I would suggest you google "Essentials spices/seasonings for your kitchen" see what comes up and look at those sites. Then there are some cookbooks that have JUST that information in their books I would hop out to Borders or Barnes and Noble cop a squat read the books and take notes on what the professional Chefs say you need in your pantry for essential herbs. I recently purchased some books on Amazon on herbs, seasonings and spices it has come in handy. If you find the books on Amazon and don’t wish to pay full price go on Ebay and look for the books. It will give you more in depth information on the spices and how best to use them. Happy Cooking!

Psboston7
Director of Catering and Sales

1, I suggest you look up the recipes you like to cook or the food you like to eat and see which seasonings prevail. Buy exactly what you need for the recipe you are making and eventually you will have everything you want.

2. Don’t go for spice blends – pick the spices you like and use those. For example fairly bad cooks insist on something like Montreal steak spice when really you should select exactly what you do and don’t want on your steak. Similarily 5 peppercorn blend is kind of a rip off half of what is there is useless and myself I don’t like the red berries they call pepper. I buy the green peppercorns by themself.

3. Split up your cupboard into spices and extracts (vanilla, orange, mint etc) for sweets and baking and savoury for cooking main dishes. If you are not a baker you will not need many. Some will overlap such as mint, nutmeg (love it in meat sauces and cream soups) and clove and cinnamon (ditto).

4. Keep it simple – I learned a valuable lesson from an Italian lady who I showed a recipe for spaghetti sauce that was way too long – she told me oil, garlic, tomatoes, oregano or thyme, black pepper. That is it. When you have too many different spices you are nullifying some and riding over others.

5. Spirits – I keep a medium dry sherry for tetrazini and trifle, cognac for steak au poivre, dark rum for some desserts and sauces. If a recipe calls for wine don’t scrimp on it and a very good suggestion is to use the same wine you are going to drink with the meal and certainly never cook with a wine you would not drink. So at a minimum – sherry, cognac, dark rum, a dry white wine and a dry red.

6. Vinegars – this is dependant on what you are cooking but white, cider, red wine, rice (for oriental cooking) and balsamic are called for pretty often. My favourite is taragon vinegar which I make myself using tarragon and malt vinegar.
Bon appetit!!