The spice shelf in a shop is long and colourful. You want to buy everything at once, and then half the jars stand open for years and smell of dust. Let us put together a starter set that gets you through Moldovan home cooking, and see how to store it.

Pepper: black and red

Black pepper is needed almost everywhere: in soups, meat, beans, sauces. Buy it as peppercorns and grind it before use: the aroma of freshly ground pepper is much brighter. A cheap mill or a mortar is enough for that.

Hot red pepper, ground or as flakes, is for people who like it spicier. It goes into mici, small sausages, vegetable stews and sauces for meat. Add a little at a time, the heat builds.

Allspice, whole berries, goes into broths, marinades and meat dishes. Two or three berries are enough.

Bay leaf and paprika

Bay leaf goes into soups, borscht, zeamă, beans and meat. Put it in the pot at the start of cooking and take it out at the end: if you leave it, bitterness appears. A good bay leaf is olive-green and smells strong. If the leaf is grey and brittle and smells faint, better replace it.

Sweet paprika gives a dish colour and a mild taste. It goes into braised meat, stews, small sausages and soups. There is also smoked paprika with a smoky smell, and hot paprika. Do not fry paprika over a high heat: it turns bitter quickly.

Here is what the catalogues have on spices right now:

In the catalogues now: spices

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Dried herbs: dill, parsley, thyme

Dried dill is for marinades, pickles and salads. It will not replace fresh dill, but in winter it saves the day.

Dried parsley suits soups, sauces and bakes.

Thyme and savory smell strong and in their own way. They go into meat, small sausages, beans, mămăligă with meat, mici and sarmale. Moldovan cooks add them to minced meat and marinades. For sarmale and mici these herbs fit perfectly.

Buy dried herbs in thick paper packs or in a jar. Fresh and dried green leaves cannot be swapped one to one: you need two or three times less of the dried.

Other useful spices

Coriander seed goes into small sausages, meat and marinades. Better to buy it as seed and crush it.

Caraway is needed for sauerkraut and some sausage mixes. Do not confuse it with cumin.

Cloves go into marinades, compotes, mulled wine and baking.

Cinnamon and vanilla are for baking, for example for cozonac and sweet plăcinte, and also for compote and porridge.

Dried garlic helps out when there is no fresh. It will not replace fresh, but it suits marinades and mixes for meat.

Whole or ground

In whole spices the aroma is locked in a hard shell, which is why they last longer. Ground ones smell stronger at once, but lose their aroma faster too.

A simple rule: spices you use often, keep ground, but in small jars. Ones you need from time to time, buy whole and grind as needed. Pepper, coriander, cloves and allspice are better whole. Paprika, cinnamon and red pepper are easier ground.

Do not buy big packs if you use a spice rarely. Better to take a small one and renew it.

How to store spices

The enemies of spices are light, heat, damp and air. Keep them in tightly closed jars of dark glass or metal, in a cupboard, not on an open shelf above the stove.

Do not shake spices into a dish from the jar straight over the pot: steam gets inside and the spice clumps. Tip it into a spoon and close the jar.

Once a year sort out the shelf. Rub a pinch of each spice between your fingers and smell it. No smell, throw it out. Write the purchase date on the jars, so you do not have to guess.

How to buy well

Spices in small sachets always cost more by weight than in big packs. But big packs pay off only if you manage to use them. For the most used ones, like pepper, paprika and bay leaf, compare the price per hundred grams.

Which spices are cheaper right now shows across stores:

Where it is cheaper: spices

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Keep an eye on the discounts in the catalogues too: spices often get into promotions along with other goods.