New Year, New Spices

Start the new year off right with a refreshing look at your spice drawer. When cleaning up your inventory, it’s easy to miss those little jars of spices. Expired spices won’t harm you, but they won’t do you much good, either: dried-out, dull spices add little if any flavor to your food.  Do a sniff test. If you can still smell the spice (and can tell what it is without peaking at the label), then it’s still good. A rule of thumb is ground spices and dried leaf herbs (for example, oregano) last about a year; whole spices may last up to two years or more.

For an extra hit of flavor, grind your spices fresh.  You can use a coffee grinder or even a mortar and pestle.  Spices like nutmeg can be “ground” with a microplane (most folks would call it a zester).  Freshly ground spices will always have more power than pre-bought ground spices. As far as the care and feeding of your spices, store them in a cool, dry place. Airtight jars keep out moisture and oxygen, which will affect the strength of your spices.

1.3.2019