How to Combine Spices
- 1). Start with the familiar and work towards the exotic. When creating spice blends, begin with tastes and aromas you already enjoy. For Italian food lovers, combine Mediterranean spices such as oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and savory. If Thai food is a favorite, experiment with basil, fennel, tamarind and cardamom. Latin spices include chili powder, cilantro, chipotle, coriander and clove. Look through a cookbook or ask at your favorite restaurant to learn about the kind of spices used in certain foods.
- 2). Combine a stronger herb with a more delicate taste. Rosemary has a distinct flavor that can easily overwhelm a dish so it's best to combine it with a lighter herb such as parsley, chive or tarragon as opposed to another strong herb such as sage.
- 3). Cook with fresh herbs as well as dry. Shopping for fresh herbs gives you the opportunity to smell spices when combined and see if they blend together aromatically, before actually adding them to a dish. Fresh herbs can be bundled in the French-style "bouquet garni," and floated in a soup or stew or minced well and stirred into the meal just before serving to take advantage of their aromatic qualities.
- 4). Spoon out a small amount of soup or stew and mix in your herb blend to taste before adding to the entire pot. Another method for testing a spice combination involves mixing the blend into a little butter or soft cheese, allowing it to sit for about an hour and then tasting it on a piece of bread or cracker.
- 5). Experiment, but don't go overboard when combining spices, particularly if you are trying them out for the first time. More can always be added to a dish, but once a spice has been added it cannot be removed. Popular cooking shows often ask budding chefs to combine spices from wildly different palates such as putting African and Asian spices together, but the result is not always edible.
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