As a kid growing up in Illinois, my Mom had a very limited spice rack. In fact, I remember salt, pepper, garlic salt, and onion salt. There must’ve been some spices she used for making pies because we made hundreds of apple pies over a couple weekends every year…but I don’t ever remember seeing them. I’ll save the stories of pie baking for another day, because today I wanted to talk about what you need, what’s nice to have, and what are total luxuries to have in your spice rack.
When I say spice rack it sounds so formal. Honestly, I don’t have a spice rack. I’ve got a Lazy Susan in a corner cabinet with all my spices. But I have always longed for a wooden rack that was mounted on the kitchen wall. That would be the height of accomplishment, to have an real spice rack with all my spices well-organized and stored in one place. But for the past 40 years or so I’ve made do with a cabinet, so I guess that’s where the spices will stay.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve got too many spices. When my Mom was over recently she opened my spice cabinet to get something out…probably onion salt, knowing her. She stood there turning the lazy Susan, looking at all the spices, and shaking her head. She exclaimed, “I don’t even know what half these spices are or how you would use them!”. It figures since I’m the one who is willing to try recipes from any culture and virtually any cuisine. Mom sticks to what she knows. I do my best to use the spices called for in each recipe…leading me to buy exotic spices. Of course, that also means that I’ve got a load of spices that are used very infrequently. And at the cost of spices those purchases probably weren’t the best use of my money. But what can I say…at least I’m collecting spices and not cars. Or million-dollar paintings. Everybody’s got a weakness, one of mine happens to be spices.
In researching for this post, it dawned on me that it’s so easy to go overboard with spices. And if you’re stocking your kitchen for the first time, it’s really hard to know what you truly need. On the other end of the spectrum if you’re looking to round out your growing collection, it’s even harder to figure out which of the more exotic spices you should add. Just like so many other questions, the answer is “It depends”.
Depends on what? Well, first off…what cuisines you prefer. Do you cook a lot of Mexican food? Italian? German? Does your cooking revolve around the Mediterranean? Do you prepare a lot of Asian dishes? Depending on what foods you cook and the types of recipes you make, you’ll find yourself gravitating to a different set of spices.
No matter what type of cuisine you prefer …there are certain spices that are essentials. Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, and Garlic Powder are the first four that come to mind. It’s no wonder, that’s what Mom had. But I couldn’t live without Chili Powder, Ground Cumin, Dried Parsley, and Dried Oregano. If I’m going to bake I’ve got to have Ground Cinnamon and Ground Nutmeg. With those ten spices in my spice rack I’d be set to make enough different and varied dishes that I’d be happy for a long time.
The real fun begins as you start to get more specific for the recipes that you really want to make. Curry Powder, Chinese Five-Spice Powder, and Ginger can help you travel to Asian cuisine. Caraway Seeds, Dried Basil, and Bay Leaves will aid you in German cooking. And if you’re thinking of Italian recipes, Dried Thyme and Italian Seasoning will turn the tide from bland and boring to authentic and exciting.
I’ve created a cheat sheet with the spices that I think are essential and nice-to-have, if you’re interested, you can grab it here.
No matter what spices you’ve got, you can always make something awesome. Make it a great day in the kitchen!
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