outdoors was hundreds of miles from NYC,.. I'm afraid I grew red currants on my terrace as well, there not being a lot of whte pine anywhere within spitting distance to get blister rust.
I'm just a total foodie scofflaw.
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5,202 Posts
I discovered Sumac in kabob places in DC. It’s my goto seasoning when others use cavanders or Cajun Seasinings, etc. I’ve bought it on Amazon and in a surburban international market, but I like the version a kabob place in Arlington uses better- had him buy me a gallon bags worth.Seriously, some people like a lot of seasoning, some like a little. Some cook basic foods in pretty much one cuisine, others sometimes go wild in half a dozen or more.
If you are trying to figure an inventory for yourself, the real question is what do you use to make what you like to eat and how much do you go through of those things in a year.
Everyone needs salt and pepper. OTOH, a lot of people will live their whole lives without once feeling a desire for sumac or berbere, galengal or yuzu. However, I expect almost everyone who actually cooks everything from scratch will want at least a couple of dozen or more herbs/spices.
Even my All-American jello salad, cream of soup, and pound cake mom had about four dozen. She did venture as far as chili powder and curry powder over the years. Plus my father snuck some Old Bay on the shelf early on, and I added some anise seeds for the biscochitos when I was young. So she eventually got past my grandmother's 12 or so.
Not quite spices, but I’m a bug fan of doenjang ( fermented soy paste), anchovy paste/sauce/ fish sauce, and ginger root as well.
I can’t remember the exact name ( Cado de Tomato maybe), but Mexican Tomato bullion ( or Tomato and chicken bullion) is great for getting tomato flavor in say rice.
Knorrs has a combo pack of beef , chicken and tomato powder. We use the beef and chicken flavor all the time. Don't wanna side track the OP thread too much, but if you have a dehydrator, or even an oven with a pilot light. You can dehydrate all kinds of things. Even the taco sauce pouches from taco bell. Ketchup, mustard,. At most convince marts you can get sweet onion pouches that you can dehydrate . For free.
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I have more spices and seasonings that I have time (or memory) to list. However, there are enough that my "working" spice cabinet is stuffed full, as well as a good portion of my counter. Then there's the extra spices/seasonings that are in storage to backfill the spices in the kitchen.
Sounds like you might be talking about the za'atar spice blend made with sumac, not pure ground sumac? Common combo would be za'atar herb (wild Mediterranean variety of thyme/oregano, often substituted here with regular thyme plus some combo of oregano/marjoram/coriander), sumac, toasted sesame seeds, and salt, but there are a thousand versions and everyone has their own favorite.
A basic Americanized za'atar blend:
In a small bowl, combine
½ cup ground thyme (preferably ground from dried fresh thyme, Jamaican stores keep good whole dried thyme leaves, but store-bought ground thyme will do)
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons dried ground sumac (if you don’t have access to dried sumac, you can use a mixture of citric acid powder and dried lemon zest although it won't be the same)
a pinch of black pepper (optional).
Americanized attempt to duplicate flavor of za'atar with other herbs
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup ground sumac
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried marjoram
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon coarse salt
What is Za'atar
(Site sells za'atar herb, sumac, and true za'atar spice blend)
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