5 most common seasonings

In a recent conversation with a panel of executive chefs, there was a discussion on the five most common seasonings that all households should have. They are salt, pepper (black ground pepper), garlic powder, onion powder and ground cayenne pepper.

Salt is likely the most ubiquitous as it is universally known to improve the taste perception of food. It has also been used to preserve food by humans for thousands of years. Salt comes from two main sources, namely evaporation of sea water and mining of rock salt, Additives are often added to fortify the table salt, such as iodine. The world produced 290 million metric tons of salt in 2021.

Black pepper comes from the fruit, known as peppercorn, of its plant. Its plant is native to South Asia. Pepper has been in used for flavor and medicinal purpose for thousands of years. Pepper gets its spicy heat mostly from piperine derived from both the outerfruit and the seed. Besides black pepper, white pepper is also commonly used especially in Asian cuisine. The world black pepper production was approximately at 480 thousand tons in 2020.

Garlic powder is manufactured from dehydrated garlic which is then turned into powder through machinery. While China produces the largest amount of garlic, Gilroy, California carries the moniker of “Garlic Capital of the World”. Garlic powder works in any recipe that calls for garlic. Globally, about 28 million tons of garlic were produced in 2018.

Similar to garlic powder, onion powder is prepared using dehydrated onion and ground into powder form. It is often mixed with salt to be sold as onion salt. It is frequently used as a meat rub. The global onion powder market was approximately 58 thousand tons in 2021.

Cayenne pepper is a type of plant species, known as Capsicum annuum. it is native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is usually a moderately hot chilli pepper. Ground cayenne pepper is made only with cayenne peppers that have been dried and finely ground into powder. Whereas, chilli powder is often made with a blend of ground red chilis (that may include cayenne). In addition to powder form, there is also crushed form that retain more of the flavor. According to the 2014 world production statistics, more than 33 million tons of chili was produced.

There are many other commonly used seasonings and herbs, such as basil, oregano, cumin, coriander, thymes,…etc. there are roughly 30+ in my spice racks. What do you commonly use and please share some of your stories about seasonings and cooking?