…Other than salt and pepper

For me it’s cumin. It’s one of the few spices I buy in bulk and actually use up my supply.

In the winter it may lean towards cardamom thanks to copious amounts of chia.

  • Nora (She/Her)@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    20·
    7 days ago

    Some top ones for me: MSG, Chicken Bouillon, Smoked Paprika, Thyme, Garlic powder, and finally, controversially, bay leaves.

    MSG goes in basically anything. If it gets salt and pepper it’s probably also getting MSG for me. I do a lot of chicken, and whenever I do I’m almost always adding some chicken bouillon to add some flavor to it. I really love Thyme, and find myself just adding it somewhat randomly to things. Smoked Paprika is a perfect flavor that’s so unique, I add it to anything I want to have a bit of a kick, like chili, ect. Not that it’s like spicy or anything, just it adds a little something to those dishes that you can’t really get elsewhere. Garlic powder is an all around great utility, and I tend to “dump” this stuff on things.

    Last but not least, Bay leaves. I swear, I’m like the #1 consumer of these things. I throw them in anything. Anything savory with a decent sauce/soupy base is PERFECT to add a bay leaf to. If you use em often you can really taste the difference, since fresh bay leaves really pack a punch in flavor.

    • FlexibleToast@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      7 days ago

      People sleep on bay leaves. You really can taste the difference. The experiment I did was to make the standard Kraft blue box mac and cheese, but I added bay. Since I know mac and cheese the bay flavor stood out. It’s just an herb flavor and I use it in any liquid that I’m also using any other herb.

      • Nora (She/Her)@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        10·
        7 days ago

        Yeah! It’s like salt but for savory things. There’s a pretty good chance that if I’m cooking with salt and pepper, I’m making something savory, and in those cases MSG improves the flavor of it basically always.

        For example: I frequently air fry broccoli. As a base, I toss it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and MSG. If I want it spicy, I’ll add red pepper flakes. Sometimes I substitute salt for season salt for a different vibe. Other times I add garlic powder, or make a balsamic glaze for them. No matter what it’s prolly gonna have salt, pepper, and MSG.

        It also goes really well on meat in general. Some cuts of beef don’t really need it cause they’re super savory to begin with, but especially some of the cheaper cuts that aren’t as flavorful.

        Another big one is chicken breast. Thighs have more flavor, but when it comes to texture, I like the chicken breast meat better, so in order to boost that savory chicken flavor, I’ll add MSG.

        It’s really hard to describe it, MSG is literally just like, pure savory. It’s not quite a salt replacement, tho i could see someone calling it salty, but it really boosts that savory/umami flavor.

        Honestly the only time I don’t add pure MSG is when I’m cooking with things that have it included already. A lot of asian food has MSG in ingredients like fish sauce and oyster sauce, it’s totally possible to boost the MSG content of a dish without sprinkling msg onto it.

    • Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      “Controversially bay leaves” has me dying

      I also add bay leaves to everything. I found my local co op has them in the bull spice section, they are so freaking fresh.

        • Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          2·
          6 days ago

          Here’s how I imagine it. You have a pot of soup on the stove and you go to your spice area and you think, “Man, I’m glad this area isn’t cluttered up with any shitty leaves. Shitty stupid garbage leaves. Little waste of money green things that make you feel crazy. Like leaves from a tree outside, and you throw them in for no reason. Thank god!”

          Amazing, thank you for sharing that