Spices

Spices, like practically all foods, come in a full range of quality. For the best spices, your best bet might be finding a specialty grocer in your area. Not all of us have specialty spice grocers, however. An alternative is purchasing from an online store, like Zingerman’s Mail Order, www.zingermans.com. If you don’t want to use either of these options, the next best choice, which can be a very good one, is to use newly bought spices. Spices lose their aroma and flavor over time, so new ones from the store will be much better than the year-old jar in your cupboard. If you can buy them in bulk, buy just what you need, so that you can get fresh ones again for the next recipe. We also recommend buying whole spices and grinding them yourself. Using a mortar and pestle will give the best results, but a spice grinder is a great second choice.