By JANET K. KEELER from staff and wire reports
Published August 17, 2005
[Times photos: Stefanie Boyar]
Whole spices keep for about a year after containers are opened. Ground and dried spices are considerably weaker six months after opening.
The well-used spice rack includes:
Cayenne or ground red pepper
Chili powder
Ground cinnamon and ginger
Red pepper flakes
Curry powder
Garlic powder
Dried English Mustard
Paprika
Whole peppercorns
White pepper
Dried basil, oregano and thyme
The memory fades as quickly as an open bottle of dried oregano, it seems. That must be why I have so many doubles and triples of pricey spices.
When I am at the store, I can't remember what I have. So I buy again.
Five years ago, I started dating my newly purchased spices to help me keep track of their age. How shocked I was last week to see I still had some from 11/00.
Let me be the first to mention the H-word. Take my lead and get your spices in order before the Holidays arrive. Three months from now, you and I will be too stressed to check the condition of pumpkin pie spice. And a month from then? Forget it.
Here's a tip: Catalog spices and the date you purchased them and tape the list to the inside door of the cabinet. This provides quick reference when making a grocery list and also helps to know when to cull aging spices.
Other helpful information on buying and storing spices from Cooking with Spices for Dummies by Jenna Holst (Hungry Minds, 2002):
HERBS AND SPICES. Herbs are the leaves of plants (bay, thyme, oregano, parsley); spices are the dried berries, bark, roots and seeds of plants or bushes (cinnamon, coriander, cardamom). Both dried herbs and spices can come whole or ground. In speech, we often refer to them all as spices.
SHELF LIFE. Whole spices keep for about a year after containers are opened. Ground and dried spices are considerably weaker six months after opening. You don't have to toss them out if you use them as soon as possible. After a year, dump them. Old spices won't hurt you but they lose their potency.
THE WHIFF TEST. Your nose is the best judge of potency. Dried herbs that smell stale are. No spice should smell like dust.
BUYING SPICES. Buy in small quantities, excluding spices you use frequently. Many whole or natural food stores sell spices in bulk. For infrequent cooks, $3.50 for turmeric is a lousy investment when 50 cents might buy all that's needed.
CONTAINERS. Air-tight containers with minimal airspace are best. Bulk spices stored in small plastic bags are okay as long as the contents are used quickly.
STORING SPICES. Don't store spices in the refrigerator, next to the stove or on the counter. Moisture, heat and light are enemies of spices. Keep them in cool, dark and dry places.
WHEN IN DOUBT. Spices you've had for an unknown duration should be thrown away. I know some of you, like me, have been hanging on to ginger and others since the Spice Girls were just a twinkle in their parents' eyes. Get tough; the people you cook for, and their taste buds, will thank you.
IT'S IN THE BAG
Nonstick, reusable toaster bags can be used to make "grilled" cheese sandwiches and warm up leftover pizza and pastries in your wide-mouth toaster.
Set of four bags, $12.95; order online at shop.bakerscatalogue.com.
BURRITOS, NATURALLY
Chipotle Mexican Grill, a growing chain owned by McDonald's, has added vegetarian-fed, naturally raised beef and chicken to the menu of its nine Florida locations, including the one at 309 N West Shore Blvd., Tampa. A St. Petersburg location on Fourth Street N is tentatively scheduled to open this fall. The hormone-free beef is also available at Chipotles in Atlanta and New York. Naturally raised chicken is served at locations throughout the Southeast.
CHICKEN FRIES
Burger King's new chicken fries are skinny chicken strips tucked into a french fry box. Like a fish stick, they are more about the breading than the meat inside. They are made from white meat, but it's the fried breading that we tasted, which isn't a horrible thing until you start thinking about the nutritional content. Six "fries" have 260 calories and 15 fat grams; add more if you use the buffalo dipping sauce. Suggested price is $1.69 for six fries, $2.69 for nine.
A $350 COOKBOOK
Deep-fried fish skeletons wrapped in cotton candy. Vegetable-flavored foams. Powdered foie gras. A $350 cookbook.
The man behind all this is Ferran Adria, the Spanish chef who is considered the inventor of molecular gastronomy, a reimagining of familiar flavors that depends on lab experiments.
And now, with a lot of ambition - and a kitchen as well-equipped as a chemistry lab - you can taste it at home. The initial press run for the English translation of El Bulli: 1998-2002 by Adria and Juli Soler (Ecco, $350) is 1,000.
STORING SALSA
How long an open jar of salsa keeps in the refrigerator depends upon whether it's tomato-based salsa or a gourmet salsa such as mango-peach. It also depends on whether you let the open jar sit on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours while you snack in front of the TV. But let's assume you've promptly refrigerated an open jar of ordinary tomato-based salsa. It should remain fresh for seven to 10 days, said a representative of Frito Lay, which makes Tostitos brand salsas.
COMPETITIVE COOKING
Marc Silverstein, formerly of the Food Network's Best Of series, has a new hourlong show, Go Ahead, Make My Dinner, on the Discovery Channel.
During the show, two chefs work to solve the real-life culinary problems of a person in the live audience. Each chef will make as many dishes as possible in 20 minutes, using a mystery ingredient and other staples. The troubled audience member will select a winner. The chefs then go on to use four ingredients and create a dessert in only 10 minutes.
Marin French Cheese has been crafting "authentic French" Camembert by hand for 100 years in Petaluma, Calif. Camembert is sometimes called the queen of cheeses, named by Napoleon after the tiny hamlet in France where it originated. It is mild and soft, with a buttery nuttiness and tang unique among soft-ripened cheeses.
The company's label is Rouge Et Noir, and if you're in the area, tours are given from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week. The complex also features a 5-acre area of grass complete with a duck pond.
You can also order cheese online or call toll-free 1-800-292-6001.
-- Compiled by JANET K. KEELER from staff reports and the Washington Post, Knight Ridder Newspapers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Associated Press. She can be reached at 727 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com
