Warming Spices
Nov. 12th, 2020 03:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithA conversation inspired this, and I thought more people could use it, so I'm putting this in its own post.
Believe it or not, there's a practical reason for the modern fad of Pumpkin Spice Everything in the cold season, and it's a very old one. "Pumpkin spice" and its synonym "apple pie spice" are both warming spice blends. The recipe is nothing more elaborate than a cinnamon base with several other warming spices added to diversify the flavor. The name isn't a joke: these spices actually warm you up. They can be used in many ways.
While I doubt that most people chasing the fad are aware of its deep history -- both ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine use these to combat cold weather -- the effects can be observed and enjoyed by anyone paying attention to their body. Probably not everyone notices that either, but they do seem to swarm on Pumpkin Spice Everything as soon as the weather cools, and lose interest in spring. If someone gets chilled, don't offer alcohol, offer a hot beverage with warming spices.
Fascinating from a worldwalker's perspective: any of those warming spices can serve as the base, but most worlds seem to favor one or a few, so you rarely get anything approaching the full range. Once you know the secret, though, it's easy to recreate that range.
I found a cardamom-based blend, Nord Spices, in The Elder Scrolls Cookbook (which is easily our best cookbook judged by number of recipes marked/made).
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground grains of paradise (peppercorn or black pepper works for a substitute)
How to:
Just put all ingredients together and mix well.
Terramagne has Ginger Zap. One of these days I'll find time to work up a batch and share it.
A process for discovering alternative warming spice blends:
* Choose a base spice. This sets the character of the blend and how it gets used. A mild to moderate blend (like pumpkin pie spice) will get used in larger quantities, often on more things. A potent blend (like chili powder) will get used in smaller quantities, often on a more limited range.
* Choose several supporting spices. If you want to get fancy, you can look up their medicinal qualities or chemical relations, but that's not essential, because the warming spices tend to work and play well with each other. Two to four supporting spices will typically make a well-rounded blend that's not too fussy to make. But masalas top out around several dozen ingredients, so you have plenty of room to play around. Making a harmonious blend is easy when staying within one category (like warming spices) but gets harder when crossing categories.
* You can use whole or pre-ground spices. Typically whole is more potent, pre-ground is more convenient. Use this knowledge to boost weaker flavors or moderate stronger ones. If using some whole spices, you will need a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/2opfmu/grinding_spices_mortar_versus_coffee_grinder/">mortar and pestle or spice grinder</a>, unless your purpose calls for putting whole spices in a bag for later removal.
* Regarding measurements: Many people naturally gravitate toward whatever their local measuring system currently is. While easy to use in that temporospatial context, it's a lot harder to translate to anything else. A LOT harder. Worldwalkers and people in certain professions use a different system: parts, giving a recipe based on ratios rather than amounts. No translation is required and it easily scales up or down. You're cooking for a festival? Use cups instead of teaspoons. You can use the same measuring utensils, just frame them as parts instead of teaspoons or whatever. Even when I write down recipes in local measures, I often keep an eye on the ratios so the recipe will scale easily.
* TAKE NOTES as you go along, including if you adjust things on the fly. You will need to know this in order to replicate the recipe, although you can skip the fiddling around and just use the final recipe in the future.
* Start with your base spice. You need enough quantity to work with comfortably, but not so much that you waste lots of material if a batch goes wrong and you can't salvage it. In the current context, I find that a tablespoon works well because then you have many smaller measurements to choose for other ingredients.
* Consider your supporting spices. Which ones have stronger or weaker flavors? Often you'll want to arrange them in order, using more of weaker ingredients and less of stronger ones. But a potent blend may put one or more of the strongest flavors at the top.
* Add the supporting spices one at a time to your base. Stir and taste after each addition to find a flavor balance that you like. While mixing, you can just taste the spice blend by itself.
* Once you have a blend that you like, taste-test it on the kind of food you plan to use it with, then tweak as necessary. If you don't have the exact food, something bland like a cracker or bread will work with most spices. If it's a sweet blend, you might want to go with simple fruit such as apple.
* Store spice blends in airtight bottles out of direct sunlight, and don't forget to LABEL them. In nonliterate contexts, use a visual or tactile marker instead of text, like a picture of the plants or bottle color/shape.
