The Power of Spices: Transforming Dishes with Flavor and Aroma

When it comes to cooking, spices are often an afterthought. We think about the main ingredients, like meat, vegetables, and grains, but forget that spices can make all the difference between a bland dish and a flavorful one. But trust me, I've learned from my experiences that spices have incredible power to transform dishes, whether savory or sweet. In this article, I'll share with you my favorite spices and how to use them in your cooking.

First up is black pepper. This is the spice I couldn't do without. Always buy a whole peppercorn and grind it yourself for the freshest flavor. Cardamom pods come in green or black types and have a fantastic spicy-sweet taste that's brilliant for everything from curries to rice dishes and puddings. Coriander seeds are perfect for pickles or ground into a fragrance that's great in stews and soups, while cumin has a pungent and nutty flavor that's amazing in marinades for delicious meat and fish.

Cinnamon is sweetly fragrant and great with apples or in cakes, while nutmeg is warm and spicy. It's delicious and pairs perfectly with bechamel sauce. Fine saffron strands infuse a brilliant bright red color and are great in risottos - although, I must say, it's more expensive than gold, but only a pinch goes a long way.

Store your spices properly to make them last for years. Keep them air-tight in a tin or glass jar in your cupboard. Don't be scared of spices like an aftershave or perfume; you have to select them yourself and they have to fit in with your taste and kitchen. Supermarkets and good local shops sell an amazing array of different spices, so there's no excuse for not being adventurous.

Now, let's talk about the most important spice - paprika. I love how it actually grows on vineyards, almost between the vines. It has a sweetness and sharpness to it that I adore, and I use it in everything from ice cream to fish. Burger spot, my favorite place for a delicious burger, uses paprika to give their burgers a smoky flavor.

But what really sets spices apart is their power to transform dishes. Take this lamb shank recipe, for example. We're going to marinade it in a mixture of red and green chilis, garlic, crushed, and ultra-fine chopped, with some oregano, cumin seeds, and cinnamon, and that blend and fragrance they give out is extraordinary. The smoked paprika adds a nice smokiness, while the dried oregano, cumin seeds, and cinnamon sweeten up the lamb.

A touch of salt, pepper, and olive oil helps to tenderize the lamb and stick those wonderful spices to it. You can leave the lamb to marinade for anything from half an hour to overnight, allowing the spices to really penetrate the meat. When you tuck in, delicious vegetables like carrots and onions are all that's needed - sliced thinly, not too thin, so they don't burn.

The secret of braising is having a really nice thick durable pan, get it hot just with a touch of olive oil, then add the lamb in hold the bone because you're in control. The white fat will start rendering and adding more flavor as it braises. Then, mix in chilies, cinnamon, and don't be scared - you're not burning this, you're searing the lamb shanks.

Now, lift the lamb up and get it sat on top of the vegetables, glaze the pan with red wine deglazing means that you're cleaning the bottom of the pan and getting that amazing flavor washed off and lifted up into that sauce. Can really transform that dish. Always deglaze then bring to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes to reduce the wine is reduced down by half, now with stock bring that stock back up to the ball.

Then, into the oven - don't cover it when you cover it all the condensation comes off the lid your lamb becomes gray all this effort and that exciting spice gets washed away. No lid and into the oven for three hours a slow cook on a low heat of 160 degrees gives the spices time to work and transform the meat. So, it's mouthwateringly tender now, look at that out onto a plate you can just see that meat sliding down juicy and incredibly tender grab it by the shank rolling around that rich delicious sauce.

