OVERALL OVERVIEW ON MIXING SPICES

There are three main ways of mixing spices:

Simple stirring of ingredients into a uniform mixture using ground or whole spices.

Grinding spices in a mortar, mill or coffee grinder and stirring them afterwards.

Warming spices up in a dry frying pan, grinding and mixing.

Using Chinese five-spice powder as an example, I am going to show you how to cook it properly. This algorithm can be used to make any dry spice blend.

First, prepare all the ingredients according to the recipe: cloves, cinnamon, Szechuan pepper, star anise and fennel. Put cloves and star anise into a mortar and crush it slightly. Break a cinnamon stick into 2-3 parts. Heat the frying pan over medium heat and put slightly fragmented star anise and broken cinnamon pieces into frying pan without adding oil. Stir the spices intensively by shaking a frying pan. This is necessary to evenly warm up the spices. As soon as you sense aroma rising, it will mean that the spices are warmed up enough. Then you need to cool them down by removing them into a plate or a bowl. Then put the crushed cloves, fennel seeds and Szechuan pepper into the same frying pan. Repeat the entire warm-up process. Then cool the warmed spices down. Then you will need to bring the spices into necessary texture. Since Chinese five-spice powder requires fine grinding, the mortar will not work for this mix. We will use a blender. Put the spices into blender and crush it into a fine powder. Now your task is a proper storage of the mix. You need to put the mix into a container for storage.

Any paste consists of three components: spice blend, fresh ingredients and liquid components (oil, juice, vinegar, water, etc.).

The algorithm for creating spicy pastes is as simple as for spice blends.

First, you should prepare all the fresh ingredients: peel, cut or grind them. And warm up in a frying pan if necessary.

Then combine them with spices in a bowl, mortar or coffee grinder, while adding a small amount of liquid.

And, finally, the last step is to make the paste of right texture.

PURCHASE AND STORAGE OF SPICES

Now I am going to give you some tips on buying and storing spices and mixes.

Unlike ground spices, the whole ones can be stored much longer. Therefore, you should purchase only whole spices. You can always grind them with a coffee grinder, mill or mortar when you need to use them.

Store spices in a fast shut container. That will help to prevent all the flavors from weathering. Try to avoid containers made of paper, cellophane or plastic. As I mentioned before, the best solution in for quality storage of spices is a glass jar with locking lid.

Try to buy spices in small amounts if you are not sure you are going to use them within next six months. It would be much better to buy a fresh spice than to use the one that has been stored in your kitchen for more than a year and has lost all its aroma and flavors.

I highly recommend buying seasonings and spices only in specialty stores and shops, preferably by weight. Nowadays, unfortunately most of the brands represented in supermarkets and hypermarkets are not trustworthy. Most of the spices sold in stores contain various chemical supplements, "glutamates" and other substances that are not beneficial to health and do not make spices any better. And of course, you should not buy spices in markets as the spices are stored in the open air there getting dust and bacteria. On top of everything else, they simply lose their flavor and aroma this way. Therefore, custom shops selling spices and seasonings are the best option for purchasing fresh, aromatic and useful spices.

Although many seasonings and spices can last for years if properly stored, I do not recommend storing them for longer than one year. For such a long time, flavor and aroma most probably will weather, the spices will fade and will not be able to enrich the dish with flavour you would expect. I update my collection of spices twice a year: in the fall and in the spring. It is necessary to do this to supply your shelf with new fragrant spices that will reward you with delicious culinary dishes. And yet I want to emphasize that spices do not spoil for many, many years and they do not cause harm to health, but the value of such spices, regarding its taste and aroma, would be totally useless.

Do not store spices near stove or under direct sunlight. Seasonings and spices should be stored a cool, dry and dark place. Keep that in mind. Keep all your spices at a temperature not exceeding 68 ⁰F (20 °С).

By no means pour the spices into a frying pan or cooking pot from the container in which spices are stored. Steam from the pan will penetrate into the container and worsen the spices quality. Use a dry spoon to scoop up the desired amount of spices.

Make a habit of adding individual spices or their blends several times during the cooking process. Depending on the dish, you need to add the mixture at the very beginning of cooking so that the spices are mixed with oil and with enrich the main components of the future dish. Then add the mixture in the middle of the cooking process. And then you should raise the dish to taste on the last stage of cooking. Accustom yourself to tasting your future fine cuisine over and over. This habit will help you check and evaluate the taste balance of your dish.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SPICES AND HERBS

Spices can be added as a separate part to the dish as well as an ingredient to the whole mixture, which will play fragrant and flavor compositions along with other ingredients.

