Spices in the spice rack

JaKe said:

I want to get spices for someone who has none - they're just starting out. What are the standard
spices for a spice rack?

TIA

Herbs: Basil and/or marjoram, thyme, sage, bay leaves. Spices: peppercorns, cayenne pepper,
cinnamon, paprika

Jill

(PENMART01) said:

Many spices can be expensive...

Not if you buy them at dollar stores with a high inventory turnover like I do.

Quoted message said:

JaKe the FlAke said:

I want to get spices for someone who has none - they're just starting out.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What are the standard spices for a spice rack?

Salt (I prefer kosher seasalt) black peppercorns (to use in a good pepper mill...add one in your
gift) rosemary thyme sage paprika oregano garlic powder basil curry (great for shaking on
chicken..whole or cut up) cinnamon lemon pepper (good for fish ) seasonned salt celery salt cumin
(my personal fav) garlic pepper bay leaves

This is what I bought to get me started when I moved into my first place. I have added to it since.

jmcquown said:

Herbs: Basil and/or marjoram, thyme, sage, bay leaves. Spices: peppercorns, cayenne pepper,
cinnamon, paprika

If I were Sheldon, I would point out that those last four are not 'spices'. Three are fruits, the
other is a tree (as well as the Bay).

-sw

lea b said:

... lime&chili blend I pay too much for, and use too liberally 😉

what would the name of this be? is it a dry spice or a paste?

your pal, blake

Taffy Stoker said:

Quoted message said:

JaKe the FlAke said:

I want to get spices for someone who has none - they're just starting out.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What are the standard spices for a spice rack?

Salt (I prefer kosher seasalt) black peppercorns (to use in a good pepper mill...add one in your
gift) rosemary thyme sage paprika oregano garlic powder basil curry (great for shaking on
chicken..whole or cut up) cinnamon lemon pepper (good for fish ) seasonned salt celery salt cumin
(my personal fav) garlic pepper bay leaves

This is what I bought to get me started when I moved into my first place. I have added to
it since.

Forget about seasoned salts, and do buy whole spices when you can, and grind them fresh (I use one
of those coffee grinders with exception of my pepper mill.)

A great place to buy (they have a high turn over rate and excellent prices, not to mention
freshness,) is the Indo/Pakistani shops.

Forget about these concoctions like lemon pepper; that will never beat fresh lemon zest and freshly
ground pepper.

Richard

--
"..A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti..."

Hannibal "The Cannibal"

Silence Of The Lambs 1991

Taffy Stoker said:

(PENMART01) said:

Many spices can be expensive...

Not if you buy them at dollar stores with a high inventory turnover like I do.

Dollar stores can sell it cheap because they buy stuff the other stores are getting rid of because
they are approaching their expiration date.

nancy

In rec.food.cooking said:

On 11 Dec 2003 17:03:29 GMT, [email hidden] (PENMART01) wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Many spices can be expensive...

Quoted message said:

Not if you buy them at dollar stores with a high inventory turnover like I do.

But the reason they're at the dollar store in the first place is because they are old and/or
poor quality.

--
...I'm an air-conditioned gypsy...

- The Who

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 01:22:32 GMT, Richard Periut <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Forget about seasoned salts, and do buy whole spices when you can, and grind them fresh (I use one
of those coffee grinders with exception of my pepper mill.)

Coffee grinders are great for that.

BTW I didn't buy the seasonned salts. The bf did for his chicken wings.

Quoted message said:

Forget about these concoctions like lemon pepper; that will never beat fresh lemon zest and freshly
ground pepper.

But you have to agree it is good in a pinch when you have run out of lemons and the store is closed.

Nancy Young said:

Dollar stores can sell it cheap because they buy stuff the other stores are getting rid of because
they are approaching their expiration date.

This store gets the spices directly from the company.

I asked. :-)

Nancy Young said:

Taffy Stoker said:

(PENMART01) said:

Many spices can be expensive...

Not if you buy them at dollar stores with a high inventory turnover like I do.

Dollar stores can sell it cheap because they buy stuff the other stores are getting rid of because
they are approaching their expiration date.

The "Spice Islands" brand I see at Dollar General come right fro the distributors. Mnay drug stores
carry the same brand as well, and for the same price. They're not inferior. Just because the other
companies (McKormich, Shilling) *drastically* inflate their prices, doesn't mean it's better. Most
spices don't cost nearly what the "Big Boys" charge.

-sw

Quoted message said:

But the reason they're at the dollar store in the first place is because they are old and/or poor
quality.

I'm finding this discussion amusing. The most recent issue of Cooks Illustrated has an article
comparing different kinds of Vanilla (real and imitation) side by side. They had Penzeys of course,
and the normal grocery store kind, they also had one of those drugstore bottles you find for 1.50.

