Herbs and Spices: A Chef's Perspective

Spice up your quarantined lives with the proper essentials in your cabinet. 

Over the course of a week, several people contributed to my Venmo and PayPal during this COVID-19 pandemic.  As a freelancer, I was hit hard by race cancellations to loss of speaking and traveling gigs.  Thanks to your words, support and financial contributions, I am able to assist my husband in staying above water.  With this said, here's my thank you back to you. A Chef's Perspective is a collection of blurbs for the person learning how to cook for the first time to the culinary enthusiast seeking some spice in their life.  

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Although my current career in the fitness space occupies most of my time, I never abandoned my culinary background.  In fact, my 10+ years in the industry help me get creative with different dishes to fuel me for my physically taxing adventures.  At the moment, we're currently going through a worldwide pandemic -- COVID-19 if you've been living under a rock or on Big Brother.  Social media allowed me to answer simplistic to the most layered culinary questions over the years and I'll help as much as I possibly can.

In the United States, supermarkets, local grocers and any establishment carrying food are being hit by human tornados tearing down the aisles for things that most people either don't need or possibly don't know how to use.  Conversely, this type of hoarding strips away essential goods from people who are restricted to buying items covered under the Women, Income and Children (WIC) federal program to populations who aren't able to stand for long periods over a stove -- let alone a line at Trader Joes.  We can all do our part and purchase items with a bit of consideration and realistic gauge on how to properly use those 20 cans of tuna that you never touched before COVID-19.

Realistically, I cannot give you a year's worth of my curriculum nor hold your hand through every part of this process - social distancing baby - but I can break this down in sections.  Let's tackle the holy trinity to some of your unseasoned friends' lives.
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Herbs, Spices and Giblets:  What's in Your Cabinet?

Depending on your cooking style or preference, everyone's cabinet will look different.  And if you never cooked a day in your life, I'm not here to judge.  Realistically I will not be able to cater to everyone's personal dietary concerns but I'll tell you what I keep on hand at any given time.

I love experimenting with different dishes.  If your palate is a world traveler like mine, you need to stock up on these basic seasonings and consider a handful of others that I keep on my shelf:

• Salt (Kosher salt, sea salt and table salt)
• Pepper (Granulated black pepper and an assortment of peppercorns like white, pink, red, black and green -- each have a different taste and power)
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Chili Powder
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Italian Seasoning (You can find my personal blend in the next section)
• Parsley 
• Cilantro
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Ground Ginger
• Turmeric
• Hungarian Smoked Paprika
• White Pepper (I might've mentioned this already but why not do it again)
• Dry Mustard

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Blends + Rubs To Create On Your Own

If you're a bit of a culinary snob or find yourself without a blend at home, I gotcha covered.  Everyone's palate is different and you might want to gauge your own ratio for the blends.  A safe way to go about creating your own is doing equal parts of everything with the exception of salt.

Chef's Tip:  Add salt into your dish versus mixing it into your blend unless it's a seasoning salt.  Too much salt is harder to fix versus minimal or no salt. 

​Store your seasonings in an airtight container.  If I'm not running through seasonings like it's going out of style, it holds well for a minimum of three months but can carry over for longer time periods before losing its potency.

