Spice Expert Guesses Cheap vs Expensive Spices | Price Points | Epicurious

I'm athan Frisch and I'm a spice expert [Music] chili pepper looks like we have two different cinnamons a and B and there are several different species two main species of cinnamon and a looks like a variety of cassia cinnamon it's got kind of a spicy woody almost bourbon aroma thoroughly dense bark it's hard to break you can sort of see how it unfolds when you break it the curls just open up and now let's look at B and then this looks like a Ceylon cinnamon a cinnamomum theorem you can tell by the that the density of the bark and the way that it's curled it'll break much more easily crumbles in your hands all spices are plants and cinnamon comes from the tree it's the bark of a tree or in this case two different species of trees both of the genus cinnamomum this bark is probably from a younger branch which is why it's so much lighter so much more delicate and this bark might be from the trunk or from an older branch to give it that like real real density for cinnamon B let's try tasting them so you get cinnamon this one has a nice citrusy flavor which is typical of of this variety it's a little sweet it doesn't have a very strong flavor but it's nice the cinnamon a this one is gonna be harder to eat once yeah definitely spicier the next step I think to analyze these is gonna be to grind them dump this whole thing in here alright oh wow it smells good so this is cinnamon a that looks all right yeah I mean you can immediately see that the smoke rising off of this difference in texture of this bark and the difference in color yeah much more citrusy sort of smells like pine trees and yeah it's that's great so looking at the cinnamon a it's a darker color let's let's try it yeah very spicy I'm kind of woody tastes sort of like you might find in in bourbon or or something like that where's cinnamon B let's try it still very sweet a little bit of citrus a little bit of a little bit of pine a much more delicate kind of complex flavor okay I'm pretty sure that cinnamon B is the more expensive one but let's let's find out here we go yeah alright quite a bit more expensive cinnamon B is almost twice the price of of cinnamon a one of the reasons that cinnamon B is more expensive is because this species and you can tell just by the the texture of the bark and the color this species has grown in fewer countries there's just less of it in the world but it also is a little bit higher maintenance right every one of these cinnamon sticks that we that we just ground up had to be hand rolled somebody cut them off the tree they shaved the outer bark off I would really approach these as different ingredients where cinnamon a is perfect if you want you know a spicy cinnamon flavor and a cinnamon bun or any kind of baked baked dessert where cinnamon B might be something you'd use in a savory dish or where you'd want a little bit more of a complex cinnamon flavor that's not gonna hit you over the head so hard so when you're shopping for cinnamon quality can be pretty difficult to tell so what I would recommend first of all is only buy something that has a country of origin listed on the package another thing to check for is a packing date and try to buy one that's as close to the date that you're buying the cinnamon as possible so this looks like turmeric they look very similar actually this is gonna be a tough one let's start with a so it's just like I like to shake it around a little bit it makes it easier to smell it's got actually a really nice sweet kind of gingery floral aroma it's not it's not bitter or chalky sometimes turmeric can be especially low quality turmeric can be kind of chalky it smells great turmeric B let's see yeah see this one smells a little chalky there's really not a lot going on aroma wise and that's often the case with turmeric it's really primarily used as a natural coloring but people often don't think a lot about the flavor which turmeric should have a lot of flavor I'm gonna taste a it's a really nice texture evenly ground and clumping a little bit which is a good sign means that it wasn't cut with wheat flour or a rice flour or some other kind of starch let's see yeah kind of a buttery flavor a little bit of ginger ginger at the end and turmeric is related to ginger turmeric is a root smaller and obviously brighter color than ginger but grows in a very similar way so here's turmeric a really bright vibrant orange golden color you see little flecks which is usually a good sign it means that there was no artificial dye added to it which unfortunately is pretty common with turmeric turmeric the the fresh root is is usually peeled before it's dried so you're really only getting the the pure golden inside of the root but this this looks like a really beautiful a really beautiful turmeric to me let's try turmeric be kind of a sandier texture not quite as smooth doesn't have the Flex which might mean nothing it might mean that it was dyed it's really hard to tell and I'm gonna taste a little bit of turmeric B it's got kind of a bitter mineral aftertaste not not very good and a little bit of chalkiness so it's it's pretty clear to me that turmeric a is the higher quality turmeric see if I was right [Music] turmeric a is definitely more expensive five times more expensive there are a lot of things that can drive up the price in turmeric one of them being the curcumin content which is the compound the component of turmeric that's supposed to be really good for your health curcumin above you know 3.75 or 4% that's that's a decent amount that's what you're looking for black pepper black pepper grows in a in bunches on a vine like grapes and the skin of the black pepper it's actually the dried fruit of the pepper berry the pepper starts off green and then turns yellow and orange and is red