Herbs, spices and seasonings

[Mama Mangia]

Kevin - NO FOOLIN'!

I clean my chickens well - even in the restaurants - but today I guess it's more like "anything goes".

I wonder if we will ever get back to the days where everyone REALLY cared about how things were done and WANTED it to be done right. I even wonder if most of the restaurant industry today knows anything about food safety and handling, proper preparation - and get this - PERSONAL HYGIENE!

oh Kev - don't get Mama started.........

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

I keep approx. 30+ different spices in my cabinet! And it is still incomplete! I think besides salt & pepper the one spice I truly could not live with-out is Garlic Powder, I love the taste of garlic best of any spice or herb! Next would be cinnamon, I guess if I could only afford to buy two spices they would be the two I would choose.

What about you?

My ultimate spice blend is Cavender's Greek seasoning, it is so delicious on an Oven Baked Chicken, or a Roast Pork! I love Adobo seasong too but I would settle for just Cavender's if I could only buy just one!

[The Ironic Chef]

Several months ago I was called in to do some renovation work in a Mall. The construction was to take place in a very famous nation wide seafood chain restaurant
The first night there,I walked into the establishment and I swear, I never saw such a messy kitchen in my life. We use to keep everything shined and polished. Not this place.There were actual pools of water on the floors and food waste you wouldn't believe. To clean the mess you would need a shovel. None of the workers spoke English. They were finishing up for the night and leaving. Dishes that came off the dish washer conveyor were sitting in stacks on the floor. The floor was swamped with filth.
They left everything out on their cooking stations when the left. Nothing was covered or refrigerated. With seafood they did a lot of dredging and different coatings on the fish. All of these were left out and many were even on the floor.

The construction work being done. Up in the suspended ceiling were sewer lines that needed replacing. Plumbers came in and started cutting the old lines out. Whatever was in those lines was allowed to just run out onto what ever was below. Below wasn't exposed to the kitchen because of the ceiling tiles but to me it was disgusting and I would not believe that nothing got through or even air born partials weren't getting below. Several tiles were removed just so workers could get above the kitchen.

I was thoroughly disgusted. The manager of the place didn't even care when I asked him why everything was left out and open with the work going on overhead. He just said the cleaning crew would wrap up everything later.
I called the health department and also sent emails and pictures to the investigator. As far as I can tell, nothing was done except for the fact that I haven't worked there since. The investigator was suppose to contact me with how the situation was handled but that never happend. I'm not surprised.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Wow that is so spooky! Sheeeesh what a creep that Inspector must have been!

Here is the way I would follow-up on that....go to the local newspaper and get the Health or Restuarant Reporter involved...tell your story, too bad you could not have snapped a few photos at the time, I would not allow the ball to drop on this one, you may actually save some lives, or even prevent a few cases of food poisioning! At the very least send in a note to the editorial column, wording it exactly like you did in this post, I WOULD MAKE SOME WAVES!!!!!!!!

It has been several months ago and the Inspector has had plenty of time to respond and he should be held accountable too, CREEP!

Makes me really leary of going out to eat, but Eddie and I always look at the Health Inspection scores, if it is low we GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jfain]

You know I thought I didn't buy many blends because I do make so many of my own but I just went and looked and I do have several blends. I have herbs de provence, five spice powder, Pickling Spices, Pumpkin Pie Spices and Garam Masala along with a host of other herbs and spices. I have

Spices
all Spice whole & ground
achiote ground
ajwain seeds
anise seeds
asafoetida
cannelle ground and sticks
cassia ground and sticks
caraway whole
cardamom whole & ground
celery seed
cayenne
whole cloves
corriander whole & ground
cummin whole & ground
fennel seed
garlic powder
ginger
juniper berries
brown mustard seeds
yellow mustard ground
mace ground
nigella seeds
nutmeg whole
smoked Paprika
spanish Paprika
hunagian paprika
red pepper flakes
black pepper
saffron
sumac ground
star anise
szechuan peppercorns
tumeric

Herbs
Basil
Bay
dill
gumbo file
lavender blossoms
marjoram
oregano
rosemary
sage
tarragon
mint

[The Ironic Chef]

Wow Jfain. I had to google a couple of your spices to see what they could be used for. Like Sumac. I didn't know that was a spice, lol. I remember as a kid grabbing a red cone and my hand swelled. I am thinking allergic so I'm not going to try that one.

I do have several McCormick blends and I also take the grinders that they have for their pepper and salt mixes and reuse them for other blends. If you twist them just right the tops come off and can be reused.

[jfain]

[QUOTE=
I do have several McCormick blends and I also take the grinders that they have for their pepper and salt mixes and reuse them for other blends. If you twist them just right the tops come off and can be reused.[/QUOTE]

I do that too. I suggested it on another forum though and was told that this was ridiculous. No one could get those grinders open to reuse them. How rude!

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Cathy- I like garlic powder and cinnamon too. My most-used, go-to shaker is a blend I toss together that's simply salt, ground celery-seed, garlic powder and a smidgen of cayenne. I use this as a "spice-all" for everything from eggs to roast chicken, chops, steak, etc. My next fav store-bought blend used on much more than just seafood is "Old Bay".

IC... the kitchen you describe sounds like positively one of the worst-ever. I worked in commercial kitchens for over 25 years and I am proud to say that I came up as a kid in kitchens where a strict sense of cleanliness was instilled in us yungins! I had chronic red/dry/chapped hands for years on end due to constantly having my hands in bleach-buckets! Every kitchen I ever worked in was spotless- and almost every staff I was ever a part of were made up of pretty conscientious folks (gratefully!) 'tho I know some real doozies, operated by slobs who just don't give a damn, exist! YUCH!

[The Ironic Chef]

I grew up working in the same types of kitchens Kevin. I guess that's why I was so shocked to see the condition of the place above.

[cookie]

Thanks for all the information about herbs and spices! Enjoyed it, Cookie