October 24th, 2013 • Portland, Oregon, USA
One of the questions I frequently get asked is “What’s in your own spice rack?”
As you might imagine, there are a lot of spices in my kitchen. My main kitchen spice rack has room for 144 small spice bottles. Together with miscellaneous other small racks, boxes, bags, jars, &c., to supplement this, I generally have around 200 spices in my kitchen, and sometimes another hundred at my desk. The contents change pretty rapidly, based on what we’re working on, or what I’m interested in at any particular moment.
Not everything in the spice rack is technically a “spice” by a modern American definition. There’s a lot of dried “herbs”, and sometimes things that are not really plant products at all, such as African clay, burned reindeer horn, culinary ash, dried seafood or other animal products, &c. I think all of these things are appropriate spice rack contents, and I would say this about most small quantity, dried ingredients which we add to our food, not for nutritional value, but to dress it up; to add flavor and aroma, color and special effects.
Here’s what’s in my main spice rack, as of this writing, in no particular order:
- Akadjura
- Coriander seed
- Annatto seed
- Chinese honey date
- Myrtle berries
- Barberries
- Juniper berries
- Rueberries (graveolens)
- Tenadam (chalepensis)
- Celery seed
- Dill seed
- Anise seed
- Parsley seed
- Cumin seed
- Ajmud (aka Rhaduni)
- Lovage seed
- Alexanders seed
- Monk’s pepper (aka chaste berry, agnus-castus)
- Sansho
- Sichuan pepper
- Green Sichuan pepper
- Korarima
- Imperial cardamom (decorticated)
- Sri Lanka white globe cardamom
- Thao qua
- Aleppo pepper
- Red Savina habanero flakes
- Ceyenne pepper
- Jalapeno powder
- Paprika
- White chilies
- Chipotle meco
- Wattle seed
- Saffron
- Dawadawa
- Cassia buds
- Chile coban
- Chiltepin
- Chipotle mora
- Pimenton (sweet, smoked)
- Sarawak white peppercorns
- Ponape pepper, extra black
- Pink “peppercorns”
- Green peppercorns
- Pimienta dulce (aka allspice)
- Ashanti pepper
- Grains of paradise
- Long pepper (Bali type, aka Jaborandi)
- Long pepper (Tamil bitter)
- Long pepper (Timmiz)
- Long pepper (Indian type)
- Cubeb
- Elecampagne
- Chinese lemon wheel
- Naranja rebanada
- Anardana
- Omani
- Sumac
- Ghureh
- Kokum
- Mustard seed (Indian black)
- Mustard seed (brown)
- Mustard seed (Abyssinian)
- Mustard seed (White)
- Perilla seed (aka Korean wild sesame)
- Nigela seed (aka Kilonji or Charnushka)
- Sesame seed, black
- Blue poppy seed
- Fenugreek
- White poppy seed
- Flax seed
- Flax seed, white
- Sesame seed, brown
- Sesame seed, white
- Tumeric
- Lovage leaf
- Mexican Oregano #1 (Poliomintha longiflora)
- Mexican Oregano #2 (Lippia graveolens)
- Southernwood (grey camphor)
- Southernwood (green citrus)
- Rue leaf (graveolens)
- Boldo leaf
- Sage (Cleveland)
- Spearmint
- Douglass fir tips
- Lemon Myrtle
- French thyme
- Bay laurel
- Sage (rolled Greek)
- Dorigo pepper leaf
- Culinary Lavender
- Cuer d’roses
- Marjoram
- Savory (summer)
- Stevia
- Costmary
- Lemon verbena
- Catmint
- Oregano (feuilles d’oregano)
Hyssop - Cinnamon (True, aka Ceylon)
- Badian (star anise)
- Vanilla (bourbon)
- Mace
- Clove
- Galangal
- Sassafras root bark
- Licorice root (Chinese)
- Lemon peel
- Ginger
- Zedoary
- Culinary Moxa
- Krachai
- Ginseng
- Cumaru (aka tonka or tonquin bean)
- Galangal seed
- Nutmeg
- Amla
- Goraka
- Tamarind
- Amchoor
- Ajwan
- Golpar
- Black cumin
- Caraway
- Angelica seed
- Myrrh
- Gum Arabic
- Mastic
Asafoetida (aka Hing) - Hartshorn
- Tasmanian pepper (aka bush pepper)
- Kili pepper (African grains of Selim)
- Calabash nutmeg
- Oshosho (aka aridan, prekese or galbanon )
- Rocket seed
- Cress seed (Ethiopian)
- Mondia
- Bhut jolokia
- Wasabi
- Koseret (Ethiopian Lippia leaf)
- Arrowroot
- Bengal cardamom
- Batavia Cinnamon