Spices from A to Z
Passover is supposed to be a time for cleaning out your cupboards. If you are really observant, you take a feather duster and remove every last bit of chametz (bread, grains and leavened products that are not consumed on the Jewish holiday of Passover).
I don’t follow these dietary restrictions, except for the seder meal. But I did feel compelled to do some symbolic cleaning. So today I tackled my spice cabinet, which was woefully overloaded.
For as long as I can remember, I have had a lot of spices and I have stored them in alphabetical order. This works well until my daughter comes home and just puts the spices away in any empty spot after cooking. When my son came home from California, he added at least 20 jars to my full shelves.
When we remodeled our house 10 years ago, I wanted something that would maximize the accessibility of my spices, so we installed this revolving 4-tier shelf. When space was no longer such a constraint, I was never forced to discard the older cans/jars.
But today I did a thorough cleaning, getting rid of things like this can of Whole Allspice which cost 77 cents, a clear indication of its age. The tubes of cake decorating frosting are at least 15 years old and probably well past their expiration dates.
It was fun to find things I had forgotten about (like Rose Water) and to make sure they were in alphabetical order: Ground Jamaican Allspice to Zatar Seasoning.
I once heard that most spices have a shelf-life of about 6 months. I’m sure about 90% of mine are expired by that rule, but I’ll keep them anyway.
posted by Barbara at 7:04 PM
14 Comments:
Serendipity strikes again. I have been cursing and moaning about my spice cabinet. I bought those stairstep dealies and they are a disaster. I love your rotating racks--exactly what I need! Is this your own design or something that can be purchased, or what?
I don't alphabetize. I group by similarities--italian herbs together, whatever goes in a pumpkin pie together, believe it or not, there is a sort of logic to it!
Terry -- The revolving spice cabinet was a standard option of the cabinets we chose. I just tried to Google and couldn't come up with anything comparable, but I'm sure if you showed my photo to anyone in the business, you could find one. It has been wonderful! (And it's even better now that it's culled and reorganized.)
As far as organization, it has to be whatever works for you. But with so many jars, you have to have some system.
I'm now soaking all the discards so I can recycle them, perhaps as gifts with things like homemade garam masala, in the future.
I have total spice envy... Actually, to call a spade a spade, I have kitchen envy and as well as retirement. I would love to take some time to clean my pathetic little kitchen out and start all over.
Kristin -- Maybe when you move...
I think that shelf life of 6 months is an old wives' tale. I am an ex-wife and old and have spices that I had when we were first married in 1969. They still have their zip! Now herbs like parsley and sage I buy fresh these days but cumin? Never goes bad! And cardamom? Still using it. I do not have a spice shelf anymore so bought 2 tiered twirling racks which are super! When I "shelved" my spices I always alphabetized them and Frank was very good about that too. But now.....one rack holds sweet spices and the other non-sweet. Is fun to do it though!
What is a zatar and why does it require seasoning?
Happy Pesach. :)
Kate -- I think 40-year-old spices might be pushing it a little! :) You obviously don't use those too often.
Lacochran -- Zatar is a really cool Middle Eastern spice. You often find it on baked pita in Israel. Very yummy!
i'D NEVER HEARD OF zATAR BEFORE EITHER!
Spices can ususally be kept much longer than six months and the proof is really in the tasting. If you open a jar of chili powder that a few years old and it has a weak aroma its probably lost its moxy. But if the clor is good and the aroma still nice and strong its probably still good and kept well.
Alphabetical order? man , halk of mine are laying on their sides...i'm such a slob.
Penzey's has great spices! Mine are all down below the counter, on one of those old lazy susans, requiring a flashlight to illuminate them.
i confess. i think my spices are still packed away in the garage. i have the ones i need for spaghetti; salt and pepper; and olive oil. i seem to be making do.
and i don't do any baking at the moment. sigh. i've had to pare my life down to survive it at the moment.
but i love the re-organizing bit. once i push myself to do it - a point of mental flow, and satisfaction as it can generally be completed within a day!
when i was small, i would go and re-organize the bathroom cabinet under the sink every time i was sad, upset, angry etc. it calmed me. weird, huh.
these days the bathroom cabinets stress me - hahaaaa!
xxx
rdm
Spices are so expensive if you buy them in the little jars, etc. One of my favorite tours I do for friends, etc. is to go to the different persian/Indian food markets where you can buy spices/herbs in large quantities. We all buy up, then go home and divy up the bounty into little ziplocks. Once, while we were sitting around dividing the fenugeek, we looked around and started laughing, we looked like some strange drug dealers, packaging up our wares!
isn't it interesting about all the cultural traditions that embrace the notion of spring being a time for cleaning? such a ubiquitous and useful tradition! nothing like fresh sparkle to sparkle up one's mood!
I (try) and keep my spices in alphabetic order, though only by letter, without some order I would never find the needed spice. I love the gratifying feeling I get when ever I restore order to my spice rack.
I apologize I've been terribly remiss about getting back to you regarding the may pole! as soon as I finish this comment I will zip off an email! the last few weeks have been uber busy and it does seem the hurrier I go the behinder I get!
happy passover!
I will have to see if we have Zatar, my better half buys all the dried spices and herbs at Kalustyan's on Lexington Avenue. We have quite a variety.
I like doing a good spring cleaning, but I especially enjoy cleaning out cupboards and the fridge. They get really messy again quickly enough. I found a bottle of orange flower water in a cupboard in our summer house ~ but a lot of people come and go there, so the cupboards are both a mystery and a real fright.
I'm certainly not a cooking expert, but I've used spices long past six months. That sounds like some deadline the spice industry came up with to encourage us to buy more.
Having said that, that Crown Colony Allspice has probably lost its oomph by now! (I haven't thought of that brand in ages -- it was Safeway's house brand, I think. Does it still exist?)
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