Everyday use: spices that mark them
The spices of the working kitchen, reached for every day.
Daily cooking is the main home of spice, with a few trusted spices used every day in every kitchen, such as turmeric, cumin and chilli in India, pepper in Europe, and cinnamon and allspice in the Caribbean.
The everyday spice rack
Most households use between five and fifteen spices regularly. A typical Indian kitchen has a masala dabba, a tin holding mustard seed, cumin, turmeric, coriander, chilli and one or two others. A European kitchen has pepper, paprika, bay, thyme and cinnamon.
How skill is passed on
Families learn the proportions by watching, and the same spices can taste different in each house. Many cooks toast and grind small batches weekly.
Keeping it simple
Few spices are needed to start. Learn a handful well, buy whole where possible, and keep jars fresh.
Everyday use on EveryMasala
The spices written up so far, best known first.
🇨🇳 ChinaMala麻辣
A fiery, tongue-numbing Chinese seasoning of Sichuan pepper and chilliesPaste · Hot and fiery · Numbing and tingling
🇺🇸 United StatesCreole mustard
A grainy paste of brown mustard seeds, vinegar, and horseradish from Louisiana.Paste · Sharp and pungent · Sour and tart
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Creole mustard: Mwaters1120, Public domain, source
- Mala: Theorb, Public domain, source