Spices are the Spice of Life

So I’ve mentioned some of the most important spices you should keep on hand in Tip # 2, but when it comes to spices, you really can never have too many. A great investment when pursuing the art of cooking is a spice rack, I have this one (#notsponsored). But if you’re on a tighter budget and don’t have the extra $132 to spend, you can also find a great starter spice rack for $40, like this one, you just have to give up a bit of selection. Even if you go with a more consolidated spice rack, and the recipe calls for something unique, you can always pick up individual spice packets for a few dollars when picking up groceries for the week.

Now that you’ve spiced up your life (Spice Girls ™ - I always wanted to be Baby Spice, but now I think I’m more of a Ginger/Sporty hybrid, anyways, I  digress), it’s time to start experimenting with pairing different spices together.

Foods from different cultures tend to have a set of spices that comprise the definition of that country’s taste. For example, Italian cuisine uses garlic, rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, etc. As you try out different recipes from various cultures, you will start to understand how those flavours work together to make something delicious. To help get you started in making your own spice blends, check out some good spice pairings here. 

Beyond considering how different spices work with each other, it is also important to understand how they work with whatever ingredients you are using them on. Different foods are enhanced by certain flavour profiles accomplished through effective spicing. Check out this chart, which gives you some basic understanding of how food and spices work together.

Some suggestions are pretty intuitive - for example most people would know not to include garlic in a dessert; however, it might be more of a surprise to find out that rosemary can complement sweeter profiles. Although the charts I’ve provided are useful for starting out, I have also found that practice is what really helps you understand how to utilize different spices in your cooking. Trial and error helps you to learn some basic principles of flavour balancing, but also by familiarizing yourself with the nuances of each spice, you can eventually envision different spices’ tastes and smells. Once you can summon the details of different spices you can start dreaming up your own creations and pairings - because you can IMAGINE if the flavours will work with one another. By trying and experimenting and making mental notes, you are training your brain to be able to cook off book, and on a whim.