On Spices by curly

For spices, I've learned a few basic starting places that are fine by themselves and provide a nice launching point. For example, a stir fry starts with minced garlic, minced fresh ginger, and chopped scallions. For generic spicy food, I'll often start with cumin, garlic and maybe some turmeric or brown mustard seeds (they don't have much flavor, but I like how they look). For not spicy things it's garlic, onions, maybe a bay leaf and then thyme, oregano, basil or whatever smells right when I open the jar. Curry paste is a great tool, because it's a premade collection of spices that you can put in and then don't have to think about what other spices are needed.

The basic spice combinations are fine by themselves. You don't have to jazz them up. At the same time, once you have a base of flavors it's easier to think about what you might want to add to that, rather than making it all up at once.