Paprika

In the modern kitchen we are givin more spice options to add flavor to our food then ever before, unless of course you're from India, where they have been making the rest of us envious of their spice mastery for centuries now. However it seems like as more and more spices collect on our shelves, the less and less we know about them. Because of this I think we are a little scared of this wonderful orchestra of flavor, terrified that if we add to much, or not enough, the dish will be completely ruined. And forget about ever trying to add these mystery spices to one of your own dishes.

These fears are well founded (you can easily runin a perfectly good dish with the wrong spices) they are unnecessary. Maybe if we understood what some of these spices are, we would be more confident in their uses, thus opening a door to a wonderful world of flavor all our own.