Spice up your life

We all use spices of some form in our daily life, whether it’s hot spices in a curry or aromatic spices like cinnamon in a cinnamon bun.  Spices come from various parts of the plant – seeds, roots and fruits.  We don’t think about them too deeply normally, but here are 5 of my top tips when it comes to buying, using and storing your spices to get the best out of them.
 
Top 5 spice tips:

1. Buy whole – what I mean by that is if you have the option of buying whole or ground buy whole and grind when you need – I love a good pestle and mortar but a cheap electric coffee grinder is a fab buy for your spices.  The reason you want ot buy whole is to make sure you are getting all the goodness out of the spices and the flavour will sing.
2. Just enough – like goldilocks, you don’t want too little, or too much.  With spices don’t go too heavy.  A little nutmeg can elevate the flavour of so many dishes but a whole nutmeg and you could find yourself hallucinating
3. Store right – This will help with flavour, volatile oils, health benefits etc my rule of thumb is:

          i.Airtight container
          ii.Dry space
          iii.Away from heat
          iv.In the dark

1. Give it a good roast – certain spices are even better after roasting for 3 minutes (do not burn), this is particularly seen in Indian cooking, spices like cumin, fennel,  mustard and sesame will release more flavour from this process
2. Get brave – just add spices to your meals, any of the following:

i.1. Cumin, Caraway, Cinnamon, Bay leaves, Smoked paprika, Garlic, Star anise, Saffron,  Nutmeg, Coriander, Cayenne pepper, Cloves, Turmeric, Mustard, Cardamon, Allspice, Chili, Ginger, Black pepper, Vanilla.
 
 
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