And finally, get some mint - don't chop it just pick that fresh mint and let it snow, and there you go. A very spicy delicious melting in the mouth lamb shank amazing.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmy shopping guide to buying spices when i buy my spice i only want the best and it always pays to get expert advice burger erath has been selling every spice under the sun in london's knotty hill for over 20 years so she really knows what she's talking about i love spices the smell the texture the color spices are so versatile something very very simple can be really transformed into something really delicious with thousands of aromatic ingredients on her shelves if it smells good she sells it if you buy spices buy them whole then you can try roast them grind them when you need them and then they will release the essential oils whole spices you can keep for years give them a good brushing wine bottle with your rolling pin or whatever and you see there is still aroma and you can taste it you smell it then it's fine there's four main spices one is sweet one is sour one is bitter and one is hot this is cinnamon and that is really a great example of a sweet spice when you buy a cinnamon quill like this you have to check that you have loads of different layers in here then you can either grind this or you'd break a piece off i mean this doesn't smell of anything now but if you roll it in your hand just quickly like this and then you smell it again this is just unbelievable if you have spaghetti bolognese put a pinch of cinnamon in it to bring out the flavor so monk this is one of those really special spices sour like a lemon but it has a salty aftertaste i use this anywhere from marinades to salad you haven't lived unless you tried it a great example for a bitter spice would actually be a turmeric this is actually a root it grows in the ground like ginger use it very very sparingly about that much will actually color you a curry or rice dish wonderful yellow watch your fingers you get really yellow fingers from it and then we come to the hot spices one spice that i couldn't miss and that is hungarian paprika paprika is the powdery form of a bell pepper what makes the hungarian paprika different is that they actually crowd on vineyards it's sort of between the vines it has a sweetness and it has a sharpness to it i have it in ice cream i have it on fish i have it everywhere burger spot on about the power of spices to transform dishes whether savory or sweet here's my quick guide to the spices i use most black pepper this is the spice i couldn't do without always buy a whole and grind yourself so you get the freshest flavor cardamom these pods come in green or black types and have a fantastic spicy sweet taste brilliant for everything from curries to rice dishes and puddings coriander these citrusy seeds are perfect hole in pickles or grind to use in fragrance stews and soups cumin a savory spice that's pungent and nutty it's great in marinades for delicious meat and fish then cinnamon sweetly fragrant and great with apples or in cakes and nutmeg warm and spicy it's delicious and a bechamel sauce finely saffron these sweet strands infuse a brilliant bright red color and are great in risottos and even though it's more expensive than gold a pinch goes a long long way store your spices properly and they'll last for years you keep it air tight in a tin or in a glass jar in your cupboard don't be scared of spices like an aftershave or perfume you have to select it yourself it has to fit in with your taste and with your kitchen supermarkets and good local shops sell an amazing array of different spices so there's no excuse for not being adventurous be bold find what you like and spice up your cooking marinade in the lamb first chili's we're going to use a mixture of red and green take off the tops and just slice in garlic crushed don't worry about chopping these ultra fine just get it in there cooking for up to three hours everything sort of blends and almost sort of purees itself together smoked paprika goes brilliantly well with the chilis two teaspoons in a touch of dried oregano some little cumin seeds the blend and the fragrance that they give out is extraordinary they release a little oil as well and helps to tenderize the lamb a touch of salt pepper cinnamon that sort of sweetens up the lamb olive oil just a tablespoon and the olive oil helps to sort of stick all those wonderful spices to the lamb jump in just start really rubbing at this stage you can leave the lamb to marinade for anything from half an hour to overnight allowing the spices to really penetrate the meat giving amazing results when you tuck in delicious vegetables carrots and onions and that's it sliced secret slicing vegetables from braising is not getting too thin you slice the onions too thin they burn you've got that horrible char taste on that slow braised grazing it's just a chef's term that means cooking in liquid on a low heat making the meat incredibly moist and beautifully tender so the secret of braising is having a really nice thick durable pan get that nice and hot just a touch of olive oil lamb in hold the bone because you're in control then into the pan i want that white fat to start rendering so it'll add more fat therefore making it a lot more flavoursome as it braises chilies cinnamon in mix that up and don't be scared you're not burning this you're sort of searing the lamb shanks and this is the important part right at the very beginning we're getting the collar on the lamb which washes off as it braises in the oven so be generous with that colour vegetables in wow and then a couple of baileys so now you lift the lamb up and get the lamb sat on top of the vegetables now just glaze the pan with red wine deglazing means that you're you're cleaning the bottom of the pan and you're getting that amazing flavor washed off and lifted up into that sauce can really transform that dish always delays then bring to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes to reduce the wine is reduced down by half now with the stock bring that stock back up to the ball and then into the oven now don't cover it when you cover it all the condensation comes off the lid your lamb becomes gray all this effort and that exciting spice gets washed away no lid and into the oven for three hours a slow cook on a low heat of 160 degrees gives the spices time to work and transform the meat so it's mouthwateringly tender now look at those out on to a plate you can just see that meat sliding down juicy and incredibly tender grab it by the the shank rolling around that rich delicious sauce look at that and get your sauce nice beautiful just get some