The true backbones to our meals and almost always the reason why our food smells so good, spices are the unsung heroes of the kitchen and if their taste and smell wasn’t good enough, they’re also great for our health, too.
That being said, we’re often guilty of leaving them in the cupboard unused for long periods of time and even collecting more than we’d ever necessarily use (No? Just me?!)
The question is, though, are dried spices as beneficial for us as their fresh counterparts? Cumin can prevent heart disease but is it as effective at protecting our hearts when it’s been stored in a jar for months?
Thankfully, the health and nutrition experts at ZOE have the answer for us.
Are dried spices as good for the body as fresh spices?
Speaking on the latest ZOE podcast, Kanchan Koya, a food scientist and founder of the spice-centered food blog Chief Spice Mama, discussed how we can make spices work for us.
Host Dr Sarah Berry asked the food expert: “Is fresh better? Is dried still good? And after what period of time should we be chucking them out of our cupboards?”
Koya first addressed the old spices question saying: “If you have a really old jar, I would open it and take a little whiff and see if there’s any aroma at all. The aroma is actually indicative of a lot of the compounds still being around.
“So if you open a jar and it smells like nothing, maybe it’s time to toss it. You can try to salvage a very old jar by actually heating it... So take the spice and put it in a little skillet and dry toast it and see if that activates some of the aroma. If it’s a whole spice, crush it.”
However, if this doesn’t work, it may be time to throw out the spice, unfortunately.
As for whether fresh or ground are better, Koya advises buying whole spices if you can as these will last longer but later said that if you’re not in the habit of crushing spices or don’t have the time, baby steps are best.
Koya said: “My biggest recommendation is to take the foods that you’re already eating, that you already enjoy, that your kids already enjoy and start to challenge yourself to add at least one spice to that dish.
“So if we just take some examples, people might typically eat avocado toast, you mentioned sumac, you could add some chilli peppers, if you like heat, you could add a little bit of cumin and coriander to your avocado.”
Spice up your life, basically.