Embark on a culinary journey and experiment with the best and essential spices used in cooking, especially Indian recipes.Every dish has its own flavour. Whatever you might be cooking, it requires at least one spice to give the burst of flavour. Isn’t it? Just a pinch of spice is enough to serve a tasteful treat to your dish. So, how about learning more on different common essential spices that we all use in cooking? Are you ready to take a trip around the world and try spices from various cultures? Then why wait? Check out the blog to know more about them.If you have the hands for sprinkling deliciousness over the recipes and adding a twist of your own, then turn it into a career option and join a Culinary Arts Course at Hamstech.

What Are Spices?

Spices are aromatic flavourings of seeds, fruits, bark and other plant parts, used in cooking and preserving food and also as medicines, dyes and perfumes. They have been highly valued as trade goods for years. The word spice is derived from the Latin species, which means merchandise or wares.

In general, spices are sold in dried form. That doesn’t mean they last forever. The strong flavours of them will kiss goodbye over time, especially when exposed to light and air.

How to Store Them?

Store spices in opaque glass jars. You can also store them in tins in a dark cupboard. If you want to store the spices which you don’t use frequently can be stored in airtight containers in the freezer.

Ground spices we use in cooking tend to oxidise more quickly and will lose their flavour within a few months but whereas the whole spices can last up to a year.

1. Cardamom

Cardamom is the dried form of Elettaria cardamomum and is a member of the ginger family. There are two main categories of cardamom: Mysore, which is larger and green in colour with woody notes and Malabar, which is smaller, with floral notes.

There are two different varieties Large cardamom, aka black cardamom, which comes from the Amomum subulatum plant, which grows in the eastern Himalayas. It consists of a long reddish pod with strong flavours.

2. Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice that is extracted from the inner bark i.e. phloem layer of the tropical Cinnamomum tree. They are sold as rolled sticks which can also be ground into a fine powder. Cinnamon contains several aromatic compounds within it. There are several different species of Cinnamomum that are sold for culinary use.

3. Cloves

Cloves are the spices that are immature dried flower buds of the Syzygium aromaticum tree.  Mainly used in Chinese cuisine for thousands of years and in Europe but native to Indonesia. Their distinct flavour comes from antimicrobial eugenol, which is the special compound that has made cloves a popular medicine. Cloves that have 14 to 20 percent essential oil content means the highest concentration of aroma compounds of any spice.

4. Ginger

Ginger comes from the rhizome which is the underground stem of Zingiber officinale. It is a tropical flowering plant from the same family of cardamom and turmeric. An aromatic compound of fresh ginger comes from gingerol that partly transforms into the sweeter zingerone when heated or dried.

5. Cumin

Cumin is extracted from the small, ridged dried fruits of Cuminum cyminum, which is native to Southwest Asia. They look similar to caraway seeds and not only seem alike but also taste somewhat alike. Cumin’s main flavour compound is cumaldehyde, which is also found in eucalyptus.

6. Mustard Seeds

We can find three main types of culinary mustard seed. Mediterranean yellow/white mustard was the first and only pungent spice available to early Europeans, which is now popular in the US. Himalayan brown mustard has become dominant in Europe due to its medium pungency and ease of harvesting. Whereas the black mustard is the most pungent variety.

7. Coriander

Coriander seeds come from the small fruits of the cilantro herb flowers. They can either be harvested when green or can be left to brown and dry out on the plant itself. Fresh green coriander has a bright flavour which is really good for salads.

8. Saffron

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, which is the golden stigma from the autumn crocus flower. The flower stigmas must be hand-harvested in a process that takes about 200 hours for dried saffron. Saffron adds its bitter, penetrating, hay-like aroma and golden colour when given a mix in cooking.

9. Turmeric

Turmeric comes from the rhizome that is naturally the underground stem of Curcuma longa. It is a ginger relative spice first domesticated in prehistoric India. It has a bright orange-yellow colour. 

10. Pepper

Pepper is basically three types – lack, green and white pepper. All three come from the fruits of the black pepper vine.  The black pepper has the strongest flavour whereas green pepper is milder than black and is used in Asian cuisine. And white pepper is just black pepper with its outer husks removed. It is mostly used in white sauces.

If you are more interested in cooking and want to learn more about cooking spices and culinary arts, then why wait? Just enrol in a Culinary Arts Course to learn about different cuisines in the world with the experts at Hamstech.

Also Read: WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF COOKING IN CULINARY ARTS?

Yes, Hamstech with its experience of over 29+ years has molded so many brilliant students into wonderful chefs. For better input to the students, it has expert faculty with decades of experience in the field. With those professionals, you can enhance your skills to the next level. It also offers webinars and workshops for your practical knowledge. With Hamstech Culinary Arts Course, you can complete the course in just 3-months and you are tuned into a

• Professional Chef
• Restaurant Owner
• Retail Owner of Packaged Food and more.

So, join us in the Hamstech Culinary Arts Course and kickstart your dream career with the best.