Setting up a spice cabinet for the first time? Or just ready to spring clean your old one? Here are the herbs and spices the experts say are must-haves for every home cook.

Basil

Fresh basil is best for pesto and salads, but dried basil is excellent for slow-cooked dishes, such as stews and casseroles, says Ian Hemphill, author of "The Spice and Herb Bible."

Dried basil also is a staple for Italian foods, such as tomato sauces and soups, as well as pizza and garlic bread.

Bay

Bay leaves add a complex, earthy flavor to chicken soup, tomato and seafood dishes. It's also the secret ingredient for French bouquets garnis, Indian garam masala, many Italian and Turkish recipes, and even a good bloody Mary mix. Buy the leaves whole to simmer and remove, or grind them to a powder as needed.

Chilies

Every good cook needs at least one jar of pure chili powder or flakes. Cayenne and red pepper flakes are the most popular. Chili adds kick to any dish, whether the cuisine is Mexican, Thai, Korean, Indian, Tex-Mex or North African.

Chili powder

This blend of chili, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, paprika and other ingredients is great for seasoning tacos, bean chili, fajitas, meat, steak and many other Southwestern and Mexican favorites.

Cinnamon

Sweet cinnamon is essential for American baking, but also makes an appearance in almost every region of Asian cuisine, Indian curries and masalas, Moroccan tagines, Mexican chocolate, tea blends, and as an accent in Cajun dishes.

Powerful cassia cinnamon is the preferred version in America. Seek out true "vera" cinnamon for a more delicate, sweet seasoning. Vietnamese cinnamon offers intense flavors.

Cloves

This potent American cookie and pastry spice crosses as many borders as cinnamon. Cloves appear in many spice blends, including curry and masalas, Chinese five-spice powder, and those used for mulling, tagines, chai and pickling.

Take a hint from the French and simmer half an onion stuffed with cloves in meat stews or soups, suggests Aliza Green, author of "Field Guide to Herbs & Spices." Remove before serving for a subtle clove flavor.

Cumin

Cumin is a crucial savory spice for Mexican, Tex-Mex, Indian, Middle Eastern, Indonesian and North African cooking, says Amanda Bevill, owner of World Spice Merchants in Seattle. The seeds can be used whole to infuse rice dishes and breads or ground for stews and chili.

Curry powder

True Indian cooks prefer to create their own blends of spices for curry, but prepared blends have become a staple for Westerners looking to replicate Indian dishes. It provides instant flavor and brilliant color to rice, stews, sauteed onions and curries.

This blend often includes coriander, cumin, chili, turmeric, ginger and mustard, as well as some sweeter spices such as fenugreek, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Blends vary widely according to region, dish or manufacturer.

Ginger

This rhizome provides warmth to American baking recipes, Asian stir-fries, Jamaican jerk, barbecue blends, and Indian curry and tandoori mixes. Dried ginger is much more pungent and hot than minced or grated fresh ginger, which has a milder, almost lemony flavor.

Paprika

This mild, bright red chili pepper comes in numerous varieties. The classic sweet Hungarian paprika is a central ingredient in goulash and an accent for tuna salad and deviled eggs. It also plays a pivotal role in Mexican, Cajun, Middle Eastern and Moroccan cuisine. Try smoked paprika to add deep, savory notes to your cooking.

Nutmeg

Just a bit of freshly grated nutmeg complements almost any recipe where cinnamon also is used. It provides complex, sweet vanilla-like undertones to baked goods and ethnic cuisines. It's best to buy nutmeg whole, then grate as needed.

Oregano or marjoram

Oregano and marjoram are used widely in Mediterranean and European cuisine. Pungent oregano is a critical ingredient in southern Italian and American recipes, such as pizza, pasta, and roasts.

Marjoram - a sweet, mild variation on oregano - is popular in subtler French cuisine including stuffing, poultry, egg, fish, and vegetable dishes.

Rosemary

This savory, resinous herb is used in European and American cuisines. It goes well with many types of meat, including game, poultry, and lamb; poultry stuffing; potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and squash; zucchini and eggplant; and quick breads. Dried rosemary needs long cooking in liquid or baked goods to soften.

Thyme

While thyme does not have the same cross-cultural range as other herbs and spices, it still plays an important roll in traditional French, Italian and American dishes. It's a critical ingredient in bouquet garni, herbes de Provence and Italian blends for use in meat rubs, roasts, poultry and stuffing, tomato-based dishes, soups, stews, and potatoes.

