What are the best and most common spices that all cooks and chefs use? Well, put on your chef coat or cooks uniform shirt and march into the kitchen to take a look at the most widely used spices.
To make any dish you will need salt. It’s the most integral ingredient in a dish. It brings out depth of flavors and does magic when used correctly. Although it might be a trial and error or learning curve to learn which salt to use and how to use it, this important ingredient cannot be left out of nearly any dish.
Black pepper is next up in “the must use spices” around the world. It is the most worldwide spice trade and incorporated into almost every style of food worldwide. Pepper has a sharpness to it which adds a lot of flavor to a dish. This is different from salt that enhances food. Keep in mind that once you ground peppercorns to ground black pepper they do loose their freshness and sharpness. Therefore, almost every professional chef will ground the peppercorns while preparing their food as appose to using commercial already grounded black pepper. And lastly, black pepper has many health benefits which is another reason to its popularity.
Cumin may surprise you. But studies show that it is really popular around the world. It has a nutty, earthy and warm flavor with a bit of a tang. It is used as part of many spice blends such as, chili, allspice, and bahaarat. Cumin brings depth to your dishes with its distinctive flavor so be careful not to use to much that it will overpower the dish. The best part is that this spice has shown in a few studies to help with weight loss and support your immune system.
You won’t find a kitchen without garlic. Although most homes have garlic powder, professional chefs will only use fresh garlic. Just like ground black pepper, garlic powder loses its sharpness and strength as it sits in the cabinet, so remember that while cooking. You cannot compare fresh garlic to the alternative ground, but it’s a great alternative when you are a busy at home cook and need to get a meal done fast. Garlic in its raw form is very strong and pungent and will be sure to leave its mark both on the food, your breath, and cook apron; but don’t get scared of it, just use it with caution.
There are plenty of other commonly used spices but in majority of kitchens you won’t find any of the above spices missing. Enjoy experimenting!
