Favorite and unfavorite spices

[sonia]

I love the condiments topic and I've been meaning to start this conversation all month. Here it is almost the end of January, so you get two posts at once.

What are your favorite and least favorite spices? Do you know why you dis/like them?

Comments

[sonia]

One of my favorites is cinnamon, not the hot kind, but a sweeter kind that I believe is Vietnamese cinnamon, although the different varieties all seem to get labeled "cinnamon." I'll even put it on savory dishes for a Moroccan feel.

A spice I keep trying to use even though I don't really like it is cumin. It seems like I should like it! Now that I'm writing this, I wonder if there are different varieties of that too and I should try a different brand.

[mific]

Chilli is probably my fave, and aniseed my least favourite. But in spices, aniseed flavours aren't so bad, I just hate it in sweets. A little star anise is fine in a Chinese stir fry.

[nerakrose]

my least favourite is caraway seed. it's relatively common in the nordic countries as a spice added to cheese and to baked goods (breads and rolls). I have never had it in cheese as I avoid cheese with it in, but in breads and rolls I hate the weird aftertaste it leaves in my mouth of something stale or attic-like. the actual flavour of it is kind of avoidable while eating, it's after you've finished that it hits you (imo). there's a brand of gluten free (frozen) bread I now can't remember the name of that's available in Denmark (it may be a Swedish brand?) they do an oat loaf (best) and two or three other varieties, and one of those is a seeded loaf that has caraway seeds in it. I absolutely HATE it and to my pain it was the ONLY variety of that gf bread available where my mum lived so that was always the only gf bread she had on hand (in the freezer) for me and I just had to suffer through it, lol.

anyway!! my favourite spice! I don't know!!! there are so many Good Spices!!! what I always make sure to keep on hand in my cupboard is ground coriander, ground cumin, paprika (regular), ground chili, and ground ginger. various combinations of these go into most of what I cook, as most of the time when I cook (and don't just make a sandwich or a cheese toast for dinner) it's some kind of asian curry or similar dish.

for sweet baking I suppose my favourite spice is cardamom. it's so difficult to find ground cardamom here in the UK (the spices shelves will usually have cardamom pods, but not ground cardamom) that I wound up having to buy a huge sachet of it off Amazon. ground cardamom goes into cardamom twists (think cinnamon rolls, but without the cinnamon), sweet rolls crusted with sugar, pie crusts (to be filled with a kvarg mixture and berries), and so on. again commonly used in the nordic countries this way...

[panisdead]

My hands-down favorite is thyme, and I have no idea why! I also really like ground coriander in savory dishes.

No to anise/Chinese five spice/and all anise variations.

I like the taste of cumin and cook with it often, but when grinding it and during the cooking process I do think it smells reminiscent of body odor, which could be…off putting.

[hilarita]

Paprika, hands down is my favourite spice. Otherwise I have some that I'm not necessarily that fond of, but there's a group that's large enough and similar enough that I can't pick out a least favourite.

What a fun prompt!

[jesse_the_k]

My absolute number one is ginger: I use it in savory and sweet contexts. I double whatever the recipe calls for. (I'm sorry that my body rebels at its cousin, turmeric. I need a low-key way to try another cousin, galangal.)

Thanks to a suggestion here, I'm falling in love with ground allspice--it's good in gingerbread bars and ketchup and pulled pork.

Smoked paprika adds a subtle dreamy quality to any savory dish.

Dried herbs can be a big disappointment: fresh rosemary is great, and all the loveliness escapes with the moisture. Dried parley is meaningless. Dried dill at least tastes of something, but it's nowhere near as vibrant as the fresh version. I'm so glad for the hydroponic herb growers that supply fresh herbs year round.

Black pepper does nothing for me.