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Forum
-> Household Management
-> Kosher Kitchen
walmart
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 Fri, Aug 18 2023, 9:19 am
What spices do you use the most in your cooking and what is your background?
I'll start.
Garlic powder, paprika, salt, sugar, black pepper - Hungarian
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scruffy
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 9:21 am
Garlic powder, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, fresh garlic, ginger, cilantro, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper
Polish/ Russian (don't think my seasonings are related)
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mha3484
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 9:25 am
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked and regular paprika are basic staples but I have a HUGE spice cabinet/pantry to make all different cuisines. I make a lot of Aisan, Italian, Mexican.
Grew up with non religious foodie parents so not really sure what my culture has anything to do with it.
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amother
Begonia
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 9:34 am
Russian background
Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, chili powder, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, soy sauce, ginger
No reason to be limited by your background.
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amother
Hosta
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 10:22 am
I use all kinds of stuff. My mom had about six spices: onion, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and broth granules. Plus sugar, lemon juice and mustard if you want to count those. For baking, cinnamon and vanilla extract. But that was 60 years ago, the selection of seasonings with a hechsher was limited, and international cooking hadn't reached these shores. I haven't counted lately, but I have well over thirty, and of course some I use only for certain recipes. They run the gamut of ethnicities. No reason for me to limit myself just because I'm Ashkenazi.
I do wish it were possible to buy a tiny sample of a spice, say a tablespoon or two, to try out for a new recipe. It's annoying and wasteful to buy a whole jar of something just for one recipe only to discover that I dislike either the seasoning itself or the whole dish, and never use it again. So now I don't, just omit the seasoning if I don't have it. If the dish is good as is, great! If not, I won't make it again. I've had it with accumulating seasonings that I don't like, won't use and will end up dumping in a flowerpot when they're years old and turned to dust. Maybe the plant will like them, and if not, hey, they'll enrich the soil.
My dc are smart. If they contemplate making a dish with a seasoning they don't have, they'll ask me if I have it. If yes, they'll take some home with them the next time they visit.
ETA: I also look up substitutes for seasonings. For example, if I don't have thyme then basil, oregano or rosemary will do, though not in the same quantities. If I don't have time, well, there's no substitute for that!
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watergirl
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 10:31 am
Funny story - I (100% ashkenaz and 3/4/5th gen American) was once at the kosher grocery store looking for garlic powder and onion powder and was shocked that it was gone.
A sefardic women asks me what I'm looking for and I tell her, and I ask her what she's looking for. She says cumin and some other interesting spice. I asked her what she's making with those, because I almost never use them. She said the same thing to me! She's never used garlic powder 
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tweety1
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 10:34 am
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I use onion/garlic powder, paprika, basil, parsley, cumin, oregano, black pepper, sauteed onions, fresh garlic
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mazal555
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 10:41 am
Cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, ginger, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, cloves, paprika, allspice, coriander, black pepper, turmeric, caraway, and galangal. I use a lot of garlic but rarely garlic powder. I also use Italian herbs pretty often.
Family is mixed Moroccan, Egyptian-Syrian, Turkish and Libyan
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amother
PlumPink
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 10:49 am
| walmart wrote: | What spices do you use the most in your cooking and what is your background?
I'll start.
Garlic powder, paprika, salt, sugar, black pepper - Hungarian |
lol. thats how I grew up but not much salt and pepper and yes ginger and cinnamon. my dh makes fun that I grew up without spices. hes a bt and his mother likes international cuisine so much more diverse.
my mother is 2nd generation american. my father was from belgium.
now I use the above but other spices as well especially herbs, lawrys seasoned salt, mustard, shwarma spice, curry powder chili powder...
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amother
Oatmeal
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Fri, Aug 18 2023, 11:13 am
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Anything and everything! But my favorites are cumin, coriander, mint flakes. I'm Sephardi.
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amother
Fern
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 5:41 am
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I grew up with OP's spices and a Hungarian mother. I have those spices in my cupboard but also about 20 other ones. But I'll admit, the paprika gets used up much faster than the cardamom.
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PinkFridge
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 5:54 am
Salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder.
American Litvish, that's what I grew up with.
Now I use so much more. Liebers soup mix powders; I'll count that as a spice. But oregano, Trader Joe's umami, mustard (powder and seed), cumin, chili powder... these are just some I used this past erev Shabbos.
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Bnei Berak 10
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 7:01 am
| watergirl wrote: | Funny story - I (100% ashkenaz and 3/4/5th gen American) was once at the kosher grocery store looking for garlic powder and onion powder and was shocked that it was gone.