when it's fully ripened although black pepper is usually harvested before it's fully ripened and what's interesting about black pepper a is that an indication of of a lower quality maybe is that some of these have a really nice skin and some of them do not some of them are kind of waxy or they've turned white or the skin has has fallen off a little bit and when we smell pepper a smells kind of fruity kind of citrusy not a strong smell but but it's there the peppercorns and B are consistent size but smaller than the peppercorns from a you know a lot of spices are graded by size size you know like we know in apples or anything else size doesn't necessarily mean it's a better a better product a bigger apple doesn't necessarily taste better or taste sweeter so the size of black pepper a might be a higher grade but it doesn't actually mean that it's going to taste any better so let's try grounding them up a little bit when we grind it what we're looking for is a real release of aroma the the spicy citrusy fruity flavors in black pepper so this came out very white very white and color not very dark I would have preferred it to be dark when you grind pepper and you see more black than white it means you're getting a more better balance between the dark skin and the lighter pit and that's going to give you the balance between sweet and spicy the black wrinkly outer skin of the black pepper is the fruit is the dried fruit and so that's really where the sweetness and black pepper comes from the inner pit the white pit is what spicy in a black beverage let's pour some black pepper being here black pepper is flying everywhere so you'll see a little bit of moisture that kind of appears on the pepper black pepper a when I ground it looks very dry you saw the little pieces but they were very dry this immediately looks you know just just like there's a little bit of moisture in the peppercorn very citrusy kind of sharp a little bit herbal like basil all right let's try tasting I'm gonna start with black pepper a this is very spicy right up front and then kind of nothing not a very complex flavor but it tastes sour it tastes all right and then black pepper B let's try this it's a slower build a little bit of citrus and then and then a lot of heat at the end right in the back of your throat this is this is a hard choice a looks like a higher grade but B is a better flavor hands down if they were a more consistent pepper it would be it would be a tough choice but I'm gonna go with I'm gonna for that reason I'm gonna go with B B as the B as the more expensive one let's I know ya be it's four dollars an ounce and is the dollar fifty an ounce you know black pepper is one of those things that you use all the time it goes on everything it's it's one of the places where we're a better spice really does make a difference you really taste it when you're shopping for black pepper you really want to look at the peppercorn if you can taste it that's great but definitely look at it you want a consistent dark skin you want lots of little ridges and folds because that really speaks to the amount of juice that the fruit had the moisture the sugar in the fruit before it was dried all right this this is this is gonna be an easy one I can already tell just from looking at these two chili flakes which one looks more appealing as is likely to have more flavor without even smelling or tasting or anything I'm gonna start with a this is a fairly consistent chili flake sort of balance between seeds and fruit fruit is where the sweetness is in the pepper and the seed is where the capsaicin the spiciness is concentrated so depending on how spicy you want it you might choose a chili flake with a little more seed or a little less seed more seed is definitely gonna be spicier this looks pretty balanced let's smell it smells pretty fruity it's a nice nice aroma let's look at B next very irregular which which actually I kind of like it speaks to a possibly a more artisanal or less industrial process for chopping up and drying the pepper this one looks like it's probably a little less spicy fewer seeds compared to compared to the fruit and I'm much more tomatoey more savory aroma yes let's pour some out and taste it not a very strong flavor it's not super hot it's not super sweet there's a little finish that tastes kind of tastes kind of peppery I'll be all right on on pizza or something all right let's try pepper B now the seeds in pepper B are much smaller and then the flakes are much larger and more irregular they do feel a little softer let's taste a little bit hopefully it doesn't kill me this is definitely a spicier chili pepper the thing that caught my attention about B right away was the vibrancy of the color of the pepper and the irregularity of the flakes hey looks like every other chili pepper I've ever seen I think B is is the more expensive one let's let's take a look yeah yeah a lot more expensive so when you go out to buy Chili Peppers I think right off the bat you want some some glossiness you want to check the balance between seed and fruit if you like a spicier chili pepper you're gonna want more seeds if you want a sweeter pepper flake good chili flake you want fewer seeds it looks like we have some cumin - mystery kyumin's a and and B let's start with a little dull in color cumin seeds have little ridges that ridges on these look a little flat it could be an indication that they're just a little old and and the smell it see it smells okay it's not a very strong smell good cumin should smell pretty sweet cumin B the color is a little more vibrant and this yeah has a stronger a much sweeter a much sweeter smell and these these seeds it looks like they still have some stems attached to the seeds they're a little fresher a little a little a little more closer to the source closer to the plant these