Friday, August 18, 2006
What Good Foods Are Made Of
Speaking of spices, I just counted, and including black pepper but not salt, I have 41 containers of herbs, spices, and standard pre-mixes like chili powder. A couple of them overlap, like two (distinctively) different varieties of Italian seasoning, but mostly they’re different. That also doesn’t count bottles of extracts like vanilla and almond.
I recently added the aforementioned lemon pepper, plus chili powder, cilantro, pumpkin pie spice, mesquite stuff, and cumin. All while I was looking for white pepper, which the Raynham Wal-Mart Supercenter didn’t have, despite its massive selection.
I ended up using the cumin promptly, and making a discovery.
I thawed and shredded a couple hamburgers in a frying pan with some butter, spicing the meat with a little chili powder, a lot of garlic and red pepper, black pepper, this and that, and some cumin. Hey, it was pseudo-Mexican, so good reason to try it. I knew it was strong from the smell. Since I often don’t know what to use in what food, or what goes with what, I open the jars and smell to give me an idea. Which has convinced me there are certain things that aren’t the same dried as fresh, because the dried versions has little or no scent.
The burger went in with a can of refried beans, and on small flour tortillas with shredded jack and cheddar cheese. Yum! In fact, unusually yummy, because of the cumin, which was almost too much and drowned the other spices.
My observation: It tasted like Taco Bell!
I knew Taco Bell had a prominent flavor I’d never identified and replicated, and it’s apparently heavy on the cumin.
I also learned, or re-learned, that cumin is a component of chili powder, curry powder, and garam masala.
I still have spices I am not clear on the use of, or haven’t used ad-hoc based on their scents. Is there anything one uses mint in besides lamb? Does dill have a good use besides pickles and beef stroganoff? Is parsley, speaking of things that lack good scents dried and bottled, good for anything besides maybe parslied potatoes?
What are your favorite spices or flavorings? What are ones you love but only in selected dishes for which they work best?