1

I lost the label on a bag of some sort of spice, and trying to figure out what it is got me really curious of what it possibly could be and what use it could ever serve.

It is light brown, even slightly tan (reminiscent of natural sugar). It has a very slight woody smell, with possibly an undertone of heat. It has no real taste, possibly woody again, and is slightly gritty. It makes me think of ground up bark, if 99% of the flavor was removed.

What spice does not have any flavor or aroma? This seems like an contradiction.

Jonathon
  • 265
  • 1
  • 10
  • 7
    A spice that's 10 years old? Seriously, how old is the spice - age may have removed most of the oil that would impart flavor in many – Joe M Aug 22 '17 at 20:20
  • 6
    I'm with @Joe here: if it's a tasteless spice, it's not a spice any more, no matter what it once was. You might want to read about shelf life and proper storage conditions for spices to avoid finding more "mysteries" in the future. I give my spices a quick sniff every six months or so - whatever has gotten stale or lost its aroma needs to go. – Stephie Aug 22 '17 at 20:51
  • 6
    (Tan, woody and hint of heat *could* be cinnamon or nutmeg or even ginger...) – Stephie Aug 22 '17 at 20:55
  • 2
    Could you try toasting it for a few minutes? Blooming spices can help the flavor and smell come out. I would agree with @Stephie though, cinnamon or nutmeg are likely choices. – Wolfgang Aug 22 '17 at 21:10
  • 2
    A photo might also help, though at this point it is probably improper for consumption anyway – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Aug 23 '17 at 12:08
  • On surface sounds like possible rough ground cinnamon as Stephie suggested, but really, if toasting of steeping does not cause it to bloom, what real purpose is there too most spices? – dlb Aug 23 '17 at 18:25
  • Can you exclude it being smoked salt or extremely stale smoked paprika? – rackandboneman Aug 24 '17 at 10:16
  • 2
    If it were salt, it would definitely have a taste. That one doesn't go stale. (Which is why "fresh ground salt" is so surreal.) – Joshua Engel Aug 24 '17 at 18:34
  • This question popped up again in early 2021 and my first thought was that the OP might have a certain coronavirus whose symptoms include loss of taste and smell... – dbmag9 Feb 03 '21 at 10:21

3 Answers3

10

What spice does not have any flavor or aroma?

A stale, old one. The flavors in spices are volatile— they don't last forever.

ChefAndy
  • 3,053
  • 9
  • 15
0

I suspect the spice in question was a ground paprika, which has always been one of the weakest dried spices in my opinion.

personjerry
  • 167
  • 1
  • 7
-3

I was searching for a spice that has no flavor and found this question. If a spice has no flavor, then it probably has no aroma either. Such a spice would be used for texture or color. I was specifically looking for a spice that only was used for its color. If I were to make a guess about what you have found was a cinnamon-sugar mix for cinnamon toast. It would explain the graininess from the sugar and the lightness in color. You mentioned an undertone of heat. This reminded me of cinnamon candy. They can mix cassia (Chinese cinnamon aka false cinnamon) with cinnamon and there is no regulation on quantity or percentages for store-bought cinnamon powder.

Stephie
  • 57,632
  • 7
  • 163
  • 213
Jonathan
  • 1