Since I first started cooking I was really intrigued with spices. They were kind of like a mystery to me because growing up spices were never used, it’s just not part of Southern cooking. I had not even heard of most of the everyday spices I now use but when I started to learn more about them it became somewhat of an addiction. I just had to have a little of everything even if I had no idea what it was. I think most normal people have a small area they dedicate to their spices but I have a huge full blown cabinet with 3 doors that I use to store my little treasures.
My spice cabinet is definitely nothing fancy like I tend to see with everything perfectly curated in cute baskets and matching bottles. I use my spices almost daily therefore I need a realistic setting. I do try to keep everything organized so that I know where to grab when I need a certain something. My mother in law houses most of her spices in recycled glass jars and I picked up that habit from her. One thing about Arabic cooking is that you use a lot of spices and the spices here tend to come in large quantities but hardly ever a glass bottle like back in the states.
Something else about Saudi homes is these types of cabinets which are all aluminum (I think). The homes here do not have real wood cabinets and you find shops all over selling these types of kitchen sets to be installed, weird I know. I thought that maybe wood does not do well here in the desert with the climate or maybe its the ants. I sure do miss wood though, it’s so much sturdier unlike those that always having me worried that my China will come crashing down at any moment.
By the way other than just learning as I go I learned most everything I know about spices, pairing and recipe creating from a few spices books I have just as The Spice and Herb Bible. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my spice cabinets. I really love to see how other kitchens place their spices and what they may have in them.
You should get risers for your spices. They look like bleachers and they make everything visible. Or a tention rod in the very back of the cabinet to hold up the light ones.
I should look into that, thank you.
Question: are you going to have a recipe index on here again? I can’t seem to locate it. Otherwise, looks great!
If you scroll to the bottom the recipe index is there for now until I figure out how to give them their very own page that is.
MashaAllaah, looks great. Question: I’ll go to KSA next month inshaAllaah. Are there any foodrelated products Ireally should buy? Any advise?
Jazaaki Allaah!
MashAllah that’s a whole lot of spices, I never even knew you could buy ground bay leaves lol I have the whole dry ones. You should look out for a tv program called the spice trip it’s really interesting.
Wow that’s a lot of spices! Growing up (in Texas) we only used cumin and oregano. When I started cooking arabic food I couldn’t believe the amount of spices in ONE dish. Now I know the how to pair them and all the health benefits of cooking with spices! I find that as long as they are all in one place (one cabinet, one basket, so forth) it doesn’t matter how it looks. The point is to have easy access when you’re preparing meals.
In TN its just salt and pepper. I remember my mom got some chicken spice and we were like wow ha.