Spices can be widely and easily incorporated into many aspects of cuisine but not everything you read about spices is true.
Here are 12 questions about spices you should know the answers to, in order to make your food taste better while helping you eat healthier with very little effort on your part.
Are all spices spicy?
Spice does not correlate to spicy. In fact most popular spices used in cooking are not spicy at all. A spice is a fresh (whole) or dried (ground) seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetable that is used to add flavor and color to food and drinks. Spicy on the other hand refers to a taste which is usually denoted as meaning hot.
Spices are often used by themselves or in conjunction with one another in a mixture. Many spices may also be used as a substitute for one another when one is not easily available to you.
What is the spiciest spice in the world?
Scoville Heat Units (SHU) is the scale used to measure the spiciness of peppers. The higher the SHU number, the spicier the pepper.
The Carolina Reaper pepper which is rated at 2,200,000 SHU is officially rated as the spiciest pepper in the world. This means it’s about 280 times as hot as a jalapeno pepper. By comparison, regular Tabasco sauce is rated between 2,500 SHU – 5,000 SHU. A bell pepper has an SHU of under 100.
Pepper X – a capsicum chili pepper created by the same man who came up with the Carolina Reaper – is purported to have a rating of 3,180,000 SHU but this is currently unofficial.
One of the downsides about the SHU scale is that each person’s palate and ability withstand spiciness may differ. Humans also experience sensory fatigue where we get somewhat used to a flavor or spice and may become somewhat desensitized to it, which explains why some peppers are rated with a wide scale rather than a specific number.
What is allspice?
Despite the name, allspice does not in fact mean all spices nor is it even a combination of them. Allspice is made from the dried brown berries of the Pimenta dioica tree which is typically grown in the West Indies and Central America. The berries are harvested prior to them becoming fully ripe when they begin to lose their flavor and coloring.
Allspice is a central part of Jamaican cooking particularly in jerk seasoning, pickled foods and curries and is also well-known in Middle Eastern and Latin American cooking. Popular dishes that use allspice include Christmas pudding and mulled drinks as well as many savory dishes like stews and desserts such as pumpkin pie.
If you don’t have whole allspice handy, you can make your own substitute by combining equal parts ground nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. The fact that allspice tends to exhibit these combined flavors is where the allspice name is derived.
What is the difference between a herb and a spice?
A herb can be used dry or fresh and is often grown and used in a variety of methods. Dried herbs tend to be more potent and sometimes bitter than fresh herbs which tend to have a more delicate taste. Dried and fresh herbs are often used to add flavor and color to foods and as a garnish. Given the potency, you usually need to use less dry herb than you would fresh.
A spice by definition is dried and is typically sold already ground or whole and ground by the consumer when needed. Spices are also used to flavor food and give color.
Do spices expire?
While you should check the label to be sure, ground spices typically last 1 to 2 years whereas whole unground spices can last up to 3 years when stored properly in a dry, dark place away from heat and direct sunlight.
Pre-ground spices are more convenient than whole spices given that they are ready to use. Whole spices are often sold that way so that you can grind them yourself directly before use to maximize flavor similar to coffee beans. Some spices you may consider buying whole and grinding yourself when needed include black peppercorns, cloves and nutmeg among others.
Do spices need to be carefully stored?
The best way to store spices is in a dark, dry place away from sunlight. Some spices come in jars with lids that should be kept tightly closed. Other spices are sold in plastic pouches that should be tightly closed after opening.
Having said that, spice racks are a common method of storing spices and are often sold in a rotating wheel design which is clearly designed to sit on a countertop in the open. If you have a pantry which is otherwise dark when not in use, consider putting the spice wheel or rack there for storage to keep the spices away from direct light.
Avoid storing spices over top of the oven as heat can negatively affect the spices’ ability to retain its flavor.
Are dry spices healthy?
Spices by definition are dried and are used to add flavor and color to foods and drinks. Spices and herbs are often mentioned interchangeably even though they are different. While herbs can be fresh or dried, spices are dried and come from various part of flowers excluding the leaves.
In many respects, spices are one of nature’s best convenience foods since they are easy to use, offer health and often medical benefits in addition to culinary ones usually at a pretty reasonable price. They are generally easy to find and often substitutable when you can’t find the exact one you need.
Another major convenience of dried spices is their shelf life and ease of storage certainly when compared to fresh herbs that may last days or weeks at best. Spices that are bottled or sold in bags have varying shelf lives of usually up to 3 years depending on how you store them and whether they are already ground or whole.
Do spices add nutritional value?
While not supplements, spices do often have nutritional and in some cases medicinal benefits when used as an additive to food and drinks.
Common spices that can add both taste and nutritional benefit to your diet include cinnamon, cumin, garlic, turmeric, sage and cardamom among others.
Do spices add calories?
Spices and herbs tend to be low in calories. While commercially sold dry seasonings that are manufactured are often high in salt and hidden sodium (more salt), spices are essentially dried flowers, are natural and low in calories and often a good source of nutritional benefits.
Instead of adding salt to your foods, consider adding spice instead. Depending on the dish and your preferences, this could include garlic, curry powder, basil, nutmeg, mint, rosemary and cayenne. You can also put combinations together of several or more spices depending on the food you’re trying to add flavor to.
Does spices increase weight?
Spices are very low in calories so they will not lead to weight gain on their own. They often add flavor and color to foods in ways that higher calorie rich commercial additives can’t, and may additionally offer health benefits. Whereas high salt consumption can lead to water retention, adding spices to foods can be part of a well-balanced and healthy diet without much effort on your part.
Adding spices to food in place of salt and often high calorie manufactured seasonings may provide a healthier and cheaper way to season foods without adding calories.
What are the most under appreciated spices?
Some of the lesser known spices that offer benefits for cooking include the Aleppo pepper which comes from the Syrian town bearing its name and offers a mild to medium level of heat with some sweetness. Grains of paradise can be used in a variety of fish and meat dishes. Sumac is a spice found in Middle Eastern foods like salads and hummus.
Some of the most expensive spices in the world are also under appreciated perhaps because of the price of each: Saffron, vanilla and cardamom are currently the three most expensive spices in the world.
The most versatile spice might be cinnamon given that it can be used in drinks, many foods including savory dishes and desserts as well as in candy and gum.
How can you make rice tastier with spices?
Plain white rice is tasteless on its own but there are many ways to add spices to it to improve its appeal. Curry, cumin, and coriander add both taste and some color to white rice. You can also sprinkle chicken stock or vegetable stock in to add taste and a bit of color too.
Rather than cooking rice, try steaming it. A regular plug-in steamer can be used to gently steam rice in about 30 minutes or less depending on how much you make. Some steamers come with a hard plastic rice steaming container or you can just use a deep cereal bowl. Add one cup of water for every cup of rice and sprinkle in your desired spices, stir for a few seconds and add the bowl to the steamer.