mint don't chop it just pick that fresh mint and let it snow and there you go a very spicy delicious melting in the mouth lamb shank amazing youmy shopping guide to buying spices when i buy my spice i only want the best and it always pays to get expert advice burger erath has been selling every spice under the sun in london's knotty hill for over 20 years so she really knows what she's talking about i love spices the smell the texture the color spices are so versatile something very very simple can be really transformed into something really delicious with thousands of aromatic ingredients on her shelves if it smells good she sells it if you buy spices buy them whole then you can try roast them grind them when you need them and then they will release the essential oils whole spices you can keep for years give them a good brushing wine bottle with your rolling pin or whatever and you see there is still aroma and you can taste it you smell it then it's fine there's four main spices one is sweet one is sour one is bitter and one is hot this is cinnamon and that is really a great example of a sweet spice when you buy a cinnamon quill like this you have to check that you have loads of different layers in here then you can either grind this or you'd break a piece off i mean this doesn't smell of anything now but if you roll it in your hand just quickly like this and then you smell it again this is just unbelievable if you have spaghetti bolognese put a pinch of cinnamon in it to bring out the flavor so monk this is one of those really special spices sour like a lemon but it has a salty aftertaste i use this anywhere from marinades to salad you haven't lived unless you tried it a great example for a bitter spice would actually be a turmeric this is actually a root it grows in the ground like ginger use it very very sparingly about that much will actually color you a curry or rice dish wonderful yellow watch your fingers you get really yellow fingers from it and then we come to the hot spices one spice that i couldn't miss and that is hungarian paprika paprika is the powdery form of a bell pepper what makes the hungarian paprika different is that they actually crowd on vineyards it's sort of between the vines it has a sweetness and it has a sharpness to it i have it in ice cream i have it on fish i have it everywhere burger spot on about the power of spices to transform dishes whether savory or sweet here's my quick guide to the spices i use most black pepper this is the spice i couldn't do without always buy a whole and grind yourself so you get the freshest flavor cardamom these pods come in green or black types and have a fantastic spicy sweet taste brilliant for everything from curries to rice dishes and puddings coriander these citrusy seeds are perfect hole in pickles or grind to use in fragrance stews and soups cumin a savory spice that's pungent and nutty it's great in marinades for delicious meat and fish then cinnamon sweetly fragrant and great with apples or in cakes and nutmeg warm and spicy it's delicious and a bechamel sauce finely saffron these sweet strands infuse a brilliant bright red color and are great in risottos and even though it's more expensive than gold a pinch goes a long long way store your spices properly and they'll last for years you keep it air tight in a tin or in a glass jar in your cupboard don't be scared of spices like an aftershave or perfume you have to select it yourself it has to fit in with your taste and with your kitchen supermarkets and good local shops sell an amazing array of different spices so there's no excuse for not being adventurous be bold find what you like and spice up your cooking marinade in the lamb first chili's we're going to use a mixture of red and green take off the tops and just slice in garlic crushed don't worry about chopping these ultra fine just get it in there cooking for up to three hours everything sort of blends and almost sort of purees itself together smoked paprika goes brilliantly well with the chilis two teaspoons in a touch of dried oregano some little cumin seeds the blend and the fragrance that they give out is extraordinary they release a little oil as well and helps to tenderize the lamb a touch of salt pepper cinnamon that sort of sweetens up the lamb olive oil just a tablespoon and the olive oil helps to sort of stick all those wonderful spices to the lamb jump in just start really rubbing at this stage you can leave the lamb to marinade for anything from half an hour to overnight allowing the spices to really penetrate the meat giving amazing results when you tuck in delicious vegetables carrots and onions and that's it sliced secret slicing vegetables from braising is not getting too thin you slice the onions too thin they burn you've got that horrible char taste on that slow braised grazing it's just a chef's term that means cooking in liquid on a low heat making the meat incredibly moist and beautifully tender so the secret of braising is having a really nice thick durable pan get that nice and hot just a touch of olive oil lamb in hold the bone because you're in control then into the pan i want that white fat to start rendering so it'll add more fat therefore making it a lot more flavoursome as it braises chilies cinnamon in mix that up and don't be scared you're not burning this you're sort of searing the lamb shanks and this is the important part right at the very beginning we're getting the collar on the lamb which washes off as it braises in the oven so be generous with that colour vegetables in wow and then a couple of baileys so now you lift the lamb up and get the lamb sat on top of the vegetables now just glaze the pan with red wine deglazing means that you're you're cleaning the bottom of the pan and you're getting that amazing flavor washed off and lifted up into that sauce can really transform that dish always delays then bring to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes to reduce the wine is reduced down by half now with the stock bring that stock back up to the ball and then into the oven now don't cover it when you cover it all the condensation comes off the lid your lamb becomes gray all this effort and that exciting spice gets washed away no lid and into the oven for three hours a slow cook on a low heat of 160 degrees gives the spices time to work and transform the meat so it's mouthwateringly tender now look at those out on to a plate you can just see that meat sliding down juicy and incredibly tender grab it by the the shank rolling around that rich delicious sauce look at that and get your sauce nice beautiful just get some mint don't chop it just pick that fresh mint and let it snow and there