Tag Archives: spices and their uses

Awesome Guide to Spices

I try to usually go for my own content, but I was so enchanted by the awesome guide to spices from cooksmart that I had to share it with you.  Cooking, especially if you’re new at it, can be totally mysterious – like alchemy or witchcraft (or chemistry, if you felt about it the way I did).  You add things to a pot in the right order and at some mysterious moment it changes into food and the trickiest of all of those things happens to be the spices.  After all, the difference between too runny mashed potatoes and the joy of Vichy sois (a french potato-leek soup) is pretty much all about the spices.  One is an epic fail and the other is unforgettably delicious – which is where this great guide to spices comes in.

Cook Smarts Guide to Spices




Awesome guide to spices from cooksmarts.  This can totally help when you really don't know what flavor to add to what

Awesome guide to spices from Stephanie Pando at Cook Smarts. This can totally help when you really don’t know what flavor to add to what.

Remember too your spices are often adding a tremendous amount of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and nutritional value to dishes so generally the more seasonings the better!  Perhaps I’ll come up with a guide to spices for health because there are so many documented health benefits for each one. Turmeric, ginger and garlic are some of the best anti-inflammatories in the world and rosemary and oregano both have compounds that boost immune response and help fight off foreign invaders. Even a spice you might associate with sweets and treats and only unhealthy food like cinnamon is actually tremendously helpful in controlling and regulating blood sugar. Herbs and spices add tremendous benefits in flavor, in color and in health to any meal so starting to use them or use a wider variety can be a great step forward for both your health and your taste buds. Hopefully if you’re stuck in a food-rut, as I often am, using this great guide to spices will help shake up the menu and add a little pizazz to dinner.