Bay leaves in savory dishes
Nutmeg on/in sweet things
this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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Smoked paprika. It just adds so much depth to anything that I add it to! I'm also a big fan of cumin and turmeric.
Salt, Pepper, Cumin and nutmeg
Thai 🌶️ If the food doesn't make you sweat, it isn't any good.
I'm British
beige is not a spice
So ketchup on everything?
Salt, maybe
Black pepper and chili flake are my go-to. Chipotle powder too. I'm also a sucker for za'atar, which is amazing on roasted potatoes.
Sichuan peppercorn, dried chiles, and coriander seed are probably my top 3.
I have this roasted garlic paprika blend I really love and use as a shortcut for a lot of dishes. It's got other spices too but it's just delicious. I think it is McCormick.
My next favorites are Johnny's seasoning salt, black pepper, garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, basil, Italian seasoning. All of these would go in a vegetable soup.
MSG is also nice in moderation. And cinnamon for sweet things of course.
Smoked paprika, turmeric, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon
And salt/pepper
Chili flakes, garlic powder, cumin & coriander combo, turmeric are my top spices.
Do chilli flakes and black pepper count? Otherwise I don't really use spices... The food is plenty seasoned by the mountain of garlic and black pepper I use
Aromat.
Smoked paprika, cumin, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, cardamon
There are so many more, but these are probably my most frequent flyers
Bebir (Aleppo pepper) - it's a very mild red smoked chili that has incredible earthiness, and only a soupçon of warmth. I put this in everything, even dishes that are supposed to taste bright
Espresso - I make lazy pot espresso and save the dregs. I put the coffee in so many dishes. Sometimes where the base ingredients are too acidic or sweet. But I will also add it in gravy, sauces, stews, braise my meat with it. A couple tablespoons in a pot of spicy soup. It's so versatile and deep
Cane sugars - raw, turbinado, or demerara - minimally processed where the molasses remains in the crystals. I know sugar has a bad reputation in our insane twisted diet lifestyle, but it's fine for a cooking, and it's amazing to caramelize things when frying or to take the edge off acidity. You need the tiniest amount. I will also pulverize it in a mortar and pestle... A teaspoon sprinkled on kettle corn is ludicrously delicious
Does cooking with espresso mean all your food is caffeinated? Or does it cook out eventually like alcohol?
That's a good question.
I don't know if the molecule is destroyed or transformed.
But I use so little that it wouldn't affect anybody anyways... I don't even think a child who is naive to the molecule would feel a thing
Edit... My curiosity got the best of me, I wasn't able to Google the answer directly, but I found articles asking if reheating coffee destroys the molecule. Apparently an organic chemist got involved and stated that the molecules pretty stable, it will only break down around 350 F. So that would mean most of my food probably has the full effect of whatever caffeine was there.
I accidentally poisoned a love interest when I made her lasagna with espresso in the sauce. Turned out she was allergic to coffee, not caffeine. I didn't know... but whoops a daisy lol
I use paprika in pretty much everything I cook
I use garlic, red pepper, and Italian seasoning mixes the most
But my favorite spice? Definitely Cumin
Cinnamon. Love it to bits.
Yeah, cinnamon ("true" and cassia) bark is a great spice!
I wanna say cilantro, but...
Can't go wrong with a combination of garlic, ginger, and chili pepper.
“All the spices!” lol I really enjoy Tarragon and Black Garlic. Not necessarily together.
Based on frequency/amount of use, cumin.
Based on my favorite flavors, mustard seed, oregano, smoked paprika, lemon thyme, dill.
(The above excludes the obvious salt and pepper, as well as onion and garlic since I use those in enough quantity to be considered full-blown veggies, not spices.)
Salt and pepper in every dish. Hands down my favorite.
I mean its in nearly every dang recipe, at least salt almost always is.
table salt and ground black pepper are the undisputed most powerful power couple of all western food
Paprika, everywhere
Also Madras Curry
Parsley, if that counts. I don't really enjoy spicy food 😄
I hate parsley! I genuinely hate it. You can have all mine
My grandmother put it on everything. Dried. I never thought it had much flavor as a kid.
There's two kinds of parsley (not including coriander/cilantro which is its own headache):
- The flat-leaf stuff that has a mild flavour but no texture and is better replaced with coriander if you're not one of the mutants who tastes soap when eating coriander.
- The frizzy-leaf stuff that has a stronger flavour and a texture, but the flavour is bitter and the texture is kind of like eating hair.
Incidentally here's a guide to help you distinguish between the flat-leaf parsley and cilantro/coriander:
The cilantro is the leaf next to the parsley.
Good tips thanks 😊
Neither one sounds you advocate for parsley. 🤣
Parsley is fine in things like tabbouleh (and indeed it's perfect in that) but that aside, yeah, I'm not a fan of parsley in most things.
Seems like a good plan ha ha
I'm horrible in cooking, so basil and garlic powder. And maybe white pepper. I have no idea how to use the other spice tbh.
Sumac! And garlic, paprika, and asafoetida. Love ‘em all
Oh my God sumac is so good as a topping on slightly oily beef... Droool
Ranch dressing.
Braai spice
Black pepper. Chili pepper. Sichuan peppercorns ...
... you might be spotting a pattern?
Mala lover?
Definitely. Also Chongqing hot pots.
Tumeric paprika and cumin on potatoes.
Paprika garlic and chilli on chicken.
Coriander/cilantro on everything asian.
And a tiny bit of salt and sugar on all.
Probably cayenne pepper.
Whichever has a discount when I'm shopping.