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Questions tagged [spices]

Culinary use of spices, defined as the edible but non-leafy parts of certain plants.

Culinary differ from culinary primarily in which part of the plant they come from. Herbs are generally the leaves, and spices are generally anything else, including the bark (cinnamon), seeds (mustard), or roots (ginger).

Questions on a specific spice should also include the specific tag, e.g. .

Avoid the use of this tag for sugar and salt; they are not classified as spices.

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If you add spices to boiling pasta, will it absorb spices/flavours?

If you are cooking pasta via simmering, and you add some spices e.g. pepper to the pot, will the pasta absorb the spices/flavors or will the spices just go to the top of the pot and not really get absorbed?
James Wilson
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White pepper vs. black pepper

Other than color, what is the difference between white pepper and black pepper? I thought it was purely a color thing so that black pepper wouldn't ruin the color of, say, a white sauce. We tried white pepper in a few dishes and in all cases, they…
Dinah
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How can you make a sauce less spicy/hot?

Sometimes when I'm making a sauce or soup that needs to be a bit spicy, I have no troubles spicing how I want to. But if the dinner party is a bit late, or I made the sauce in advance to really draw out all the flavors of the spices, vegetables and…
user239
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Shelf life of spices

The common wisdom I've heard is that dried herbs and spices: have a shelf-life of about a year or 2 keep best in a cool dark place will release more flavor when crushed That's fine but some spices are expensive. We have over different 50 jars on…
Dinah
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Is there such a thing as a dish being bland from too many flavors?

My girlfriend has asked for my opinion on a few dishes that she has been experimenting with, and not being particularly well-versed in the language used to discuss food, I have been having trouble expressing my opinion on two specific dishes…
Geoffrey
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Will Cinnamon ever dissolve in a cocktail?

I have this idea, that making a cinnamon, vanilla and brandy cocktail would be delicious, and it is. But it is also kinda grainy. What I have been doing: In a 500ml glass, add 15m brandy, add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder, add 1-2 teaspoons vanilla…
Frames Catherine White
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What exactly is "Japanese" Salt and Pepper?

On a recent trip to Kyoto, I was eating at a Beef Katsu restaurant and one of the spices they made available for seasoning was described as "Japanese salt and pepper". The spice blend was mostly white/black/gray in color, with no red. The blend had…
ChaseMedallion
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Why are bay leaves used whole and then removed rather than crushed up like other spices?

Recently when making a 5-bean-stew "kit" my son finely crushed up the bay leaves and added them to the other spices, rather than adding them whole to be removed after cooking. When I pointed out his error, he asked me why bay leaves were different…
DQdlM
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Why stud an onion?

Why do some recipes call for studding onions, i.e., cutting little slits in the onion and putting cloves in? For example, when I cook a big piece of meat like cow's tongue, what difference would it make whether I put cloves and onion separately in…
Robert
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What herbs and spices are in "Italian Seasoning"?

I'm beginning to grow my own herbs and would like to put together something similar to the "Italian Seasoning" found in the grocery store spice section. (It's an easy way to add more flavor to pasta sauce.) Is there a commonly accepted list of…
Rob Walsh
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Why does my curry taste flat

I made a curry using onions, garlic, tomato passata, coconut milk, coriander (leaf and ground), cumin, cardamom, star anise, ginger and chilli powder. I tasted it and it felt like it was missing something, I don't really know the words to describe…
ShadySpiritomb
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What is this fungus/lichen in my Garam Masala? (“Trifle”/truffle?)

I just bought a lovely bag of Garam Masala, and was all ready to grind some when I got home! But when I opened it, I found something I didn’t recognise — at first I thought something had gone mouldy, but there’s enough of this in there that…
PLL
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Saffron and coloration - is there a way to know why it gave the wrong color?

What would make saffron (or something) color pink, instead of the more usual yellows and oranges that saffron is known for? I had, a while ago, picked up a container of saffron from an ethnic store. On reflection, it didn't look like it was too…
Megha
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Recommendations for spice organization strategies

Spices have always been the hardest thing for me to keep track of in the kitchen. I'm interested in specific recommendations for hardware (containers, labeling, shelving, etc.) and organization schemes (alphabetical? categories?) in order to…
Herb Caudill
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Removing turmeric colour from mortar and pestle

We have a large granite (I think) mortar and pestle, and while keeping it clean generally doesn't seem too difficult, I have absolutely no idea how to avoid it staining when it's used with turmeric powder when cooking curries. Generally, we'll…
Will Robertson
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