• Italian Seasoning
  
  • Basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, marjoram, oregano, rosemary and parsley at equal ratios
• Taco Seasoning Blend
  • Black Pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, coriander, salt and red pepper flakes
• Mexican Seasoning Blend
  • Use above taco seasoning blend plus cinnamon, ground cloves and ancho chili powder
• Jerk Seasoning Blend
  • Black Pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, parsley, cayenne pepper, granulated sugar, paprika ground allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and red pepper flakes
• Garam Masala
  • Cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, ground cloves, mace, fennel and allspice
  • There's different variations of garam masala out there but this is a decent start.
• Curry Seasoning
  • Turmeric, ginger, dry mustard, black pepper, cinnamon, ground chiles, cardamom, coriander and cumin
• Herbs de Provence
  • Here's a dope variation blend that I found on AllRecipes
• Pumpkin Spice
  • Cinnamon, ginger, ground nutmeg and ground cloves
• Apple Pie Spice
  • Cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground cardamom
• DIY Old Bay Seasoning
  • Here's my go to copycat version because the store bought version is too salty for me in some fish dishes
• Chinese Five Spice
  • Ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground fennel seeds, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns
• Adobo Seasoning (If you're not into Goya)
  • Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, paprika, oregano, cumin and chili powder
    • Please note that this is not Filipino Adobo -- it is actually a whole dish that consists of some type of meat or seafood that's marinated in soy sauce, vinegar and depending on the person making it, a shit load of garlic.  If you never tied it, go for it.  If you have to monitor your sodium intake, be mindful before ingesting this dish or going for seconds.
• Indian Seasoning (Typically for rice)
  • Turmeric, salt, pepper, ground cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, onion powder and garlic powder.  
  • Toast your ingredients in the pan to pull out some killer flavors 
• Basic Bitch Seasoning Salt
  • Black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and kosher salt
• Cajun Seasoning
  • Garlic powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, paprika and onion powder
• Za'atar
  • Sea salt, sesame seeds, thyme and sumac (Look for this in a Middle Eastern Market)
  • You should toast this either on a low fire or in the oven around 275- 300 degrees for a few minutes to pull out the essence then grind it.  I love using a mortar and pestle because I'm old school.  I learned this recipe while working at a Middle Eastern/Jewish Bakery for a short period.
• Berbere (Ethiopian Spice Blend)
  • Here's a great link to check out 
• Quatre Epices (Literal translation is four spices)
  • Cloves, nutmeg, ginger and pepper -- black or white pepper is fine
• Bengali Five Spice
  • Nigella, cumin, black mustard, fenugreek and fennel seeds
  • Apologies if this is not right but I learned this from a friend in culinary school and I believe it's called Panch Phoron.  I made this twice with her because I didn't want to jack it up.  I'm digging up old culinary notes from 2009/2010.
• Kansas City Dry Rub
  • Cayenne pepper, brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder
• Memphis Dry Rub
  • Paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, ginger, onion powder, ground rosemary, white sugar and dark brown sugar
  • Borrowed recipe from someone but I don't remember the person.  In the culinary industry, we ::ahem:: borrow recipes all of the time.

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Basic Questions & Answers from the Seasoning Rack

1. Spices ever go bad?
   1. Spices don't really go bad but it loses its power and punch over time.  My general rule of thumb is to use things within 3 - 4 months but I've been known to hold onto something for about six months.  Maybe I should check out my cabinet right now.
2. Anything that I should know about ground spices?
   1. So I know I kinda sorta said seasonings don't go bad but if it's grounded, it might lose its soul over time faster than in its solid form.  Ground spices = Less potency than its whole form.  
3. So since you kinda trying to get us to be a seasoning snob, how can I work with whole spices?
   1. I'm so glad that you asked!  Try grinding down your whole spices with a mortar and pestle, a spice mill or even a coffee grinder.  
4. How do you know when it's not packing that punch anymore in your spices?
   1. Put a little bit in your hand and take a whiff -- just not painfully close.  If it lacks a scent, it's probably time to ditch it.
5. What's the shelf life of store bought seasonings?
   1. Most times, store bought stuff can go well off into the two to three year mark but I try to stray away from holding onto things for this long unless I have no choice -- like a pandemic.
6. But there's a sell by date on my spice!
   1. Y'all don't want me to get political on y'all but there's a lot of bullshit surrounding sell by, expiration dates and all that jazz.  You know what -- here you go!
7. What's the tea on salt?
   1. Table salt has a shorter shelf life because it's granulated.  Iodized salt is somewhere around 5 years but most salt can practically last forever honey.

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Final Thoughts

I'll be doing my best to regularly contribute in this culinary section while taking care of my family and keeping up with my fitness regimen.  As always, feel free to peruse through my endurance based fitness blurbs.  My calendar is a bit questionable at the moment thanks to COVID-19 but while home, I'll be posting up Instagram stories (typically up for 24 hours) and when I can, I'll try to put up a recipe.  It's pretty time consuming to break things down but I'll do my best to take pictures and all that jazz.  Content creation is pretty labor intensive.  

In the meantime, wash your hands, stay your ass at home as much as possible and season up your household with some good food.  Just sanitize your counter before cooking anything.