Not spicy enough
I would like to offer my apologies to anyone who has ever eaten food that I have prepared. I realize that I am clueless about spices. Sure I read the recipes and I have a basic vocabulary but I have no idea how to bring a bland meal to something exceptional. I blame in part my upbringing. I come from a long line of people who kept some salt and some black Pepper in the kitchen. And maybe some sugar. Yes I did realize that other people made meals that were excellent. However I was never told why. The term to trade spices is old and serves as a foundation for our world economies. I had thought this term was referencing transactional trading. Only. It turns out that over the centuries mankind has learned that the space that the other fellow has might make their own food taste better. And if you had a wide circle of friends you could end up with some kitchen productions that were extraordinary. Getting back to my own home the local store had those little jars of spices but because my parents did not bother to buy them there was no experimenting. And if you did not have those little jars of spices you could not become a trader at the local level. In retrospect it might have saved us some money but it’s certainly diminished the variety of flavors on our table. A video that I watched this afternoon had some important advice. First of all try different spices. And if your selection of spices beyond that salt sugar and pepper has been around for years, please throw most of it away and start over. Spices have a shelf life. Also try to keep some notes on what you do that pleases. Recipe books are convenient but hardly the answer to all questions. This subject is deep and I am not going to try and explain the world of food flavors in something this short. Rather take this as at decision of my part to try and improve my own knowledge of flavor.
