Spices are what make cooking fun. They also are a good way to jazz up ordinary ingredients without too much investment. The only problem with spices when you are first starting out is that they are expensive. Luckily, once you have a particular spice, it will usually last awhile. It's that first purchase, though, that really hits your wallet. Here are my suggestions for how to build your spice cabinet:
1) Start with the spices you grew up with. The key to cooking on a budget is to cook with what you already have in your fridge/pantry. You will be able to do this a lot easier and faster - and with fewer heartbreaking mistakes - if you blend spices that you're familiar with.
Take this personal story as an example: I grew up with a lot of Italian food, so I can blend the standard Italian spices into a flavorful meal usually just by eyeballing it. I did not grow up, however, with various spicy powders. So one day, I made a meal that called for chili powder. Well, I didn't have chili powder, but I did have cayenne pepper. Not being used to spicy foods, I didn't realize that cayenne pepper is a lot hotter than chili powder. Also not being used to spicy foods, I decided to follow the recipe...which meant I did a 1 to 1 substitution of cayenne pepper for the chili powder. Those of you who are familiar with these spices are probably giggling in foresight. Well, the dish was a lot hotter than I would have liked, and I didn't enjoy the many meals the recipe provided as much as I should have - especially knowing that the reason was that I messed up. Take away message: If you have limited spices available, your meals are safer with spices you are familiar with until you learn how to use new ones.
2) Try new spices with a recipe. Despite the fact that I blatantly messed up a recipe, the safest way to get used to new spices is with a recipe. I don't even want to think about how that meal would have turned out if I had eyeballed the cayenne pepper... So, when you want to try a new flavor, find a simple recipe that calls for one or two new spices. Pay close attention to the amount of spice that is being added in comparison to the other ingredients, so that you learn how to use these spices. This use of a new recipe will also allow you to add spices incrementally, slowly building your spice cabinet. Before you know it, you'll have a whole world of flavors at your fingertips!
3) Make your own spice blends. If a spice blend you want is something simple, or something you are very familiar with, just blend it yourself! Perfect example: Cinnamon Sugar. Please, for the love of food, don't buy the fancy little dispenser of cinnamon sugar. Just mix it yourself - it's only two ingredients. You can save so much money by mixing your own combinations because companies charge more to do that work for you.
4) Buy the spices you use most often in bulk. Buying spices in bulk usually ends up saving a lot of money in the long run, so if there are certain spices you use very frequently, buy it in larger quantities. The savings will add up over time!
Now - go get that spice cabinet started!
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