A Thought on Spices

I wanted to make a list of things I feel have greatly improved my life as a vegetarian.  Most of them are spices, which you don't necessarily see on everyone's shelves, but really should be.  Even when I was still eating an omnivore diet, many of these greatly enhanced food.  And I feel they are well worth the investment.  So a little list!

• Smoked Salts.  Hickory and applewood are always around at my house.  I'm hunting for mesquite, but it seems harder to find.  These are great for adding a BBQ flavor, when you don't want to whip out a grill and wood chips.
• Smoked Paprika.  Smoky, earthy taste, and the quality of smoked paprika is often well beyond that of regular paprika.
• Different pepper sauces.  I enjoy many varying degrees of heat, and each different type of pepper has a subtly different flavor.
• Fennel seeds, which don't appear in many recipes, but have a nice flavor.  Some people even chew them to freshen their breath.
• Thai basil, while you must obtain it fresh, and will probably have to hunt down at an Asian grocer, is a really nice herb that makes things a little different.
• Thyme.  Aside from some holiday dishes, thyme seems to be under-utilized in modern cooking.  It's a shame, because it adds a deep, herbal note to just about anything.
• Gumbo Filé.  (Pronounced fee-lay.)  These are ground sassafras leaves.  It's difficult to explain the flavor without simply trying it yourself.  Great in most savory soups, particularly gumbo, where it is traditionally used.
• White Pepper.  Similar to black pepper, but has a sharper bite.
• Bay Leaves/ Laurel leaves.  A common but under-used herb once again.
• Nutritional yeast.  Everyone should know about this by now, but if you don't, it's got an almost cheesy taste.
• Molasses.  I try not to eat a lot of refined sugar, but in trying to replicate some dishes with stevia or fruit, I find they miss the 'brown sugar' flavor at times.  A little molasses can go a very long way, and provides that taste without having to rely on a much larger quantity of brown sugar.
• Homemade ketchup.  It's so easy to make from tomato sauce and paste, and a few seasonings, and it's so much better than that corn syrup gunk from the grocery store.
• Kala Namak, aka Black salt.  It's important to make the distinction between kala namak and other black salts, so I feel it's best for people looking for this to search for it as kala namak.  There are a lot of different "black salt" products that aren't this.  This salt has a little bit of sulfur in its mineral content, and can make a tofu scramble or a vegan mayonnaise taste "right".   In high concentration, sure, sulfur smells like a fart.  In low quantities in our food, it provides an egg flavor.  It might seem insignificant to some people, the difference between a jar of vegan mayonnaise that you've tossed a big pinch of kala namak into, but to those with sensitive palettes, or those who find that it just has something missing, you'll be surprised at the improvement.
• Garam Masala.  It goes in so many Indian dishes, that, even if you aren't sporting a full arsenal of indian spices, it's good to have this on hand.
• Tumeric.  Same reason as garam masala.  If you have both Garam Masala and tumeric, as well as other common spices you probably already have (cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, etc) this opens up a lot of potential for making Indian dishes on a whim.  Maybe not restaurant quality, but still better than the stuff you'll find in the freezer section.

This list will continue to expand.