Each individual spice modifies the mixture and adds new hints of flavors and aromas. Just one spice can alter the whole mix beyond recognition adding a new color to it and thus diversify your favorite dish.

Hereafter I will briefly describe the 35 most popular herbs and species that are commonly used in blends. You surely are familiar with each of them but you also might find out completely new ones. Having learned different kinds of spices you can buy it and easily prepare favourite mixture from this book or create your own unique combination for your favorite dish.

In addition to a brief overview, you will find out which spice goes together with other and which products it is blended with.

After reading chapter, you will learn the basics of spice blending art and creating seasoning mixes. You will familiarize yourself with dosing and creating your own unique blends for meat or vegetables, for salads or desserts, for shish kebab or grilling, chicken, fish and seafood.

This does not necessarily mean that one particular spice cannot be combined with something else: this is an approximate and simplified list. But it will help you to combine seasonings and spices with one another and create successful, fancy, balanced and aromatic combinations.

ALLSPICE

It is also known as Jamaican pepper or pimento pepper. This Central America native has flavors and aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and black pepper all in one single spice. An incomparable warm and, at the same time, spicy stream of flavors and aromas explain its name. The spice is quite strong, it gives the dishes powerful aroma and changes their taste. Therefore, you should use it carefully. Despite this, it is very slow in giving its flavor to liquid dishes, therefore, it should be added in the beginning of cooking process. Allspice is an integral part of such mixes as baharat and berbere. Also, it is used in various spicy combinations in Jamaican and Caribbean cuisine.

Allspice pairing:

Fruits and vegetables: pineapple, eggplant, peas green, pear, zucchini, cabbage (including sauerkraut), potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, peach, tomato, turnip, beetroot, currant, pumpkin, apple.

Protein product: lamb, beef (stewed, boiled, fried), game (especially quail, rabbit), legumes (peas, buckwheat, rice oats, pearl barley, chickpeas), goat meat, sausages, seafood, nuts, poultry (chicken, turkey), fish (especially fried; herring marinated), pork, eggs.

Other foods: pastry, mushrooms, lemon juice, honey, beverages, biscuits, pies, soups and broths, dough, minced meat and meatballs, fruit compotes and jams, chocolate.

Seasonings and spices: cloves, mustard, ginger, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, bay leaf, onion, marjoram, nutmeg, black pepper, chili, rosemary, thyme, caraway, garlic.

Cuisines and dishes: English cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, curry dishes, Indian cuisine, Caribbean cuisine, Mexican cuisine, North American cuisine, Mediterranean cuisine, Jamaican cuisine.

ANISE

Anise seeds give the dish warm sweet and fruity accents. To open up its aroma, it is recommended to warm up seeds in a dry frying pan and crush it into powder after that. Anise is perfect for fish, seafood and poultry when paired with dill, fennel and coriander. It brightens flavor of stew, especially beef stew. Anise is the spice that balances sour sumac in syrian za'atar and makes up unsweetened taste in ras-el-hanout. Anise in some rare cases is able to replace fennel. It is added in the early stages of cooking process.

Anise pairing:

Fruits and vegetables: apricot, pineapple, watermelon, pomegranate, pear, melon, cabbage (including cauliflower and sauerkraut), potatoes, strawberries, cranberries, root vegetables, carrots, parsnips, peaches, rhubarb, turnips, beets, plums, pumpkin, citrus, apple.

Protein product: beef, wild game, legumes (especially beans, lentils, rice), seafood (especially crabs, mussels), nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts), poultry (especially chicken, duck), fish, pork, cheeses (especially goat cheese, ricotta), eggs.

Other foods: baked food and pastry, raisins, vegetable oil (olive oil), butter, honey, beverages (tea), sugar, lemon juice, pickles and marinades, soups and stews (especially fish), dough, dates, bread.

Seasonings and spices: star anise, basil, vanilla, cloves, cumin, ginger, cardamom, cilantro, coriander, cinnamon, sesame, turmeric, nutmeg, mint, fenugreek, allspice, black pepper, chili, celery, caraway, dill, fennel, garlic.

Cuisines and dishes: Middle Eastern cuisine, German cuisine, Greece cuisine, South American cuisine, Vietnamese cuisine, Indian cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Moroccan cuisine, Portuguese cuisine, Egypt cuisine, Scandinavian cuisine, sauce mole, Mediterranean cuisine, French cuisine.