Spices are the Spice of Life

I was digging around in my spice cupboard the other day looking for my ground ginger, and I thought to myself "holy dude, have I got a lot of spices" and then that thought split in two different directions, one thought train started heading down the "There's got to be a better way to organize these" track and the other thought train chugged along the "I love that I have and use all these spices" track. Which is fun, because spices are awesome. And that is why this blog post is about my favorite spices -- which, weirdly, all begin with C -- which are:

Cumin

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I love, love, love cumin. It's such a deep, warm flavor and it is used in so many different types of cuisine, and so is really versatile for a lot of different kinds of food. I use cumin in my food probably half the time.









Cinnamon

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Traditionally, you think of cinnamon as a sweet flavor, but that's because we mix it with a lot of sugar and stuff. I'm finding more and more that cinnamon is a wonderful spice in savory dishes like enchiladas, chiles, soups, and even on red meats. How could you not love a spice that lives just as happily in an apple pie as in a quesadilla?






Cardamom

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Cardamom is another spice that easily crosses the sweet/savory border and it's one I've only recently discovered. It's a wonderful flavor that's almost as much about smell as it is about taste. It's holy cow expensive, but luckily is nice and strong so a little goes a long way. When I see a recipe calling for cardamom, I squee a little inside.





Chile, in all its variety

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I used to think that chile powder was chile powder was chile powder, but that's just not true. I now know the difference in flavor between ancho chile powder and cayenne pepper and chipotle chile powder. What I want to do next is get me a mortar and pestle and start grinding my own dried chiles for even more of a flavor punch.






There are a lot of other spices in my spice rotation that I enjoy -- basil, thyme, coriander, nutmeg -- but these are the ones that make me think "mmmm, I just love this" and do a spicey happy dance as I'm adding them to my dishes. Who else has some favorite spices? Or favorite recipes that use my favorite spices?