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Splurge time

You've stocked up on the basics, so now it's time to splurge. Here are some herbs and spices for adding an eclectic - or just more worldly - touch to your spice cabinet.

• Cardamom - Sometimes called the "Queen of Spices" in India, cardamom is used in sweet and savory blends for Danish pastries, desserts and sweet baked goods, rice, chai tea and curries. Try adding a pinch of cardamom to homemade cranberry sauce for a sophisticated, sweet note.

• Coriander - While coriander - the round, tan seed of the cilantro plant - is rare in American cooking, it's a staple in African, Australian, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Mexican cuisines. Toss a teaspoon of ground coriander into meat rubs and stews for an earthy, lemony flavor.

• Fennel - The sweet anise-like flavor of these seeds provide a distinctive taste to Italian sausages and meat, Indian curries, Asian dishes, Cajun blends, and American and European baked goods. Try a teaspoon of whole fennel seeds sauteed with Italian herbs in ground beef, turkey or sausage for a meat marinara.

• Grains of Paradise - This West African spice is increasingly popular with fusion chefs as an alternative to black pepper. "These little seeds pack an exotic pepper-like kick that goes brilliantly with game," says Ian Hemphill, author of "The Spice and Herb Bible."

• Juniper berries - Piney tasting juniper berries - which give gin its distinctive flavor - complement wild game as well as duck, lamb, pork and fish. Use a few whole berries in beef stew or pot roast.

• Mustard seeds - These tiny round seeds are a staple of western and southern Indian cooking. Ground mustard's hot flavor is called on for curry, baked beans, barbecue sauce and pickled vegetables.

• Ras el hanout - This increasingly popular, complex Arabic blend of herbs and spices seasons Middle Eastern and West African lamb, game, tagine and couscous dishes. Try it on grilled flatbread brushed with olive oil.

• Saffron - Purchase only whole crocus stigmas to ensure quality for this often adulterated and extremely expensive spice. Only a few threads are needed to infuse dishes with a bittersweet flavor and brilliant orange-red color. It is common in Spanish, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes, including paella and many rice dishes.

• Star anise - Exotic-looking whole star anise seedpods can be infused in dishes and removed before serving for its sweet licorice flavor. It's essential in Asian cuisine and the primary ingredient in Chinese five-spice powder. For a sweet stir-fry, add one or two whole stars to the oil as it heats. Remove the stars before serving.

• Turmeric - This spice is often misunderstood as just being a coloring, says Hemphill. While turmeric does impart bright yellow color to any dish, it also provides a warm, earthy base for Indian and Thai curries. Add a pinch to poultry-based soups for subtle flavor and golden color.

• Vanilla - No, not the extract. Whole beans amp up the sweet, creamy vanilla flavor in ways an extract can't. Use it in desserts including ice cream, creme brulee, baked goods and homemade sweet liqueurs. Keep a few whole beans in your sugar canister to infuse extra flavor.

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Keep it moving

If the contents of your spice cabinet have been around for a year or more, it's time to spring clean your seasonings.

Herbs and spices are the miracle workers of delicious cuisine. But over time they lose their intensity, meaning that 2-year-old bottle of dried oregano hiding in the back of the cabinet won't add much pizazz to your pasta. Here are some tips for keeping your dried herbs and spices top notch:

• Purchase in small quantities to ensure you finish them before the flavor dissipates (six months to a year).

• When possible, opt for whole spices, which you can grind in seconds at home with any blade coffee grinder. Whole spices retain their flavor and complexity much longer than pre-ground spices do, which can quickly lose aroma and flavor, says Jill Norman, author of "Herbs & Spices: The Cook's Reference."

• Buy seasonings from retailers with high turnover, ensuring the freshest possible product. They should be vivid in color and bold in scent when rubbed, nearly what they would've been like fresh.

• Store herbs and spices in airtight glass, ceramic or stainless steel containers in a cool, dark spot, such as a cabinet. Open racks expose seasonings to heat, light, oxygen and moisture, which ruin them.

• As seasonings near the end of their lifespans, find uses for them that won't reflect their age. Blend savory seasonings with salt for use in soups or on popcorn. Cinnamon and other sweet spices can be blended with sugar (granulated or powdered) and used to dust buttered toast, cakes, cookies or hot chocolate.