Most home cooks have a drawer or cabinet crammed full of half-used spice jars - some of them dusty, some of them years old, and most of them barely touched after the one recipe they were bought for.

A complete set of essential spices is one of the cornerstones of a well-stocked pantry. In my kitchen, I keep basic and Lebanese-specific spices. What is spice? Spices are intensely flavored dried ...