What spices and seasonings you keep in your kitchen will depend on your own personal taste and what style of cooking you like to do but when it comes to cooking with spices there are several spices that are commonly used in recipes from around the globe.
Next to salt and pepper these spices are used by cultures around the globe.
No matter what style of cooking you prefer to do chances are good that at point or another you'll run into a recipe that calls for these spices or you'll taste these spices in your meal at a restaurant: 1.
Bay leaf Bay leaves are actual leaves.
They start out as a dark green color but when they have been dried and packaged they will fade to a pale green and are very brittle.
  These leaves have a very strong scent and they are on the spicy side.
When you use bay leaves in a dish you should cook the dish with the leaves in the dish and then remove the leaves before serving the dish unless you want to use them as a garnish.
  Bay leaves are essential in many Mediterranean, French, Moroccan, and Turkish dishes.
  Bay leaves are also commonly used in curries of all kinds.
  When you're making soup, marinades, stew or soup stock it's common to find bay leaf on the recipe.
2.
Caraway seed Caraway seeds are actually a dried fruit.
These small brown seeds have a nutty, slightly licorice taste that is sharp and sweet.
Caraway seed is best known as the spice that gives Rye bread its distinctive flavor.
Caraway seeds are added to many breads to give them added flavor.
If you bake bread at home you will need to have Caraway seed stocked in your pantry.
Caraway seed is often used in German and British cooking although the Caraway seed originally came from Egypt.
The first recorded use of the Caraway seed in food was from an Egyptian document dating from 1552 BC.