It is time to talk about seasoning your food. There are a lot of seasonings, and you need most of them if you don’t want everything you cook to taste like the same five things. Herbs for the most part are leaves, anything else is a spice. Spices can be broken into three categories: seeds and pods, berries and flowers, roots and bark. I will go into each herb and spice in more detail, but for now I’m going to give you a list of the most basic and widely used seasonings.

BAY LEAVES

BLACK PEPPERCORNS

CINNAMON

CLOVES

GINGER

NUTMEG

OREGANO

ROSEMARY

SAGE

THYME

VANILLA(extract)

This may seem like a lot, but with this small collection you will be able to cook a wide range dishes whose names you can pronounce. Without these seasonings we won’t be going anywhere fast, so stock up. Next time we’re talking about herbs individually and with a small amount of depth.