Herbs and spices: buying, storing and using them

Spices carry a disproportionate share of the flavour in vegetable-based cooking, and most people spend more than they need to on spices that have lost their potency.

Buying

Buy from ethnic grocers. The price difference from supermarket jars is frequently several times, the quantities are larger, and the turnover is higher, which means fresher stock.

South Asian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean and East Asian shops all stock spices at a fraction of supermarket prices.

Buy whole where you can. Whole spices retain their volatile oils far longer than ground, and grinding them fresh produces a noticeably different result.

Cumin, coriander, fennel, mustard, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns all keep well whole.

A cheap electric coffee grinder, dedicated to spices, is the single most useful piece of kit here.

Buy small quantities of ground spices, since they deteriorate within months.

Smell before buying where possible. Spice that does not smell strongly is not going to taste strongly.

Storing

The enemies are heat, light, air and moisture.

Which means the rack above the cooker, in clear jars, is the worst possible arrangement and the most common one.

Store in a cool dark cupboard, in airtight containers, away from the stove.

Do not shake spices directly from the jar into a steaming pan, which introduces moisture. Measure into a spoon first.

How long they last

Not indefinitely, despite what the cupboard suggests.

Ground spices: six months to a year before noticeable decline.

Whole spices: two to three years.

Dried herbs: six months to a year.

They do not become unsafe. They become pointless, which means recipes stop working and food tastes flat.

The test: rub some between your fingers and smell it. If it smells of nothing, it is doing nothing.

Using them properly

Toast whole spices dry in a pan before grinding. A minute or two, until fragrant, moving them constantly. This transforms the flavour.

Bloom ground spices in fat. Added to hot oil with aromatics for thirty seconds, they taste completely different from spices stirred into liquid.

Ground spices burn quickly. Thirty seconds, then add liquid.

The tarka or tempering technique. Whole spices fried in hot oil and poured over a finished dish at the end.

Used across Indian cooking and it is one of the highest-return techniques available — three minutes at the end transforms a plain pot of dal.

Add delicate things late. Ground spices early, fresh herbs at the end, and anything that will lose its aroma with cooking off the heat.

The ones worth having

A workable core rather than an exhaustive collection.

Cumin seeds — the most useful single spice in a plant-based kitchen.

Coriander seeds.

Smoked paprika — adds smoke and depth, which is exactly what plant food frequently lacks.

Chilli flakes, and ideally one or two whole dried chillies of different kinds.

Turmeric.

Black peppercorns, ground fresh.

Mustard seeds.

Fennel seeds.

Cinnamon and cardamom.

Bay leaves.

Dried oregano and thyme, which are among the few herbs genuinely good dried.

Asafoetida, if you cook legumes regularly. A pinch, used in the oil, adds a savoury allium note and is traditionally used to aid digestion of pulses.

Fresh herbs

Which are worth buying fresh: parsley, coriander, mint, basil, dill, chives. These are poor dried.

Which are fine dried: oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, bay.

Storing fresh herbs: stems in water like a bunch of flowers, covered loosely with a bag, in the fridge. They keep considerably longer than in a plastic packet.

Soft herbs can be chopped and frozen in oil in ice cube trays.

Use the stems. Coriander and parsley stems have more flavour than the leaves and are usually thrown away. Chop them finely and add them early with the aromatics.

Use more than you think. Herbs used as a garnish contribute little. Used as an ingredient — a whole bunch, chopped, stirred through — they change the dish.

Making your own blends

Cheaper and better than bought.

Garam masala, curry powder, za'atar, ras el hanout, berbere and taco seasoning are all combinations of things you probably already have, and the bought versions are frequently stale and bulked with salt.

Make small quantities so they stay fresh.

The general point

The single most common reason home-cooked plant food tastes dull is under-seasoning — both salt and spice.

Restaurant food uses considerably more of both than people expect.

Use more, toast it, bloom it in fat, and buy it somewhere with turnover.