curate a nice exotic rack

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[–] 47 points 1 year ago (9 children)

A bit lazy to list "Cajun seasoning" as one of the main Cajun spices.

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  • [–] 37 points 1 year ago* (5 children)

    Same this with curry powder 😂. Both are basically just combinations of the other spices listed.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [–] 31 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Thai is missing both lemongrass and chillies which are like the two main spices I think of with Thai food.

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  • [–] 22 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    These lists are terrible. Get rid of the herb/spice blends. Curry powder, cajun seasoning, ras al hanout, and herbs de province are redundant. Their base components are already included, and you're far better off mixing them based on the dish you're making

    Thai should include lemongrass and shallot, among a million other mistakes in this. No reason not to include cayenne is Mexican food

    I could rant for a long time. Ignore these lists, use a wide variety of spices. Prioritize fresh when you can. Spices have a shelf life even when dried

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago

    Hungarian:

    • Smoked paprika
    • Sweet paprika
    • Spicy paprika
    • Pepper
    • Salt
    • Fennel
    • Thyme
    • Tarragon
    • Marjoram
    • Dill
    • Lemon balm
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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    It would have been extra awesome had the spices been sorted alphabetically in each category so you could compare cuisines without having to scan each entire list

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Everyone sleeping on dill. It's a travesty!

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago

    Shouldn't be regular basil under Thai, it should be Thai basil. They are different.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)
  • [+] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    How is ginger in any way Mediterranean?

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    How about Asians?

    "Best I got is one tiny country."

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    WOW, I have them all right now, and a few extra ones... except Ras El Hanout

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (5 children)
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    What even counts as UK food? Maybe its harder for me to say because I live here so to me a lot of it is just food. There are probably things I see as normal foods but someone outside the UK may not have heard of it and I am going to be unaware of that.

    Look at regional recipes perhaps? Cornish pasty or haggis. Well both of those have black pepper and that is certainly a very common ingredient here for pretty much anything savoury.

    Garlic is fairly popular, IIRC it was once considered as something for the poors because it grows easily here while the rich would have imported more exotic spices. This would likely influence a lot of recipes that get written down too, and why things like curry are pretty popular.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    There's a London dish called Eel Jelly that used to popular when the Thames was full of them. I'm genuinely curious about it since I'm not British and I hear all the time "Haha colonialism they don't even use the spices" so I'm wondering what they actually use in traditional recipes. I'd guess onion, garlic and leek with pepper coming in with the Indian colonisation instead of immigrants.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    It's not Eel Jelly. It's actually Jellied Eel. The difference is that with a name like "Eel Jelly" it would seem to be a dish made by adding Eel to Jelly. But Jellied Eel is actually eel cooked in such a way that it becomes jellied. Eels are naturally high in collagen, so you don't need anything special to make them jellied.

    Back in the day that was a bonus because eels were poor people food, and the fact they became jellied resulted in a bit of natural preservation, which was important for poor people's food in the days before refrigeration.

    As for the spices used, I imagine before colonization it was whatever naturally grows in the UK for the peasants, and whatever grows naturally in Europe for the nobility, who were often tied to or from European noble houses. Here's an article on some of the things that can be foraged in the UK. I imagine that a lot of the spices that used to be used are no longer used. They were probably replaced with better spices that don't have a bitter aftertaste, or have a stronger pleasant taste.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Not from London but found a few recipes online and it appears to always include: eels, gelatin, onion, black peppercorns, salt, vinegar. Then sometimes: bay leaves, carrots, parsley, lemon juice, cloves, fish stock.

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  • Fuck yeah coolguides

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    What do you (all) think the most important things are in a spice rack?

    I've used all these spices, but for a lot of them I tend to use the fresh version: fresh garlic, cilantro / coriander, ginger, and cinnamon in stick form. I like making Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and often "General European" food. So, maybe for me, the powdered / bottled priority is:

    1. Oregano
    2. Thyme
    3. Basil
    4. Cumin
    5. Chili Powder
    6. Paprika
    7. Bay Leaves
    8. Cloves
    9. Star Anise
    10. Cardamom seeds
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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    That's a decent selection, but I would miss the pepper and coriander.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Ha, that's what I'm trying to avoid. It's easy to just buy all the spices, but I'm trying to limit it to the ones I actually use. For coriander, I just use fresh cilantro / coriander. I very rarely use coriander powder. Pepper, obviously, but that doesn't live in the spice drawer.

    From your setup, "Dill Weed"? Do you ever use that? Dry parsley? Dry chives? Pumpkin Pie Spice? I don't think I've ever used any of those. Also, you have celery salt, kosher(ing) salt, truffle salt and salt substitute. Do you really use all of them?

    I do have to say, your setup is great. Everything in the same kind of bottle, everything labelled well (even the 3 special ones), and all alphabetically sorted. I bet your kitchen is a great place to cook.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Dill weed is great for making lemon dill roasted potatoes. They go great with spanakopita.

    Dry chives I put in last weeks mashed potatoes, and dried parsley in a stew ( I like fresh but it is good as a backup).

    The pumpkin pie spice is actually an imported Indian finishing spice my Indian coworker brought over for me. You put a pinch of it into the dish of say curry/lentils right at serving. I put it as Pumpkin Pie spice because it seems to be a mix of cloves, nutmeg, Cinnamon and a few other things. It reminded me of Pumpkin Pie spices enough that I skip the regular pie recipe and just put a few spoons of that into the pumpkin filling. People love it.

    Celery salt, because as a vegan to get a chicken/turkey type broth soup celery and sage can trick your taste buds into tasting chicken like.

    Kosher Salt is for my homemade bread, it is super course and it does a better job of letting the yeast rise (while still controlling it).

    Salt Substitute is actually Black Salt (already had the label stuck on the jar). Its a sulfer like mineral salt made by burning something. Since we are vegan if you want anything to smell and taste eggy, like an eggless salad, this does exactly that. But also adds good flavour in recipes.

    Truffle Salt-- hard to source here so still empty right now.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    Cardamom, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, smoked paprika, chipotle powder, cayenne, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Misses lemon grass

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    ...Where do I put my salt and pepper? 🤷‍♂️

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    They left out the list for "American"

    • Mayonnaise
    • Corn syrup
    • Guns
    • Jesus
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