Have you ever wondered why American seasonings feel different from the ones you have used in another country? Maybe you’ve even dreamed about recreating a dish with one specific seasoning in mind? I have. Because some dishes simply aren’t the same without that one crucial ingredient. And while you can find the closest alternatives, they can never replace the unique fingerprint a specific ingredient lends a dish. Think capers vs canned anchovies in pasta puttanesca or oyster sauce vs a vegan alternative. They’re similar but will never be identical. While this is true of any ingredient, my recent trip to Europe made me think differently about one of the most overlooked items in my kitchen: the humble seasoning jar.
The Quiet Power Of Seasonings
Seasonings are some of the least celebrated items in my kitchen even though we go through seasoning at a respectable pace. They are one of the easiest, no-brainers for a quick addition of flavor, whether you’re in a hurry to put together a quick school lunch or a quick weeknight meal. Unlike fresh herbs, dried herbs don’t spoil and can add plenty of flavor with very little effort.
For all the mundaneness these items bring to your pantry, they have a quiet power. They sit patiently in a spice jar holder or strewn about in your kitchen drawer, waiting to elevate your next plate of pasta or potato at a moment’s notice.
Yet despite relying on them for years, I never really gave them much thought.
That changed on my recent trip to Europe.
Why Cooking In Airbnbs Is Part Of The Travel Experience
I was not looking for gourmet ingredients. I simply needed an easy way to add flavor to the dishes I cooked in our Airbnb without buying bunches of fresh herbs that would inevitably be thrown away at the end of our stay.
One of my favorite things to do when I travel overseas is to cook in Airbnbs. It’s a fun way to truly immerse yourself in local culture, not just the historical side of it. You get to try local flavors and ingredients and get a true taste of that region. You may also get pleasantly surprised by how daily ingredients that you cook with back home behave differently despite looking and tasting similar in other countries. For example, tomatoes taste wildly different depending on the variety and region of produce. Or the sourness of plain yogurt can change as the cultures change from one region to another.
Despite it all, airbnbs are that little home away from home to bring a sense of familiarity in a foreign land, similar to my daughter packing a doll for the trip. Also, who wouldn’t want an option that helps you stay within budget while also being healthier for your family?
Do American Seasonings Feel Like A Compromise Perfumed By Rosemary?
On our first stop in London, I got a jar of italian seasoning like I always do. They are a fast and efficient way to add good flavor to your dish. It’s obviously not as good as the original but better than buying a big bunch of fresh herbs that you may not be able to use up anyway. The seasoning I got was some random generic in-house brand of Sainsbury’s. It should have been just ok but I wasn’t prepared for how flavorful it turned out to be.
As someone who goes through quite a few jars of seasoning every year, I am always used to fresh jars of dried herbs. So to taste a seasoning that was much fresher than the ones I was used to back home triggered a note of curiosity. I decided to use the UK seasoning sparingly and save up this little jar to take back home to the US.
Our next stop was France. I got myself another jar of italian seasoning to use for cooking there and decided to hold off on using the UK one until I went back home because it was that good. This time, I got a brand called Ducros, a regular household name in France. Nothing fancy. This one was even better than the UK one.
The engines of curiosity were in motion. I went down memory lane thinking about every seasoning that made a mark in my culinary journey. I am not saying that the seasonings I bought in America are bad but there are only a few that are worthy of a place in my pantry. And a little part of me felt gaslit by the regular household staples like italian seasoning which now that I have tried my fair share of seasonings from around the world feels like a compromise perfumed by rosemary.
Why American Seasonings Are Different from the Rest of the World
Italian seasonings are some of the most practical household seasonings that almost every kitchen has. The perfect blend of herbs make it ideal for adding a dash of flavor to weeknight meals with no effort. And how America could have missed this opportunity when many countries approached this differently bothered me. The America I know is known for making things super easy for its people, especially in regular household things. The customization and convenience is unparalleled.
In my penchant to not give up, I dug deeper and made an interesting obvservation. World blends tended to lean heavily on garlic whereas brands like McCormick just define things differently. And it took immigrant me only 15 long years to realize this little fact.
Immigrants understand the pain of landing in the wrong aisle because of one small difference in phrasing. What is a “line” in the U.S. is a “queue” to those from British colonies. Then there are spelling differences, such as color vs colour. It feels almost ridiculous how something so simple can mean something entirely different in another country. While I have faced a fair share of differences over the years, I was pleasantly surprised one more difference after 15 long years: Italian Seasoning.
Back in India or in many countries, such as France or Mexico, if you ask for Italian seasoning, you’re very likely to get a ‘one and done’ jar. American seasonings, on the other hand, like customization and quite literally allow the cook to create their own blend. So let’s say your recipe does not call for onion, you simply skip it. What italian seasonings mean here is a simple bouquet garni of herbs dried and bottled up for you in a jar. Any additional seasonings like chili flakes or garlic, the companies leave it to you, the cook to decide. What I thought was a culinary miss might be a capitalistic and culinary win.
How to Find the Perfect Italian Seasoning in an American Supermarket
So is there an alternative to the seasonings like The Ducros here in America? The answer is yes. Americans like to be specific about everything. As an immigrant, this is yet another cultural difference that I have learnt (like sidewalk vs platform). Being able to customize might be great for home cooks provided they have the time and the mental and physical bandwidth for it. But if your capacity is maxed at shake it, stir it, and set it, an all-purpose seasoning that has everything included in it, sort of like a herbal mirepoix might be a lifesaver.
For a seasoning with chili flakes, you should be looking specifically for a pasta seasoning here in America. The closest alternative I found is this one by McCormicks or for a salt-free version, this one by Dash.
The Unique Fingerprint of a Good Seasoning
The truth is seasonings can vary in taste and that’s the beauty of a seasoning jar. While seasonings occupy the most boring spot in the kitchen hierarchy, they are in fact some of the quiet engines behind a recipe’s success. I still remember that oregano seasoning packet that came complimentary with my pizza in India in 1998. Or this New Orleans Cajun Seasoning that was there in a condo in Hawaii.
Seasonings have to be that special for you to remember the distinct flavor of it from decades ago. If you can’t remember your seasoning jar like that, it lacks that unique fingerprint and it’s time in your kitchen has come to an end! In my case, it’s time for the italian seasoning to go and replace it with the spicy italian seasoning, which may be more suited for our family’s palette.