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What is the One Spice You Could Never Give Up?

gulfporter

By gulfporter
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Smithy

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Cumin

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Posh Spice

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pastameshugana

pastameshugana

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Given that salt isn't considered a spice, I vote that we include black pepper in the 'no spice' list.

 

So, salt & pepper being a given in the pantry, I think I would have to say chilli (again in all it's forms and spellings, as @liuzhou said) would be the one I couldn't give up. You can get so many flavors depending on what and how you use it.

 

But, I guess I'm technically breaking the rules by including black pepper.

 

Although, I think if I had to choose only one (plus salt), it would still be chilli.

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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33 minutes ago, pastameshugana said:

Given that salt isn't considered a spice, I vote that we include black pepper in the 'no spice' list.

"Peppercorns are the most widely traded spice in the world,"

 

That is a direct quote from this article by McCormick one of the biggest Spice companies in the world.

Edited by Tropicalsenior (log)
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BeeZee

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My first instinct was to say cinnamon, and black pepper is probably a staple, so I'll agree with chili (with so many varieties, you can really fine tune the flavor/type of heat).

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Smithy

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18 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Is salt a spice? If so, salt. If not, then I can't decide!

 

Technically, salt is a seasoning but not a spice, since it is a mineral and not a plant part. Herbs and spices come from plants. I quote here from Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, 2004 edition, p. 248:

 

Quote

The terms herb and spice ... are categories of plant materials used primarily as flavorings, and in relatively small amounts. Herbs come from green parts of plants, usually leaves -- parsley, thyme, basil -- while spices are generally seeds, bark, underground stems -- black pepper, cinnamon, ginger -- and other robust materials that were well suited to international trade in early times. The word spice came from the medieval Latin species, which meant "kind of merchandise."

 

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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5 minutes ago, TicTac said:

If we are removing black pepper

I don't think you can remove black pepper.

It is one of the oldest and most important spices of the ancient spice trade.

 

"The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in the Eastern World"

 

This is from an article in Wikipedia.

 

It may be the most common spice but it can change the nature of a dish tremendously depending on the type of pepper used.

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Smithy

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16 hours ago, TdeV said:

Does garlic count as a spice?

 

That's a very good question! I don't think of it as a spice, but as I read McGee's definition (quoted in my post above) it may fit that definition. I always think of spices as being dried and garlic as fresh. If we include garlic as a spice, I might have to change my answer from "cumin" to "garlic". 🙂

 

2 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I don't think you can remove black pepper.

It is one of the oldest and most important spices of the ancient spice trade.

 

"The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in the Eastern World"

 

This is from an article in Wikipedia.

 

It may be the most common spice but it can change the nature of a dish tremendously depending on the type of pepper used.

 

You're absolutely right that pepper is a spice and can't be eliminated from the discussion. Salt is a mineral; pepper is a spice.

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Tropicalsenior

Tropicalsenior

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Our choices are very interesting. Technically, thyme and coriander are herbs and not spices. But I'm not about to quibble over that because we all reach for our spice jars and just consider them the same thing.

The really interesting thing is to look at everyone's choice and remember their meals from the dinner thread. I can see where everyone is coming from. This is a great topic.

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gulfporter

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I used to add black pepper to most dishes.  But nowadays we make a lot of Asian or Mexican dishes and I find that black pepper doesn't "go" with those dishes.  If a dish has chipotle paste or gojuchang pr chili-garlic sauce in it, black pepper doesn't seem necessary, at least to me.  YMMV

 

I'll stick with my first choice of spice, Smoked Spanish Paprika (pimenton).  I buy the picante ones.  

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liuzhou

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24 minutes ago, gulfporter said:

I used to add black pepper to most dishes.  But nowadays we make a lot of Asian or Mexican dishes and I find that black pepper doesn't "go" with those dishes.

 

Yes. That's why Chinese cuisine uses white pepper much more than black but much less than chilli. In fact, it almost always only uses black with western food (or their re-imaginations of western food).

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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C. sapidus

C. sapidus

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19 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Chilli in all its forms (and spellings) 🌶 .

 

 

 

I hereby declare that chillis are vegetables. I'll stick with fresh chillis if I must, to meet this thread's parameters.

 

I am also going to declare that fresh herbs are not spices. That gives me oregano, thyme, cilantro, etc. And garlic is not a spice, in my world.

 

So, probably pepper. White pepper is just black pepper with the coating removed, yes? If so, I get both. :smile:

 

Edited by C. sapidus
Garlic! (log)
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