The winner? The imitation from the drugstore. I was surprised, but I guess its one of those
things, dont knock it till you try it. Thats not to say I'm giving up my double vanilla from the
spice house.

Seattlejo

Taffy Stoker said:

Richard Periut said:

Forget about seasoned salts, and do buy whole spices when you can, and grind them fresh (I use one
of those coffee grinders with exception of my pepper mill.)

Coffee grinders are great for that.

BTW I didn't buy the seasonned salts. The bf did for his chicken wings.

Quoted message said:

Forget about these concoctions like lemon pepper; that will never beat fresh lemon zest and
freshly ground pepper.

But you have to agree it is good in a pinch when you have run out of lemons and the store
is closed.

It's amazing the amount of junk that is sold in the supermarkets; close to 1/2 of the items I see
are craparata at its best, and this doesn't include the various sodas (high fructose syrup) amongst
other [censored].

The latest are those processed, seasoned chicken meals, made for the lazy herds of people who don't
know how to cook wholesome, in a relative short amount of time.

If I have no fresh lemons, then I wont make anything that requires it.

Richard

--
"..A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti..."

Hannibal "The Cannibal"

Silence Of The Lambs 1991

Taffy Stoker said:

Nancy Young said:

Dollar stores can sell it cheap because they buy stuff the other stores are getting rid of
because they are approaching their expiration date.

This store gets the spices directly from the company.

I asked. :-)

They are poorer quality for sure.. yet for some they're enough.<sigh> Goomba

"Seattlejo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm finding this discussion amusing. The most recent issue of Cooks Illustrated has an article
comparing different kinds of Vanilla (real and imitation) side by side. They had Penzeys of
course, and the normal grocery store kind, they also had one of those drugstore bottles you find
for 1.50.

The winner? The imitation from the drugstore. I was surprised, but I guess its one of those
things, dont knock it till you try it. Thats not to say I'm giving up my double vanilla from the
spice house.

Sure, but drugstore and dollar store are two very different markets. The latter has consistently
poor quality products for sale while the former can have both good quality and not-so-good
quality products.

Not only that, but herbs and spices have very different shelf lives from extracts. Extracts, IIRC,
have alcohol which helps preserve their flavour (I'm sure someone will correct me, probably in a
not-so-friendly way, if I'm wrong :-)). If you look at Cook's Illustrated tests for herbs and
spices (which are what the OP was looking for), the cheaper dollar store-type products rarely if
ever finish near the top.

rona
--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 16:28:39 -0500,
Goomba38 <[email hidden]>
had to open a new box of zerones to say:

Quoted message said:

Taffy Stoker said:

Nancy Young said:

Dollar stores can sell it cheap because they buy stuff the other stores are getting rid of
because they are approaching their expiration date.

This store gets the spices directly from the company.

I asked. :-)

They are poorer quality for sure.. yet for some they're enough.<sigh> Goomba

Is condescension your only hobby...?

<! -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- zenit -- --

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 16:43:27 -0500, zenit <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Is condescension your only hobby...?

Is it just me or is there an awful lot of food *snobs* in this newsgroup?

Hark! I heard zenit <[email hidden]> say:

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 16:28:39 -0500, Goomba38 <[email hidden]> had to open a new box of
zerones to say:

Quoted message said:

Taffy Stoker said:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 14:54:42 -0500, Nancy Young <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>Dollar stores can sell it cheap because they buy stuff the other stores are getting rid of
>because they are approaching their expiration date.

This store gets the spices directly from the company.

I asked. :-)

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they're not close to expiring, just that the company has more than
it can sell to regular retail stores.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

They are poorer quality for sure.. yet for some they're enough.<sigh>

Quoted message said:

Is condescension your only hobby...?

Hmph, I read this as "condensation" the first time; thought maybe Goomba was taking up
rain making...

--
j.j. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~ ..fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 22:07:23 GMT, [email hidden] (j.j.)

Quoted message said:

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they're not close to expiring, just that the company has more than
it can sell to regular retail stores.

When's the last time you've seen an expiration date on a bottle of spices? I would much rather roll
the dice with the Dollar Store than buy one of those ancient bottles from the grocery store (for 10X
the cost).

-sw

"Taffy Stoker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is it just me or is there an awful lot of food *snobs* in this newsgroup?

I don't think there are many, if any, food "snobs" here. Expecting the best *quality* and *flavour*
in food is not snobbery. To buy the most expensive foods, or particular name-brand foods, because of
price/name would be snobbery. Just as looking down on people who do search out excellent quality
goods is snobbery.

If you were to do a taste-test of dollar store spices and Penzey's (for example), I doubt you would
find them equally flavourful.

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***