Old Spice?...Scatter It Like Grandpa’s Ashes

Did you know that spices expire?  Yes…after months on a shelf, spices will lose their flavor and become not much more than edible dust.  Put it in your meals and you’ll have…well…dusty meals. LOL  McCormick has a great web page called “How Old Are Your Spices?”  It’s worth a quick glance.  I especially liked #4…If it’s a tin, it’s at least 15 years old.  I can’t tell you how many tins I dug out of my Mom and Dad’s pantry the other day.  But my rule of late has been, “If it won’t kill them, I won’t throw it away.”  So those tins are still sitting in the pantry, albeit out of reach.

My advice, go out and buy new bottles of the spices you use on a regular basis.  If you need to, do it over time.  When you use a spice that looks old, leave it on your counter to remind you for your next shopping trip.

The absolute best way to do spices is always in seed/pod/whole form.  It takes a lot longer for these to go flavorless.  So cinnamon sticks are better than ground cinnamon, coriander seeds better than ground coriander, cumin seeds better than ground cumin, whole cloves…  Well you get the idea.

“What do I do with cinnamon sticks when I need ground cinnamon?”, you ask?  Well…you grind them…and the easiest way I‘ve found to do this is to buy a separate coffee grinder just for spices.  Throw the whole form spice in and hit the grinder button and you have the freshest ground cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, etc. you can get.  You’ll need to experiment a bit with volume…like how much stick cinnamon makes a teaspoon?  You will however, be surprised at the strong, aromatic spice that results.


So toss those old spice tins...but check eBay first.  If they're really old, they may be worth something. Ha Ha

That’s Not What Your Cardamom Said Last Night!

Cardamom…the forgotten spice? If you dig far enough into your pantry you’ll probably find an old spice bottle or tin full of cardamom and wonder, “Did I ever use this stuff?” Let me share a few things with you. First, that bottle or tin probably needs to be thrown out. If you open it and smell it and it smells like dust, it’s gone. That whole fresh spice thing is another blog though. Second, it is used frequently in Indian foods. Third, it’s expensive! (about $12 a bottle for ground cardamom) I haven’t done a complete investigation but cardamom rates right up there with Saffron as far as cost. Not to worry. I’m talking about if you walk into Safeway or Lucky’s it’s expensive. If you search a bit for an Indian or Asian market near you, you’ll find it’s much more affordable. If you travel through Dubai by any chance…pick it up there. If at all possible, buy it whole and grind it yourself. I prefer “green cardamom” to the regular brown cardamom. I think it has more aroma and flavor. You can find recipes that include this exotic spice here. It can be used in pod form with cinnamon sticks and saffron for a nice aromatic rice or it can be used in ground form to make a nice, spicy pulao (Indian rice). Whether you’re making fresh bread, curry, lamb or chicken, if you’re tired of the same old-same old try using cardamom in your next meal.  Try grinding it (1T cardamom, 2T cumin, 1/2t cinnamon, 1/2t nutmeg and maybe one star anise) for a good pulao spiced rice.

This just in…cardamom at Whole Foods is $42 per pound.  Don’t worry, you won’t need a pound and that’s a pretty good price.  But, I just found it at Peet’s Coffee (of all places) for $6.95 a bottle.  Also a good price.  And the comparison with saffron?  Whole Foods: Cardamom = $42 lb., Saffron = $15,000 lb.  Yes that's 15 with three zeros.