A sefardic women asks me what I'm looking for and I tell her, and I ask her what she's looking for. She says cumin and some other interesting spice. I asked her what she's making with those, because I almost never use them. She said the same thing to me! She's never used garlic powder | No woman who lives in Israel and is eidot hamizrach and a bashlanit worth her salt would *ever* use garlic powder. She used the real thing. Fresh garlic.
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Bnei Berak 10
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 7:03 am
| amother Hosta wrote: | I use all kinds of stuff. My mom had about six spices: onion, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and broth granules. Plus sugar, lemon juice and mustard if you want to count those. For baking, cinnamon and vanilla extract. But that was 60 years ago, the selection of seasonings with a hechsher was limited, and international cooking hadn't reached these shores. I haven't counted lately, but I have well over thirty, and of course some I use only for certain recipes. They run the gamut of ethnicities. No reason for me to limit myself just because I'm Ashkenazi.
I do wish it were possible to buy a tiny sample of a spice, say a tablespoon or two, to try out for a new recipe. It's annoying and wasteful to buy a whole jar of something just for one recipe only to discover that I dislike either the seasoning itself or the whole dish, and never use it again. So now I don't, just omit the seasoning if I don't have it. If the dish is good as is, great! If not, I won't make it again. I've had it with accumulating seasonings that I don't like, won't use and will end up dumping in a flowerpot when they're years old and turned to dust. Maybe the plant will like them, and if not, hey, they'll enrich the soil.
My dc are smart. If they contemplate making a dish with a seasoning they don't have, they'll ask me if I have it. If yes, they'll take some home with them the next time they visit.
ETA: I also look up substitutes for seasonings. For example, if I don't have thyme then basil, oregano or rosemary will do, though not in the same quantities. If I don't have time, well, there's no substitute for that! | There are not spice shops where where you live?
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amother
Ghostwhite
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 7:07 am
I'm of Polish and Hungarian background. My grandmothers were excellent cooks, but their spice collection was quite minimal.
My first generation post war mom was and until today a little more adventurous. She had spices like tumeric and cumin in the pantry but used them rarely.
As a a teenager, I liked to experiment in the kitchen and admittedly didn't always know what I was doing resulting in quite a few weird flavor combinations.
Today, I live in the culinary melting pot that is Israel and my spice cupboard is overflowing with every spice imaginable. I dabble in many different cuisines - think Chinese, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Moroccan, Arab, Lebanese, Kurdish and my family loves the variety.
Every so often, though, I need a break from all that variety and I will make what my family has dubbed the good old fashioned Shabbat Ashkenazit- chicken soup, roast chicken, potato kugel and cucumber salad which to prepare you need no more than salt, pepper, parika and garlic and a bit of sugar. Yummy 😋.
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amother
Alyssum
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 7:12 am
Too many to list:
The classic paprika and pepper and garlic
Salts- pink salt, seas flakes, sea and table
Turmeric, cumin, hawaj, Schwarma, chili flakes, cayenne pepper, hot paprika, sumac
Lots of TJs mixes, steak seasonings
Mint, basil, parsley and cilantro which I use only fresh from my herb windowsill garden
Background is a real mix Moroccan, Syrian, Hungarian, Tunisian, Israeli plus American and recent foodie Instagram culture influenced.
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Bnei Berak 10
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 7:32 am
Fresh or dried cilantro won't enter my home (except for a pinch of dried thing for Moroocoan styled fish)
I just can't.
At one occasion in cooking school we needed to chop a large amount of fresh cilantro. I got nauseous because of the smell, it was so intense I got a headache. And I never get headaches from smells or even suffer from headaches.
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Amelia Bedelia
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 7:39 am
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Kosher stores in my neighborhood don't even carry cardamom, marjoram, and coriander.
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amother
Arcticblue
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 7:59 am
Salt, black pepper, fresh garlic, sautéed onions, sumac, zaatar, honey, soy sauce, miso paste, cumin and Italian spices. Depending on what I’m creating.
No paprika or Chilli spices one of my kids are allergic.
Polish and Hungarian ancestry.
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amother
Puce
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Sun, Aug 20 2023, 8:06 am
interesting thread ! Thanks op!
It very much is relevant and interesting to see the backgrounds of ppl and which spices they use.
No one said it's limiting yourself, but it definitely matters to know your background!
I'm also from an Hungarian background, my spice cabinet probably looks similar to most comong from similar background, and my pallet doesn't go for spicy, chilly, hot or Mexican food. neither does my husband's who is also Hungarian
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