jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On 6/21/2017 8:33 PM, cshenk wrote:
> > Ophelia wrote in rec.food.cooking:
> >
> > > "Gary" wrote in message news > > > On 6/21/2017 10:35 AM, jmcquown wrote:
> > > > When Dad was 83, Mom had a hard time getting him to eat. (It
> > > > didn't help that he had Alzheimers.) There was nothing wrong
> > > > with her pot roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. But she
> > > > never really made much use of herbs and spices.
> > >
> > > No offense to Mom but that comment right there explains why he
> > > didn't care to eat her food. No herbs or spices? Bland crappy
> > > food, imo.
> > >
> > >
> > > ==
> > >
> > > Why? Not everyone likes spices you know!
> >
> > (fixed minor typo above).
> >
> > It may be a language thing here but you seem to relate the word
> > 'spices' to 'spicy' and mean hot. USA/Canada folks don't mean that
> > when they says 'spices' in the same way you might be thinking.
> > Sure, we might but it's not automatic.
> >
> Surely you know by now Ophelia and her husband don't like pepper. I
> don't mean chili peppers, just plain ground pepper, which is a spice.
>
> To me, life without pepper would be very bland indeed. But we can't
> all like the same things.
>
> Pretty much the only seasonings my mom used when I was growing up was
> salt & pepper. Occasionally garlic powder or onion powder. Herbs?
> Bay leaf in the simmered pot roast and occasionally some parsley. My
> mom's cooking mostly was pretty bland.
>
> Jill
>
> > I tend to lump herbs in with 'spices' as a generic when I refer to
> > seasonings but Gary has them separate. List of things we'd call
> > 'spices' (not even remotely conclusive): garlic powder, cinnamon,
> > mace, nutmeg, sweet or hot paprika, pepper, cardamom, cumin,
> > mustard, fenugreek (seeds, ground), ginger, 'poulty seasoning' (a
> > ubiquitous blend here you might use in stuffing and many other
> > things), sesame seeds, anise seed (ground or whole or crushed),
> > tumeric, onion powder and so on it goes. I'm sure there are
> > hundreds of them that could be meant in a generic way with 'spices'
> > by us here.
> >

LOL, my Mom's was very bland. Her main 'spice' was salt. The black
pepper came out once a year. The only other was cinnamon blended with
sugar to be used on toast. She had some bay leaves she'd gotten before
I was born, that she used once a year until I was about 14.

Yes, I grew up in a culinary derth.

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