Spice of Your Life

What's your favorite spice to cook with and/or eat? And what's is a pronounced memory of this spice?

Feel free to post your answer to my blog, reply in email, or otherwise.

Comments

[Caitlin]

Hm. Too many to count, can't stick to one favorite...and for various reasons.
My dad used to sprinkle anise seeds onto the pizza sauce when throwing together a homemade pizza--it does wonders for the flavor. My mother loved curry powder and we had curried everything as a kid....I learned to put nutmeg in mashed potatoes. Try it. Honestly.
Cinnamon in coffee is wonderful, too, but a standard no-brainer.
Cumin in homemade hummus.
Sprinkles of dillweed in tuna.
Oh, and don't forget to sprinkle celery seed--an absolute MUST--in potato salad. Yes. Absolutely yes.
It's that time of year, so do your salad--and those eating it--a favor.
Most of these choices stem from a sentimental place...cause my family is 1500 miles away and I'm here in MN. So.
There is that usual precious, momentary but real olfactory/gustatory connectedness when I use most of the above in my own cooking. Like, I'm back THERE again, fleetingly.
And I like that.

[yolandakae]

Curry. It's ONE of my favorites.
The color. The smell. The taste.
Spicy sunshine.
I'm from the south where food is pretty traditional. I remember the first time I had a curry chicken salad sandwich.
It changed my life because I didn't mind eating the raisins (which I ABHOR) that were in the sandwich.
The only other thing that could get me to eat a raisin would be a gun.

[David]

No question: cardamom. It's aromatic and fabulous ... and makes kick-ass Indian tea as well as kick-ass Scandinavian coffee cake.

[MOC Blog]

I remember well the first time Shyla turned me on to Chili Garlic Sauce. We were drunk, hungry and horny and we were planted in some mall joint with food served from heating pans that had probably been on display for the whole day under those cheap bulbs and miles of cord. But the sauce changed the meal and my life. I use it now on everything from eggs to chicken to sweet potatoes. Nothing compares.