Open the menu at a fashionable restaurant and you will probably find a sprinkle of sumac or a touch of turmeric. While the adventurous 1970s cook would have doused a piece of cod in a parsley sauce, today’s might opt for a za’atar rub.
But although our palates have upped their game, our kitchen cupboards haven’t always followed suit. It’s not unusual, with a little rummaging, to find herbs and spices that are so old they wouldn’t look out of place as museum pieces. So could it be time for a cupboard clear out? How important is it to refresh the spice drawer and, with a huge array of products now readily available, what are the key ingredients to you’ll need?
Chef Robin Gill of award-winning London restaurant The Dairy, as well as the author of Larder, advocates an occasional spring clean. “Both in my professional kitchens and at home I get frustrated with clutter. I like to tidy so I know what’s in there so I can access it,” he says.
A stocktake is a chance to say goodbye to anything truly past its best, get the ingredients organised, prevent duplication when you shop and kickstart some culinary experimentation. “As a chef I can get bored with flavours. You often find you have this abundance of forgotten possibilities in your cupboards,” says Gill.
Having the right long-lasting ingredients is the key to quick and varied meals and, he adds, it makes shopping far quicker. You just pick up some meat, fish or fresh veg and the rest is already waiting. “We have a huge larder which is the backbone of our cooking,” explains Gill. The average domestic kitchen might not allow for the same range, but the concept is easily transferred.
Gill recommends starting with a favourite key ingredient – a piece of chicken, a cauliflower for instance – and then experimenting with the herbs and spices you have. Herbs should be added early on in the cooking, but used sparingly at first – “to avoid overpowering” – while toasting spices first enhances their intensity.
“Once you start playing around you start to understand food and your own palate and become more instinctive,” he says. Having a notebook – to record combinations and quantities – is a handy way of ensuring you can recreate any particular successes.
Store cupboard essentials will of course vary according to taste, but Gill’s list of key dried herbs includes mint, oregano, thyme and basil (the latter going undetected by his “basilphobic” young son). His go-to spice list features cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, turmeric – one of the most recently hailed super-foods) – garam masala mix and dried, crushed chillies.
Alongside these a home larder should boast a selection of oils and vinegars, which can, in turn, be infused with herbs and spices for additional flavour. Although their convenience and longevity are definite pluses, dried herbs should not be seen as the poor relations of their fresh counterparts. In many cases they offer a better or equally good result.
Dried oregano is known to be best for pizza and pasta sauces (and Gill recommends it in slow braised Italian ragus), but there are many other examples. He cites a smoky baba ganoush, on his restaurant menu, where a “more interesting flavour” results from dried mint. Dried thyme, softened in some vinegar and mixed with olive oil and black pepper is a lovely dressing for fresh tomatoes. While crushed chilli, thrown in with some garlic at the start of a tomato sauce, gives subtle heat.
So, once your must-have list is ready, how should you store your herbs and spices to keep them at their best?
The key, says Ian Craddock, senior research chef at Schwartz, is to keep herbs and spices in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight – which can cause spices to lose their vibrant colours.
Don’t store them close to the stove, however convenient. “The steam coming off the cooking is detrimental to the flavour,” says Craddock. “And add them to dishes with a spoon rather than sprinkling from the jar into the pan.”
Use up any herbs and spices that are nearing the end of their shelf life with some batch cooking – a big pot of chilli – he suggests. Grouping products by cuisine is a handy way to encourage variety. Paprika and coriander leaf will help transform chicken into a Mexican style stew for instance; cumin and coriander could give it Indian flavours; while oregano and thyme impart a Mediterranean taste.
Who knows where the cupboard clear out could lead. As a young would-be chef, Gill loved to investigate his mum’s spice rack. “There was always an amazing abundance of dried herbs that could jazz anything up. Experimenting is great.”
Whatever you’re planning on cooking be sure to choose the best quality herbs and spices. Schwartz carefully selects the best place to grow and its farmers know how to harvest herbs and spices to capture the best colour, flavour and aroma of each. For example, Schwartz’s ground cinnamon has been matured for up to 20 years and its crushed chilli flakes have the perfect balance of red flakes and yellow seeds for a deliciously spicy kick. For more information on how Schwartz finds the best herbs and spices for your food, please visit: schwartz.co.uk/products/herbs-and-spices
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