Row 1: Aleppo Pepper, Allspice, Basil, Bay Leaves, Cayenne, Celery Salt, Celery Seeds, Cinnamon, Chinese Five Spice, Chili Powder, Freeze Dried Chives, Whole Cloves, Cream of Tartar
Row 2: Cumin, Dill Weed, Flax Seed, Garlic Powder, Garlic Salt, Ginger, Italian Seasoning, Mint, Mustard Powder, Nutmeg, Onion Powder, Oregano
Row 3: Paprika, Parsley, Pepper, White Pepper, Popcorn Salt, Red Pepper Flakes, Rosemary, Salt, Himalayan Salt, Sea Salt, Seasoned Salt, Sesame Seeds
Row 4: Sugar, Taco Seasoning, Thyme, Turmeric
How often do you actually use things like Celery salt, Celery seeds, Freeze dried chives, Cream of tartar, Dill weed, Flax seed, Popcorn salt and Taco seasoning?
My approach has always been that something can’t go into the spice drawer unless I’ve actually used it in a recipe. I’ve seen things like Cream of Tartar in a lot of spice drawers, but I have no idea what it is, or what kind of recipe might call for it.
Once you have them organized and labeled and easy to access like this, you find tons of uses for them. During COVID I remodeled my kitchen and bought about 40 jars to make a similar battlestation, labeled them all, and bought everything in bulk. Now I order refills at 100 or so grams at a time and I go through everything pretty quickly. If you don’t cook often or don’t enjoy cooking, maybe disregard, but it’s nice being spoiled for choice when it comes to flavor.
Celery salt: fairly often, esp. for coleslaws and similar salads, also great on sausages and bratwursts
Celery seed: tons especially in winter- great flavor enhancer for soups, stews, pickles
Cream of tartar: rarely but good for some desserts and good for polishing silverware/stainless steel
Dill weed: at least weekly for any cool yogurt or ranch-style dips, egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad. I might use it more than any other herb- I go through a 100g bulk pouch at least once every couple months.
Flax seed: weekly at least - oatmeal, smoothies, bread
Taco seasoning: at least once a week for tacos, taco rice, or wraps (but usually make my own: chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin, salt & pepper, and a pinch each of MSG and sugar)
Popcorn salt: not often, but a carton of Flavacol costs pennies and will last a household literally forever
Freeze dried chives? eh. Never had those around.
Well said, better than I could’ve. Thank you. 😊
Often enough where I go by the same rule. If it’s in my drawer I use them. If it’s not seen in my drawer, either I don’t use it or haven’t come across a recipe that calls for something I don’t have. I actually make up my own taco seasoning with other seasonings pictured in my drawer + cornstarch. Cream of tartar is very new to me as well, I used it in a recipe for Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies.
Ah, ok. I don’t do much baking, and when I do it’s just bread / focaccia, so that’s probably why I’ve never used Cream of tartar. To me it sounds like tartar sauce, which I think is used with fish… so it’s strange it’s something for cookies.
I do lots of baking, and that was the first time I ever had to use it. I also had the same thought as you.
Cream of tartar is a type of acid, and is usually used in baking as along with baking soda as a leavener. Baking powder is generally just baking soda and cream of tartar mixed together, but some recipes call for adding them separately in different ratio then you would find in baking powder.
Oh, interesting!
Apparently Cream of Tartar is Potassium bitartrate, a potassium acid salt. And baking powder is basically an acid (Cream of Tartar for example), mixed with a base (Baking Soda, or Sodium Bicarbonate) and a desiccant like corn starch to prevent the two from reacting by getting wet.
When they do mix, an acid/base reaction occurs releasing CO2, which is why it’s useful in baking because it makes pockets in the dough.
Apparently cream of tartar was a naturally occurring byproduct of wine making, and has been known for thousands of years, but was only used for baking in the last few hundred years.
The word “tartar” seems to be basically as old as wine making. The latin word “tartarum” has its roots in Byzantine Greek. But, it doesn’t seem to be connected etymologically to tartar sauce.