Spice

Definitions:
                  Spice: An aromatic or pungent vegetable substance used to flavor  or enhance the taste of foods.
                  Aromatic: 1) That which has a pleasing or 2) distinctive or pungent smell.
                  Distinctive: Characteristic of one person, place or thing that separates it out from other persons, places or things.
                  Pungent: A sharp or strong taste or smell.

An interesting subject, spice, but not at first glance.

In recent years the very word, spice/spicy has come to mean "Hot." Though it is my opinion that some foods should come with a warning label such as "this will burn a hole in your tongue".

All in all a very unfortunate use of the word spice. Especially when you consider that some spices, paprika for example, are barely noticeable to the taste buds.

And also consider that just about every meal we eat has at least one spice connected to it and gives the dish that distinctive flavor so that even blindfolded you know that you are eating something Italian or Indian (Chutney comes to mind) or whatever.

I decided on this Subject of Spices due to an experience I had a few years ago at a well known steak house that had on it's menu "Blackened Sirloin" and in parenthesis "Spicy". I thought that looked good and had in mind a steak that has been marinated, something like teriyaki or some other exotic flavoring. So I ordered that and when it came and I took that first bite I was nearly jolted out of my seat from the shock that was occurring in my mouth and getting worse by the minute.

It was soon obvious that the overwhelming heat had given me no chance to taste the beef flavor let alone try eating the damn thing. I set it aside and got started on the first of three glasses of ice water. That didn't help much as I found out later that water doesn't help. It didn't, much, but it was soothing to my psyche, and I was able to enjoy the company I was with. We had a good laugh over it and I chalked it up to experience.

There are some other oddities about spice, aside from the Spicy meaning hot; Salt for example is a mineral but "Seasoned Salt" is considered a spice--go figure.

Another interesting observation is the Spice Rack you see in some kitchens, your friends kitchens mostly, that most of the bottles are unused and a thin layer of dust on the lids is the hint. But then you look at the labels of these dust gatherers and some of the names are almost unpronounceable.

So, over the next few posts I will sort out these spices and hopefully, by the end we will all know what the H... to do with them.

Dad