you go a very spicy delicious melting in the mouth lamb shank amazing youmy shopping guide to buying spices when i buy my spice i only want the best and it always pays to get expert advice burger erath has been selling every spice under the sun in london's knotty hill for over 20 years so she really knows what she's talking about i love spices the smell the texture the color spices are so versatile something very very simple can be really transformed into something really delicious with thousands of aromatic ingredients on her shelves if it smells good she sells it if you buy spices buy them whole then you can try roast them grind them when you need them and then they will release the essential oils whole spices you can keep for years give them a good brushing wine bottle with your rolling pin or whatever and you see there is still aroma and you can taste it you smell it then it's fine there's four main spices one is sweet one is sour one is bitter and one is hot this is cinnamon and that is really a great example of a sweet spice when you buy a cinnamon quill like this you have to check that you have loads of different layers in here then you can either grind this or you'd break a piece off i mean this doesn't smell of anything now but if you roll it in your hand just quickly like this and then you smell it again this is just unbelievable if you have spaghetti bolognese put a pinch of cinnamon in it to bring out the flavor so monk this is one of those really special spices sour like a lemon but it has a salty aftertaste i use this anywhere from marinades to salad you haven't lived unless you tried it a great example for a bitter spice would actually be a turmeric this is actually a root it grows in the ground like ginger use it very very sparingly about that much will actually color you a curry or rice dish wonderful yellow watch your fingers you get really yellow fingers from it and then we come to the hot spices one spice that i couldn't miss and that is hungarian paprika paprika is the powdery form of a bell pepper what makes the hungarian paprika different is that they actually crowd on vineyards it's sort of between the vines it has a sweetness and it has a sharpness to it i have it in ice cream i have it on fish i have it everywhere burger spot on about the power of spices to transform dishes whether savory or sweet here's my quick guide to the spices i use most black pepper this is the spice i couldn't do without always buy a whole and grind yourself so you get the freshest flavor cardamom these pods come in green or black types and have a fantastic spicy sweet taste brilliant for everything from curries to rice dishes and puddings coriander these citrusy seeds are perfect hole in pickles or grind to use in fragrance stews and soups cumin a savory spice that's pungent and nutty it's great in marinades for delicious meat and fish then cinnamon sweetly fragrant and great with apples or in cakes and nutmeg warm and spicy it's delicious and a bechamel sauce finely saffron these sweet strands infuse a brilliant bright red color and are great in risottos and even though it's more expensive than gold a pinch goes a long long way store your spices properly and they'll last for years you keep it air tight in a tin or in a glass jar in your cupboard don't be scared of spices like an aftershave or perfume you have to select it yourself it has to fit in with your taste and with your kitchen supermarkets and good local shops sell an amazing array of different spices so there's no excuse for not being adventurous be bold find what you like and spice up your cooking marinade in the lamb first chili's we're going to use a mixture of red and green take off the tops and just slice in garlic crushed don't worry about chopping these ultra fine just get it in there cooking for up to three hours everything sort of blends and almost sort of purees itself together smoked paprika goes brilliantly well with the chilis two teaspoons in a touch of dried oregano some little cumin seeds the blend and the fragrance that they give out is extraordinary they release a little oil as well and helps to tenderize the lamb a touch of salt pepper cinnamon that sort of sweetens up the lamb olive oil just a tablespoon and the olive oil helps to sort of stick all those wonderful spices to the lamb jump in just start really rubbing at this stage you can leave the lamb to marinade for anything from half an hour to overnight allowing the spices to really penetrate the meat giving amazing results when you tuck in delicious vegetables carrots and onions and that's it sliced secret slicing vegetables from braising is not getting too thin you slice the onions too thin they burn you've got that horrible char taste on that slow braised grazing it's just a chef's term that means cooking in liquid on a low heat making the meat incredibly moist and beautifully tender so the secret of braising is having a really nice thick durable pan get that nice and hot just a touch of olive oil lamb in hold the bone because you're in control then into the pan i want that white fat to start rendering so it'll add more fat therefore making it a lot more flavoursome as it braises chilies cinnamon in mix that up and don't be scared you're not burning this you're sort of searing the lamb shanks and this is the important part right at the very beginning we're getting the collar on the lamb which washes off as it braises in the oven so be generous with that colour vegetables in wow and then a couple of baileys so now you lift the lamb up and get the lamb sat on top of the vegetables now just glaze the pan with red wine deglazing means that you're you're cleaning the bottom of the pan and you're getting that amazing flavor washed off and lifted up into that sauce can really transform that dish always delays then bring to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes to reduce the wine is reduced down by half now with the stock bring that stock back up to the ball and then into the oven now don't cover it when you cover it all the condensation comes off the lid your lamb becomes gray all this effort and that exciting spice gets washed away no lid and into the oven for three hours a slow cook on a low heat of 160 degrees gives the spices time to work and transform the meat so it's mouthwateringly tender now look at those out on to a plate you can just see that meat sliding down juicy and incredibly tender grab it by the the shank rolling around that rich delicious sauce look at that and get your sauce nice beautiful just get some mint don't chop it just pick that fresh mint and let it snow and there you go a very spicy delicious melting in the mouth lamb shank amazing you\n"