I have about come to the decision that
I am no longer going to cook in the homes of friends and relatives.
I'm getting older and I'm afraid my heart will no longer take the
shocks I so often find in their kitchens. The latest jolt? Spice
storage.
Erma Bombeck said, “Once you get a
spice in your home, you have it forever. The Egyptians were buried
with their spices. I know which one I'm taking with me when I go.”
A recent peek in a friend's spice
cabinet revealed several familiar little rectangular tins of
McCormick spices. What's so shocking about that, you ask? Mostly the
fact that, with the exception of ground black pepper, McCormick
hasn't put spices in little rectangular tins in more than fifteen
years! Add to that the location
of said antique spices......a convenient cabinet directly
over the stove......well,
I hope you can see why my cardiologist worries.
Spices never
actually “go bad.” They don't rot, they don't spoil, they don't
ferment. Like proverbial old soldiers, they just fade away. And when
your spice has faded, it has the same flavoring potential in your
cooking as a teaspoon of sawdust. Even the Bible says, “If the salt
should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It is no longer good
for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on.” (Matt 5:13 –
HCSB) You know, for a tax collector, that Matthew was a pretty savvy
cook.
The dictionary
definition of a spice is: “an aromatic or pungent vegetable
substance used to flavor food.” And when your spices have spent
more than fifteen years in your cabinet, I can guarantee you they are
no longer aromatic nor are they pungent.
I know
people who go to Sam's or Costco and buy enormous containers of
spices because they are such a bargain. And that's quite true if you
have a) a commercial kitchen or b) a very large
family. But if you're an average home cook preparing meals for two or
three or four people, what on earth are you really going to do with
five pounds of Durkee Spanish Paprika? Technically, it will “keep”
indefinitely, but by the time it progresses from a rich, vibrant red
to a dull grayish brown, it's – how did Matthew say it – “no
longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on.”
Seriously, $22.62 is not a bargain for the few ounces you'll probably
use before the rest of it goes stale.
You truly are
better off buying the smallest possible quantities of most spices.
Buy a little more of things you use a lot. I cook Italian, so I go
through a good bit of oregano and basil and such. But Creole
seasoning and curry powder are going to last me a long, long time.
And I
can't say this enough; the place where
you store your spices is just as important as the length of time you
store them. More so, actually, because improper storage can shorten
shelf life dramatically. Heat, light, and moisture are the deadly
enemies of spices. So, will it be convenience or quality? You decide.
If you have one of those nifty countertop spice racks full of nice
clear jars that spend at least eighteen hours a day exposed to
natural and artificial light, be prepared to replace their contents a
lot more often. Same thing applies if you just have to
have your spices in the cabinet right over or right next to your
stove. All that heat and steam will reduce your spices to flavorless
dust in short order.
If they still have
some of their characteristics, you can get by with doubling up the
amount you use in a recipe to achieve the same effect. But then you
run into the visual unpleasantness of having teaspoons full of spices
in your dishes instead of pinches or dashes, or worse, tablespoons
instead of teaspoons. At some point, you've just got to break down
and buy new stuff.
So when do you toss
those old spices? Simple. When they don't do what spices are supposed
to do anymore. I nearly came to blows once with a friend who insisted
there was nothing “wrong” with her spices that had been gathering
dust since Reagan was in office. Her oregano looked like it had been
scooped from the floor of a sawmill – and it tasted like it, too. I
produced a fresh bottle and asked her to compare colors. Mine was a
nice dark green. Hers was light brown. Then came a sniff test. Mine
smelled like oregano. Hers smelled like.....well, it didn't really
smell like anything. And it had absolutely no flavor. I asked, “How
long have you had this?” She replied, “I don't know. But there's
nothing wrong with it.” Rule number one: if you can't remember how
long you've had a spice, you've probably had it too long.
Remember, spices
are, by their very nature, supposed to be brightly colored, richly
aromatic, and bitingly flavorful. In short, spicy! And if they are
not any of the above, what possible good are they?
How long will a
spice “keep?” Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast rule. It
varies from spice to spice. Some people advocate completely turning
over your spice cabinet every six months. These are people with a)
stock options in a spice company or b) more money than good sense.
Six months is a little extreme. I can see evaluating your spice
supply on a yearly basis, maybe right before the big holiday cooking
rush. But not every six months.
The
folks at McCormick & Company are one of the world's largest
purveyors of spices, having been dealing with them since 1889. They
have some storage and usage recommendations at their website,
www.mccormick.com.
They say that whole spices – cloves, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, etc.
– are generally good for three or four years. With ground spices,
give it two to three years. You'll get one or two years out of
seasoning blends and one to three years from dried herbs. Count on
four years for extracts, except for pure vanilla, which lasts
indefinitely. All of this assumes, of course, proper storage and
handling.
And, going back to
rule number one, if you just can't remember how long you've had a
particular McCormick spice, they have a “Fresh Tester” whereby
you can enter the code found on the bottle and find out just how poor
your memory really is. For some things, you don't need a code. Like
the rectangular tins. Likewise, any bottles that say “Baltimore”
on them are at least fifteen years old. And anything that carries the
“Schilling” brand is at least seven years old. You may be able to
sell these to collectors on E-Bay, but you probably should forgo
using them in your cooking or baking.
Hey,
they don't come any cheaper than me. I save outrageous things on the
chance that I'll use them for something someday. And I know how much
it hurts to pay good money – lots of
good money – for spices and then face the prospect of tossing them
while the bottles are still half full or more. But if you're really
serious about the quality of your cooking, you've just got to bite
the bullet and do it. Go on. Hit the kitchen. Look, sniff, taste, and
toss. Then replace, using reasonable quantities. No more five pound
containers, okay? It's not a bargain if you're just going to wind up
throwing most of it away. And if you don't buy McCormick products
with “use by” dates or handy little online age calculators, label
your spices yourself. Write the purchase date on a little sticky
label, or right on the bottle if you prefer. I know somebody who uses
colored dots and color codes them. Whatever works for you.
Do it
for yourself. Do it for your family. Do it for the sake of some old
curmudgeon who might visit and stick his nose in your spice cabinet.
Just do it! As Frank Herbert said in Dune: “He
who controls the spice controls the universe.”
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The View from My Kitchen
Benvenuti! I hope you enjoy il panorama dalla mia cucina Italiana -- "the view from my Italian kitchen,"-- where I indulge my passion for Italian food and cooking. From here, I share some thoughts and ideas on food, as well as recipes and restaurant reviews, notes on travel, a few garnishes from a lifetime in the entertainment industry, and an occasional rant on life in general..
You can help by becoming a follower. I'd really like to know who you are and what your thoughts are on what I'm doing. Every great leader needs followers and if I am ever to achieve my goal of becoming the next great leader of the Italian culinary world :-) I need followers!
Grazie mille!
You can help by becoming a follower. I'd really like to know who you are and what your thoughts are on what I'm doing. Every great leader needs followers and if I am ever to achieve my goal of becoming the next great leader of the Italian culinary world :-) I need followers!
Grazie mille!
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