Which spices are actually worth buying?

Spice racks have a way of filling up with jars bought for one recipe and never opened again. A jar of something exotic, used once, slowly turning to dust behind the oregano. You don't need many spices to cook well. You need a few you use often, kept fresh.

The short shelf

Black peppercorns, whole

The most-used spice in most kitchens, and the one that benefits most from being freshly ground. A decent pepper mill is worth more than any other spice. See freshly ground pepper.

Chilli flakes

Warmth for tomato sauces, greens, beans, pasta with garlic and oil, and pizza. The Italian peperoncino role. How to use it without overpowering a dish is in controlling chilli heat.

Fennel seeds

Sweet and gently aniseed. Lovely toasted and crushed over roast vegetables, in tomato sauces, and in breads and crackers. One of the most Italian-tasting spices on the shelf.

Whole nutmeg

Grated fresh into béchamel, spinach, ricotta fillings for pasta, pumpkin and squash. In our experience whole nutmeg stays fragrant far longer than ground; a small grater or the fine side of a box grater does the job.

Dried oregano

Technically a herb, but it lives on the spice shelf. Essential for pizza, tomato salads and roast vegetables. More in dried herbs instead of fresh.

Bay leaves

For soups, beans, stocks, sauces and braises. Add one or two at the start and remove before serving.

For wider cooking

If you cook beyond Italian food, these three cover a lot of ground:

• Cumin, seeds or ground: for beans, lentils, roasted carrots and cauliflower, flatbreads and spiced rice.
• Smoked paprika: for depth and colour in beans, potatoes, eggs and stews. Use a light hand; it is assertive.
• Cinnamon: sticks or ground, for baking and also for savoury dishes like tomato sauces and stews, in tiny amounts.

Nice to have

• Saffron, for risotto alla milanese, saffron-tinted vegetable stews and some breads. Expensive, but a little goes a long way.
• Coriander seeds, for pickles, roasted vegetables and lentils.
• Cloves, a few, for stocks and poached fruit.
• Whole dried chillies, for infusing oil or simmering in sauces.
• Vanilla, for baking and poaching fruit.

What you can probably skip

• Pre-mixed "Italian seasoning" blends. You'll usually get better results from oregano, chilli and fresh garlic separately.
• Pre-ground pepper. Whole peppercorns in a mill taste brighter.
• Large jars of anything you use rarely. Small jars stay fresher.

Keeping spices lively

Spices fade over time, losing their aroma. A few habits keep them better:

• Buy small amounts, and buy whole where practical (pepper, nutmeg, cumin, coriander, fennel), grinding them as needed.
• Keep them sealed in airtight jars.
• Keep them away from heat and light: not on a shelf above the stove, not in a sunny window.
• Label them with the date you opened them.
• Smell them now and then. If a spice smells faint or dusty, it will taste that way. Replace it.

Waking them up

Toasting whole spices briefly in a dry pan, until they smell fragrant and start to pop, makes them taste fuller. Watch them closely; they burn quickly. Cool, then grind. Ground spices can be warmed for a few moments in oil at the start of cooking, before the other ingredients go in, which brings out their flavour without making them taste raw.