Believe it or not, there's a practical reason for the modern fad of Pumpkin Spice Everything in the cold season, and it's a very old one. "Pumpkin spice" and its synonym "apple pie spice" are both warming spice blends. The recipe is nothing more elaborate than a cinnamon base with several other warming spices added to diversify the flavor. The name isn't a joke: these spices actually warm you up. They can be used in many ways.
While I doubt that most people chasing the fad are aware of its deep history -- both ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine use these to combat cold weather -- the effects can be observed and enjoyed by anyone paying attention to their body. Probably not everyone notices that either, but they do seem to swarm on Pumpkin Spice Everything as soon as the weather cools, and lose interest in spring. If someone gets chilled, don't offer alcohol, offer a hot beverage with warming spices.
Fascinating from a worldwalker's perspective: any of those warming spices can serve as the base, but most worlds seem to favor one or a few, so you rarely get anything approaching the full range. Once you know the secret, though, it's easy to recreate that range.
I found a cardamom-based blend, Nord Spices, in The Elder Scrolls Cookbook (which is easily our best cookbook judged by number of recipes marked/made).
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground grains of paradise (peppercorn or black pepper works for a substitute)
How to:
Just put all ingredients together and mix well.
Terramagne has Ginger Zap. One of these days I'll find time to work up a batch and share it.
A process for discovering alternative warming spice blends:
* Choose a base spice. This sets the character of the blend and how it gets used. A mild to moderate blend (like pumpkin pie spice) will get used in larger quantities, often on more things. A potent blend (like chili powder) will get used in smaller quantities, often on a more limited range.
* Choose several supporting spices. If you want to get fancy, you can look up their medicinal qualities or chemical relations, but that's not essential, because the warming spices tend to work and play well with each other. Two to four supporting spices will typically make a well-rounded blend that's not too fussy to make. But masalas top out around several dozen ingredients, so you have plenty of room to play around. Making a harmonious blend is easy when staying within one category (like warming spices) but gets harder when crossing categories.
* You can use whole or pre-ground spices. Typically whole is more potent, pre-ground is more convenient. Use this knowledge to boost weaker flavors or moderate stronger ones. If using some whole spices, you will need a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/2opfmu/grinding_spices_mortar_versus_coffee_grinder/">mortar and pestle or spice grinder</a>, unless your purpose calls for putting whole spices in a bag for later removal.
* Regarding measurements: Many people naturally gravitate toward whatever their local measuring system currently is. While easy to use in that temporospatial context, it's a lot harder to translate to anything else. A LOT harder. Worldwalkers and people in certain professions use a different system: parts, giving a recipe based on ratios rather than amounts. No translation is required and it easily scales up or down. You're cooking for a festival? Use cups instead of teaspoons. You can use the same measuring utensils, just frame them as parts instead of teaspoons or whatever. Even when I write down recipes in local measures, I often keep an eye on the ratios so the recipe will scale easily.
* TAKE NOTES as you go along, including if you adjust things on the fly. You will need to know this in order to replicate the recipe, although you can skip the fiddling around and just use the final recipe in the future.
* Start with your base spice. You need enough quantity to work with comfortably, but not so much that you waste lots of material if a batch goes wrong and you can't salvage it. In the current context, I find that a tablespoon works well because then you have many smaller measurements to choose for other ingredients.
* Consider your supporting spices. Which ones have stronger or weaker flavors? Often you'll want to arrange them in order, using more of weaker ingredients and less of stronger ones. But a potent blend may put one or more of the strongest flavors at the top.
* Add the supporting spices one at a time to your base. Stir and taste after each addition to find a flavor balance that you like. While mixing, you can just taste the spice blend by itself.
* Once you have a blend that you like, taste-test it on the kind of food you plan to use it with, then tweak as necessary. If you don't have the exact food, something bland like a cracker or bread will work with most spices. If it's a sweet blend, you might want to go with simple fruit such as apple.
* Store spice blends in airtight bottles out of direct sunlight, and don't forget to LABEL them. In nonliterate contexts, use a visual or tactile marker instead of text, like a picture of the plants or bottle color/shape.
