Jars of dried herbs and spices

I love herbs and spices. I especially love picking fresh herbs from our backyard. But, alas, in a country where the typhoon season can last up to six months, fresh spices aren’t always easy to grow at home. So, I keep a stock of dried herbs and spices.

Contrary to common perception, dried herbs don’t last all that long especially in a humid climate. To prolong their shelf life, here are a few tips:

1) Open only when using them; otherwise, keep the jars tightly closed.

2) Keep the dried spices in a cool section of the kitchen or pantry.

3) When cooking, do not tap the dried herbs from the jar directly into the cooking pan on the stove. The steam will enter the jar. If you keep doing this, in just a few weeks, the dried herbs will turn moldy. Use a dry teaspoon to scoop the dried herbs from the jars. Or, tap the jar gently over the palm of your hand and then sprinkle the herbs onto the food using your hand.

4) Buy dried herbs and spices that you actually use on a regular basis. Do not start collecting jars of dried herbs and spices to decorate your kitchen AND still expect them to stay fresh even if you only use them once every two years or so.

My grandmother had a beautiful wooden spice rack with jars and jars of herbs and spices, a gift from her eldest daughter who settled in Canada many years ago. The jars were full when I was a grade schooler and they were still full after I graduated from law school and passed the Bar exams. My grandmother was a great cook but she was an old-fashioned Filipino cook. She had no use for herbs and spices that her own mother didn’t use.