I started cooking at an early age and one of my first cookbooks was the Bantam paperback edition of Craig Claiborne's An Herb and Spice Cookbook (which sold for only 95 cents in 1965). Claiborne was the food editor of the New York Times and is credited, along with Julia Child, with making ethnic cuisines accessible to an American audience.
The chapter headings in his book were alphabetically arranged by 54 herbs and spices, starting with allspice and ending with woodruff. I set a goal to cook with each one, a project that took many years. Back in the 1970s, it was a challenge to source many of these ingredients. I had to grow woodruff from seed to make Claiborne's May wine bowl, a cloyingly sweet punch.
Even though I've been cooking for nearly six decades, I'm still learning, evolving and trying to improve. I'm currently reading Arielle Johnson's fascinating new book, Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor. Johnson is a flavor scientist who co-founded the research lab at Copenhagen's famed restaurant, Noma. She describes the physiological processes involved with the perception of flavor. "Tastes are single sensations," Johnson writes, "and only a few types of molecules can cause each one," whereas aromas are "multidimensional sensations" created by thousands of volatile molecules.
Flavor is part taste, mostly smell. It's the combined sensation from our mouths' taste buds and our noses' aroma receptors. The nose can detect many thousands of aromas, unlike the five tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory/umami) that the taste buds can discern. The brain weaves these five taste sensations with aromas to shape the different flavors we experience.
Herbs and spices are ingredients used to add flavor to foods and beverages. These seasonings add depth and complexity. Herbs are from leaves of plants and are used both fresh and dried. Spices come from oil-rich seeds, roots, bark and flowering buds of tropical or subtropical plants and are mostly used in a dried form. Herbs and spices release oils that contribute to the overall aroma of a dish. The aroma chemicals of herbs and spices are volatile, meaning that they release fragrant oils which waft through the air and follow our breaths into our noses where they encounter our aroma receptors. A better understanding of this process will help you make subtle changes in your cooking that can have profound benefits.
Here are a few tips to help you get the most flavor using herbs and spices:
Whenever possible, buy whole spices rather than pre-ground
Whole spices stay fresh for far longer than their powdered counterparts. Pre-ground spices have already lost much of their fragrant oils and will continue to lose potency as they age.
Purchase in small amounts from a reputable spice purveyor
Pre-ground spices are good for about six months and the spices on grocery store shelves are already near or past their prime. Most spices are imported from tropical or subtropical climate zones where unscrupulous spice traders often cut their ground spices with something else to increase their profits. Many ground spices contain industrial food dyes to give the product a richer, more appealing color. If you buy whole spices and grind them yourself you'll get a fresher (and probably purer) product.
Toast your spices before grinding
Whole spices toasted on the stovetop and freshly ground will add more flavor to your cooking than pre-ground spices. Toasting releases volatile flavor compounds in the spices, which create more complex aromas. Toasting also dries the spices out slightly, making it easier to grind them into a fine powder.
It's a simple process: Add whole spices to a dry skillet. Cast iron works well for this. Set it over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until nicely fragrant. This should take only a couple of minutes. It is best to toast each spice individually; different sizes and shapes toast at various speeds. After toasting, transfer to a room-temperature plate so they can cool, leaving them in a hot pan might overcook them.
Toast and grind only the amount you need
Grind your spices in a mortar and pestle. Pour the toasted spices into the mortar and use the pestle to crush them against the bottom of the mortar. Then begin stirring and rubbing the spices against the sides and bottom until they are evenly crushed and ground. Alternately, grind them in an electric coffee grinder. I have an inexpensive coffee grinder that I use only for spices. In between uses, I clean it out by grinding some dry rice to a powder. This dislodges spice particles and absorbs volatile oils.
My friend and cookbook author, Anupy Singla, taught me another technique for cooking with spices known as a tarka. Tarka is an Indian cooking technique for tempering spices in vegetable oil or in ghee (a clarified butter) and is used to add extra flavor to lentil and vegetable dishes. Whole or broken spices are quickly fried in hot oil to release their essential oils. Other ingredients may be added to the tarka including onions, garlic, ginger or chopped tomatoes.
I approach herbs somewhat differently. In most cases, I prefer using fresh herbs. Soft, leafy herbs such as parsley, cilantro, chives, basil and tarragon are better fresh. Their dried versions just don't impart the same level of flavor. Woody herbs like rosemary or winter savory are good both fresh and dry.
In some applications, dried herbs work better than fresh. For spice rubs, you need to use dried herbs. Long-simmering sauces or braises benefit from adding dried herbs early to develop the flavor. Long-cooked fresh herbs tend to turn black and bitter. However, adding fresh herbs at the end of cooking or as a garnish imparts a nice aroma and creates flavor. For situations where fresh herbs aren't available, a good rule of thumb is to substitute the amount of dry for fresh. If a recipe calls for one tablespoon of a fresh herb, use one teaspoon of dried.
A recent survey of 2,000 Americans suggests that 77% admit that they are too tired to cook for themselves after work, and if you're among them, toasting and grinding your spices is pretty extreme. But as Arielle Johnson writes in Flavorama: "If it's exciting to know what you're doing in the kitchen, it's positively elating to know why you're doing what you're doing – and how you can do it smarter."