both look like standard variety of cumin likely grown in India would be my guess that's where a lot of the world's cumin comes from the next step is going to be to just give these a little grind mortar and pestle is a just a great very versatile tool for working with spices I'm just gonna grind these seeds up a little bit we're not trying to make a fine powder just to crush them and get a little bit more aroma and flavor so this one I'm flavor-wise yeah oh no I'm not a whole lot going on a little bit sweet all right let's strike you in the same deal just kind of grind them up a little bit you can smell them already releasing a much sweeter aroma yeah these smell great let's try those no I'm much stronger it really tasted like got a kind of bitterness tastes like it a vegetable I'm gonna guess that that this is the the more expensive one let's let's go in for the big reveal oh yeah yeah a lot more expensive this one just tastes much fresher and so you know fresher spices a shorter supply chain those that just sometimes costs a little more so when you're shopping for cumin if you can smell and taste the spice absolutely do you should you should taste sweetness you should taste nuttiness and you should taste a little bit piney a little bit herbal all right it looks like we have some paprika two very different paprika's very different colors a and B let's start with paprika a really dark color kind of a rich red Wow very smoky smells kind of like like barbecue sauce smoky and sweet this has a really nice fine texture it's already leaving a color on mice on my finger which is probably good yeah it smells great now let's try the other one paprika B the texture looks good sometimes paprika has added starch sometimes paprika or other powdered spices like this are not gluten-free because there are anti-caking agents which is just essentially a little bit of wheat flour caking is feature of the moisture that's in the paprika naturally and it's clumping that happens with paprika it makes it harder to pack jars so sometimes they'll add a little bit of wheat flour to prevent that so it's a good sign that in this one that doesn't seem like they've done that the color difference in these two could be for a whole bunch of reasons it's likely that this is just a different kind of pepper or possibly a more mixed lot of fresh peppers where when it's a more consistent darker red color they probably let the peppers ripen fully before they dried them so B doesn't have a strong aroma definitely not smoky like a is it's a little sweet it's got a fairly bitter flavor it's not very good paprika a my guess is that this pepper was smoked which is why which is what smoked paprika is I'm just gonna taste this very sweet it tastes like biting into a big red bell pepper that's great a it's really where it's at based on the color difference the dark red versus the kind of rusty orange the the aroma difference this smells really smoky this smells kind of matte the flavor difference this one is really sweet and and savory and this one is kind of bitter with a slight sweet aftertaste textures are pretty similar actually which is okay but based on those four factors I'm pretty confident that this is the this is the nicer one this is the more expensive let's let's find out yeah yeah big price difference something else that could account for the difference in color between these two is the way that it was stored because paprika is is basically a dried fruit it's very sensitive to light in ways that other spices might not be and so if this were packed in a clear package it's possible that if it were left in the Sun it would have been bleached a little bit under the lights of a supermarket or a warehouse it would have lost some of its color so when you're buying paprika buy it in a in an opaque container a metal tin or a jar that doesn't have a lot of exposure to light so in in general color is not it's not the best indication of quality but it is an indication of freshness and when you're buying paprika you should be looking for a strong smell either smoky or not if you're buying smoked paprika it should smell smoky and you want something that that really smells like you're sitting next to a campfire when you're cooking with spices be creative be experimental use them mix spices into whatever you you already like to cook don't think that you have to make a specific recipe that calls for a specific spice mix new spices into old dishes and see what happens if the worst that happens is you don't love the way they taste and you order a pizza it's not the end of the world

Channel: Epicurious

Views: 2,118,630

Rating: 4.8545861 out of 5

Keywords: cheap, cheap vs expensive, cheap vs expensive food, cinnamon, expensive, expert, price, price points, spice, spices, cheap spices, expensive spices, cheap vs expensive spices, spice expert, expensive cinnamon, best spices, how to use spices, cooking with spices, cooking spices, ethan frisch, spice mix, turmeric, cheap expensive, cheap v expensive, black pepper, chili, chili flakes, chili pepper, chili powder, cumin, paprika, smoked paprika, weird spices, luxury spices, epicurious

Id: ZYKc7Zpr5OI

Length: 18min 20sec (1100 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 22 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/michugana]

This is impressive, but the most impressive feat is how he managed to get most of the turmeric color off his hands. What kind of sorcery is at work here?

[u/Brenvol]

This man made quite the mess.

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I enjoy these videos. The best is when the expert gets it wrong, which just goes to show you that price doesn't always mean everything. There is an application for the cheap as well as the expensive.

[u/Babayaga20000]

I feel like all these vids are usually obvious to anyone.