Spices

This has been really hard for me coz when I go to the grocery I see all of these spices and stuff but dont know what to do with them.

What spices do you use and what for, like is it to smell nice or to make chicken taste better or its for beef or what?

Right now all I know of is pepper and plain salt -_- and basic crushed pepper.

I know salt makes it salty
Crushed red pepper makes things hot
Pepper has that smell and slight spicy taste

Spices aren't meant to be scent alone even though they do smell great.

Dependent on the spice will determine what you should use it for.

I use an array of spices, from allspice to tumeric.

Allspice: has the same flavor profile as cinnamon and cloves, i use it when making butternut squash.

Cardamon: very sweet notes goes well with tumeric for a nice flavor to curry

Cayenne: gives your food a kick, i usually add it to my chicken, but not to much that it overwhelms the pallet\

Chili Powder: same as cayenne great for heat, I always add it to my mexican foods I am making, I also add it to my marinara sauce for a little zing.

Cinnamon: pares well with deserts, sweet potato, apples. Pork Chops with cinnamon apples is excellent

Cloves: excellent aroma and flavor just like the cinnamon and allspice it to is sweet. I don't use it a lot but I have used it to flavor the brine of ham before. Also used to it to flavor fish.

Cumin: SAUSAGE, and MEXICAN FOOD! A little goes a long way with this spice, so watch out.

Curry: Great for Middle-Easter fare, warm taste and not all that spicy.

Ginger: Great for Asian cuisine, buy whole, also don't try it raw (not a nice taste). I think it also goes well when marinating food, like chicken. Also add some to hot water with lemon if you are feeling sick.

Mustard Seed: No Flavor when dry, you have to add water, to make a paste. Spicy notes a lot goes a long way. Great for meats, and for salad dressing. Makes a great rub with garlic and black pepper.

Nutmeg: Egg-nog, and spice cake

Saffron: Don't bother buying it because it's way to expensive and anything at a store is just a cheap imitation. When I did get some at school it was used in our paella, and or risotto.

Tumeric: say hello to curry's, not a spice i use a lot.

Salt and Pepper are the best spices out there. Especially salt.

If your spices have no scent they have no flavor remember this

I don't recommend mainlining cayenne or chili powder though.

im about to pass out but

Ginger: I use it when I cook shrimp on butter, clear soup with chicken or fish (ive been told it counters the 'gamey' taste of these meats?)

Star Anise: Ive seen it in sweet pork stew, I love the flavor it gives

Rosemary: Ive seen bread sold with this as its main flavor, It does give off a nice smell. Its used on roast chicken too I think

Shallots: Something new im trying. I use it instead of onion. I think it has a stronger taste, I use it one stir frying things,

Basil: well the pesto atleast, instead of soy sauce Ive been using this instead for stir fry

Parmesan: When stir frying with meat as the main thing, I try to use less salt and use this instead

I keep hearing about chives, I wanted to buy them but I only see dried ones and theyre like 2x more expensive than any other spice... -_- and Im kinda broke so I cant try it yet.

I use spices quite randomly, so I wont give any pointers. Other than this: watch cooking shows on TV. They may be boring, but you do learn something about cooking in general from them (including about spices).

lemon: instead of steak sauce, you can use lemon and soy sauce as a dip for grilled meat. some guys really liked it when i fed it to them. sometimes you can add melted butter to it too. and it can work for chicken too

I always hated adding sauce to steak, if you need sauce it's because you didn't cook the steak correctly or season it correctly.

The way I do it sometimes with steak, if I have time to marinate it that is, I used a mix of olive oil and sesame oil, then lemon juice, fish sauce, a bit of curry, pepper, garlic, basil?

how about the red pepper? it makes a vegies or meat more spices and add colors to it too

I use cummin, corriander, tumeric and fennel greek along with chopped up dried chilli peppers in various stirfry like creations. Together with coco milk and you have curry sauce basically but I use these spices to make things aside from curry.

Garlic and ginger are great in most cooking I find but tis a matter of taste. I recomend you buy fresh ginger though since, while a bit less convient, tis worth the taste.

If you like spicy food I recomend that crushed chilli sauce in the asian food section that has a rooster on it. I sometimes combine this sauce with an egg for stir fry. The spicy egg mixture then cooks in little bits on all the food and its =Q One of my first cooking experiments.

A really nice savory french herb blend is herb de provance. Goes good with roasted veggies and meat. I believe tis a combo of rosmary, fennel and some other stuff so you can just get them seperate as well.

I find tarragon quite nice on chicken randomly.

Also for pizza oregeno is a must.
Basil and pesto and also handy for various things and the list could go on but this is mostly what I cook with so.