MINT (Herb): Dried leaf of strong, sweet peppermint or spearmint herb.
Sweet, cool aftertaste. Digestive aid. Mouth refreshener.Used whole, crushed, or
pulverized.
Uses: Flavors soups, stews, meat, fish, sauces. Used for
jelly, mint juleps.
MIXED WHOLE PICKLING SPICE (Blend): This is generally a mixture of a dozen or more whoie spices.
Sold in packages.
Uses: Used for pickling and preserving relishes, meats,
and vegetables. Sometimes used when boiling beets and cabbage. Try a little bag
of spice in a stew but remove it as soon as stew is flavored to your liking.
MUSTARD (Spice): Seed of the mustard plant, pungent, hot. Sold whole or ground.
English double superfine (DSF) dry mustard is best.
Uses: Vegetable, meats, salads, egg & cheese dishes, sauces.
NUTMEG (Spice): It is really the seed of the fruit of the nutmeg tree which
grows in the East and West Indies. The whole fruit consists of an outer husk, the
mace (see Mace), an inner shell around which the mace curls, and the nutmeg outer
kernel. May be purchased whole or ground. Use whole, freshly-grated for the best
results.
Uses: The ground spice is used in cakes, pies, many different
puddings, and other desserts. Very good with such vegetables as asparagus, cauliflower,
and spinach. Excellent with fruit salads. It's almost a "must" for eggnog and custards
and a dash certainly improves lemon sauce for puddings. Rice puddings, applesauce,
and sweet potato souffle are improved with it. Try it sprinkled on fried bananas
or on bananas and berries with cream. It's the best spice for doughnuts.
ONION (Spice): Root member of the lily family, aromatic, sweet. Cold onions
create less tears when chopping. Sold fresh or dried, flaked, ground or juiced.
Use in dips, soups, sauces, salad dressings, gravies, stuffings,
egg and cheese dishes.
ONION SALT (Condiment): Mixture of ground dehydrated onions and salt.
Uses: Use for any dish where onions are used. Does contain
salt so other salt requirements might require reducing.
OREGANO (Herb): Dried leaf of oregano plant a mint family herb, also called
wild marjoram. It's a cousin to marjoram. Aromatic, slightly bitter. Sold flaked
or fresh. Grown in Mexico, Italy.
Uses: Flavors pork, beef stew, meat sauces, omelets, "boiled"
eggs, chili can carne. Use it in tomato dishes, especially Italian spaghetti sauce,
in mixed green salads with or without tomatoes.
PAPRIKA (Spice): Mildest of the peppers, pods of sweet red chili pepper, paprika
is made by grinding dried large red peppers of mild flavor. Pungent, peppery but
not hot. Sold ground. Hungarian and Spanish paprika are best.
Uses: The bright color makes it a popular garnish for such
white foods as fish, potatoes, cottage cheese, cauliflower. Used in salad dressings,
ketchups, chili sauces, in large amounts in such dishes as Hungarian goulash or
chicken paprikash.
PARSLEY (Herb): Our most common herb; the dried leaves of parsley are also
known as "parsley flakes." Mild. Sold fresh or flaked. Used as a general diuretic
tonic.
Uses: Fresh parsley is a garnish for almost anything up
to dessert. The dried parsley is worth keeping on hand for times when the fresh
green is unavailable. Dried parsley is especially nice for soups and stews; in dumplings
for flavor and color.