Yes, before you EAT it - Not before you cock it

Don't mean adding extra to ready meals, of if we use spices in cooking from scratch?

When I hear gfy and food preparation I think of the movie waiting when that Larry sends her food back...

Biggest culinary crime in general is under-seasoning. It's easy enough to fix that though.

You can build a whole meal off Garam Masala. Fry up some chicken fillets til they're golden brown, in a separate pan bring 600ml cream to the boil with Garam Masala to taste (at least a tablespoon from memory but I like to REALLY taste it so i keep adding until I tihnk it's right) put in a fair amount of ribboned spinach and reduce the heat to a simmer. Wait until the spinach completely reduces (will be like 20% of it's original afro size) and add the chicken, season liberally with salt and pepper and hopefully your cream has reduced to a reasonably thick consistency. Maybe add some marsala to taste when simmering. It's basically this creamy garam marsala sauce that happens to have proteins and vegetables in it. Delicious.

Only time I've had Sriracha sauce was at Momofuku with the famous pork buns. I really should try and replicate them..

Cayenne whenever appropriate...

No, I dont mean do you add salt n pepper to a ready meal... I do cook on occasion from scratch, and I often find myself adding hotter things to my 'concoction'

I was however considering on getting one of those spice rack sets that hold about 20 or so diff bottles of stuff, and having a play.

So in other words, I just wondered if this is an outdated pointless concept, or worth a punt? That said though, its not like I cook from scratch every day, so I just wondered if it was a thing people normally bother to do or not.

Sriracha sauce is the condiment of the GODS!

:thumbsup for habanero

i use pepper and chicken bullion power in nearly every thing i cook

A mill with quality black pepper to grind and Tabasco sauce are my best allies in the kitchen.

It depends on the recipe. If the recipe calls of herbs and spices, I use herbs and spices. I mainly cook thai and indian food, so need a very wide range of spices to make that as authentically as I can.

I've never heard of anyone thinking herbs and spices are outdated?

Americans seem to use the word "spicy" to mean "hot". Whereas obviously there are a massive range of spices that have no heat at all. So maybe some confusion there...

Tarragon is your Friend

Yes, I do a white wine/cream/tarragon sauce for chicken, delicious

Needs to be fresh though, I find the dry stuff too overpowering.