FoodPalaver: Time to Spice Things Up

I recently had to clean out all my kitchen cabinets because I found unwelcome flying things in my flour.  On the upside, this forced me to sort through my spices and throw out the old stuff.  I kept anything that didn't look ancient and still smelled like the spice it was supposed to smell like.

Today while browsing a food blog called Serious Eats, I couldn't resist clicking on a McCormick ad that asked "Are your Spices Past Their Prime?" The McCormick "Spice Challenge" allows you to look up the date your McCormick spices were made.  I entered the number on the bottom of a bottle of cumin seed that passed my sniff test.  The result:  it was made on April 14, 1987. As if I didn't feel bad enough, it said "If your spices were around when you feathered your bangs, it's time to let them go."  Evidently I need to work on my sniff test.

Even my thyme, which I've used in the last week, dates back to 1997.  This information was delivered along with a snide reference to Titanic (the movie, that is; the spice isn't quite as old as the ship).

With Thanksgiving coming up, it would be wise to make sure you're not taking for granted that the spices in your cabinet are up to the task.  (I've got memories of some plastic-smelling nutmeg that nearly ruined Christmas -- or at least a cranberry side dish my sister and I were making -- a few years ago.)

The McCormick site says that if your spice is from Baltimore, rather than Hunt Valley, Maryland (which is printed on the label), or if it's in a tin (except for black pepper), it's at least 15 years old.  So with a quick look at your spice rack you can eliminate anything made before Bill Clinton was first elected President.

Comments

This is very cool. However, I empty my spices into glass containers and I don't often buy McCormick, so it seems I'm out of luck. (Cumin rocks! Why don't you use it more? I probably use it at least once a week.)

[contessa]

I'm throwing away mace with a "sell by" date of 1989. What did I make with mace?

[ak]

I'm intrigued by the mccormick responses - is my spice company too cool for school. Guess I need to leave the 90s behind in my wardrobe and now my spices.