Whole vs. Ground

Whole spices like cardamom, cinnamon sticks and coriander can be preferable to dried, crushed spices in many types of cooking. They are ideal for simmering in milk or cream mixtures to form the base of a milk pudding, panna cotta, ice cream or even frosting. It’s much easier to strain them out than it is to get rid of bits of ground spice—and it adds a delicate aroma and purity of flavor that’s hard to come by with ground spices. Try them in savory foods, too, adding them to curries and then straining them out, or crush them with the flat side of a knife to get that punchy flavor of the fresh spice. Since they’re not pre-ground, the flavor is wonderfully pronounced.