The Only 9 Spices Mary Berry Says We Need
According to Mary Berry’s cookbook Foolproof Cooking, the former Great British Bake-Off judge only uses three cooking oils.
A good extra-virgin olive oil, a slightly less fancy olive oil for cooking, and some sunflower oil meet are all most of us need, she wrote.
She explains in her book that while a “well-stocked cupboard and fridge” is key for home cooks, she doesn’t recommend buying “a whole range of obscure ingredients only for them to be used once and then hidden away.”
The same rule applies to spices, it seems ― only nine ground single spices ended up on the Cordon Bleu-trained chef’s must-have list, alongside some spice mixes and whole spices.
Which spices does she recommend?
Aside from salt and pepper, the cook says the only “basic” ground spices most of us need are:
- cumin
- coriander
- cinnamon
- ginger
- nutmeg
- turmeric
- chilli powder
- paprika
- sweet smoked paprika.
She also recommends keeping cardamom pods, star anise, and cinnamon sticks in stock for whole spices, and she says any well-stocked kitchen has bay leaves too.
She also considers pre-made spice mixes garam masala, mixed spice, curry powder, and Chinese five-spice “basic” essentials.
Speaking to publisher Ebury, who worked with her for Foolproof Cooking, Mary said: “With spices, you can cut down considerably.”
“It takes up less space, and it works better for me ― I don’t need things like juniper berries, and I can think of many other things that if I only use them once, I’m not going to bother to have them.”
Do spices go off?
Mary argued that the three-oil rule was partly put in place because oils she uses less often tend to go “rancid.”
Believe it or not, this is true for spices too ― ground spices, which are the ones we’ve focused on here, last from two to four years.
That might sound like a lot of time. But when I consider how long that ill-fated pot of embarrassingly pricey saffron, which I’ve left for too long because I never feel my meals merit such a costly ingredient, has been left in my cupboard ― yeah, I see Mary’s point.