Spices can be used to enhance your food life. Always smell and taste your spices because they can weaken over time. Do not get one of those spice racks with the spices already in it. It may have been sitting on the shelf for years. It's always best to grind your own, but if you're looking for good quality pre-ground spices, I'm a huge fan of the Penzyes brand. They're amazing and can be easily mail ordered. McCormick's brand is another good option. See the below chart for spices and how they are used.
Spice Use Additional Info
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Allspice
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Fish, desserts, pickles
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Black Pepper
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Almost anything
Whole, black peppercorns are best
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I season almost everything with fresh crushed black pepper
and Kosher salt
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Cardamom
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Use the crushed seeds before using them. Best in curries,
some baked goods and pickling
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Cayenne Pepper
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It varies in intensity. Used for sauces, soups, fish,
meats, and poultry. Taste it first. You don't want your date sweating while
she eats your meal.
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Chili Powder
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To make it come alive, cook it in some oil. Great for
you guys in Chili, Mexican dishes, curries and poultry.
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Cinnamon
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Cinnamon sticks can be good to infuse in hot liquids.
Ground cinnamon is great in desserts, sweet potatoes and curries.
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Great with Hot Toddies
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Cloves
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Something that people like to smoke sometimes. Great to
shove into ham. Oranges with cloves smell grand. I don't use them much
because ya can't eat them.
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Coriander
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Good for curries
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Coriander is from the same herb plant as cilantro
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Cumin
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Very aromatic, great for potatoes, curries, chili, and
Mexican food
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Comes from the parsley family
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Curry Powder
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Should be used in curry
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It's a blend of spices.
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Ginger
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Asian foods, fish, desserts, baked goods
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Horseradish
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Sauces. For
all meats, eggs and potatoes.
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Mustard
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Meats, cheese, and eggs
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You can get a lot of different types of prepared mustards
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Nutmeg
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Egg nog, best if you get the whole nut. Sauces, cream
soups, veal, spinach, chicken, veggies, dessert
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Dead Sexy
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Paprika
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Great for Hungarian and Spanish foods, stews, garnish
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This comes from dried peppers
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Saffron
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Poultry, sauces, soups, rice, seafood
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The most expensive spice on the planet. Dead, dead sexy.
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Salt - Kosher
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A refined, coarse-grained salt
with no additives.
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Use it for everything except baking. Do away with table
salt.
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Salt - Sea salts
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Salt that is produced by the
evaporation of sea water. It's much coarser in texture. There are many
varieties and colors of sea salts.
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Use it for salads and to delicately garnish a dish.
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White Pepper
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This is the riper of the pepper berry. It's used in
veggies, soups and sauces. I don't use it much except to mix things up a
little.
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