Storing And Preparing Spices

Now that we have that nasty business of defining spices behind us, let's take a look at storing and preparing spices, or as I like to think of it, "Getting the Most Out of Your Spices."

As a general rule, spices have a shelf life of a year or more in their unground, uncrushed, unprocessed form, and an effective shelf life of about a month once they have been ground, crushed, or otherwise processed before use. The message here is clear: buy whole, unprocessed spices whenever possible. A cinnamon stick will retain its freshness far longer than ground cinnamon, and whole cumin seeds will last a whole lot longer than ground cumin seed, and a whole nutmeg will last almost indefinitely, yet it begins to lose its flavor the second it is ground. Buy whole, buy in small quantities, and buy often for best flavor.

Store your whole spices in airtight containers, and preferably in opaque airtight containers. Small metal or dark glass containers with tight-fitting lids are ideal. Clear plastic bags and deli-style plastic lidded containers are far from ideal because many of the volatile oils in spices are sensitive to sunlight, and the thin plastic does little to prevent the escape of those flavor components. The shelf life of all spices can be extended if you store them in the refrigerator, and they will remain fresh almost indefinitely if stored frozen.

There are two basic procedures for getting the most flavor from whole spices: heating and grinding. With very few exceptions (which we will touch on in the Dictionary of Spices), the flavor of spices is improved by heating them. They can be dry-roasted in a skillet, oven, or microwave, or they can be lightly fried in oil to release the essential oils that contribute to the unique flavor of every spice. This heating can be just a gentle toasting or a sizzling hot scorching that literally makes some of the spices pop and explode-just follow the directions in the recipe you are using.

Whole spices may be ground to further enhance their flavor, and this process releases huge amounts of flavor whether they have been heated or not. The grinding may take place either before or after they have been heated, depending on the recipe. I recommend you add a small, inexpensive coffee grinder to your kitchen arsenal, and that you use it exclusively for grinding spices.