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People Debate Which Spices Are The Best

People Debate Which Spices Are The Best
Paula Barreca Barnes/Unsplash

Here we go starting food fights again.

No regrets, we love watching you all lose it in the comments section defending your weirdly obscure food hills. We love dying on those hills right there with you because we're just as passionate about snackage as y'all are.


Reddit user JuuuEi asked:

"What's the best spice?"

Did you know there are people out there who think paprika is flavorless and that black pepper is too spicy?

Yeah, this article is about to be a journey.

Paprika

"Paprika, but there's a caveat"

"Most of what’s sold in supermarkets is flavorless dust. Paprika needs to be high quality and fresh."

"It’s actually very easy to make - you take red bell peppers and dry them in a dehydrator or a low oven. Then grind them into powder."

- murrion

"You have to actually get fresh paprika."

"If you're buying some store brand you are probably getting super stale, flavorless powder."

"I never thought much of it for a long time until I got nicer quality. I use it in so many Southern recipes."

- superdave820

"Agree. Paprika and it’s relatives around the world, like bere bere and powdered chilis, for instance - so many cuisines have a similar spice - are great and Red Pepper flakes aren’t to be disrespected either."

- RDAM60

Paprika GIF by HOFER SlovenijaGiphy

Cumin

"Cumin"

"I regularly grind cumin, salt, and pepper together and season everything with it. Gives food such an earthiness and it just plain smells amazing."

- cyclenaut

"It’s SO good. Not spicy enough to hurt, but warming and so good in both sweet and savoury dishes… chefs kiss"

- AmIRightPeter

"Cumin all the way every day."

"The smell just makes me happy and the taste brings me back to being 20. Growing up we had very bland - good but terribly bland food like bacon and cabbage, stew, coddle, all types of potato and the odd salad."

"I left home at 17, by the age of 19/20 I was a regular at the Hare Krishna Sunday feasts and cumin blew my mind. I absolutely love it."

- galwaycitydub

"Cumin. Few spices alone can completely transform a dish’s flavor profile like cumin."

"In Indian food, the amount of cumin literally affects what dish you are making. It’s a standout ingredient in Mexican food. It separates Central Asian food from its western and eastern cousins."

"I’d wager Cumin is so powerful that it’s prevented from having center stage on the table like pepper. But not in a 'too much makes it inedible' way like clove. More so like 'I didn’t plan on my burger tasting like a kabob today' way."

- mrglass8

Curry GIF by MasterChefAUGiphy

Fresh Black Pepper

"I love spices and had a good think on the question before looking at the responses... but I had to settle on pepper. It's practically universal."

"Garlic comes in as a close second but I personally categorize it as an aromatic instead of a spice."

- legendariel

"Fresh ground black pepper, pick your coarseness, it's good on everything. Even a lot of sweet dishes can benefit from a pinch of it."

- Android69beepboop

"This is it right here. Most people have had terrible pre-ground pepper or just as bad, low quality cheap peppercorns that taste like dirt."

"It is the best spice that has suffered the vanilla treatment. So ubiquitous people ignore it and is usually found as a low-quality alternative despite being so popular for a reason."

- Cha-La-Mao

"I cannot taste pepper, only feel the “heat” from it. If a food even has the smallest bit, it makes the entire meal entirely inedible because I taste nothing and only feel my mouth on fire."

"I can eat all the garlic, horseradish, etc, but no black pepper or chili peppers. I literally can’t tell the difference between a jalapeño or ghost pepper, it’s all just pain to me lol."

"I wish I understood what the rest of the world tastes when then eat pepper :( "

- ElleCay

bart simpson restaurant GIFGiphy

Cinnamon

"Cinnamon."

"Anytime something tastes good and someone asks what’s in that… the answer is invariably cinnamon. It should be on tables in restaurants along with salt and pepper!"

- CarbonSteelSA

"Yes! Cinnamon desserts are of the gods."

- hmbmelly

"Cinnamon in coffee grounds before brewing makes for DIVINE coffee !"

- lookonthebrightside7

"I love doing this – makes the kitchen smell heavenly."

"Just be careful when sleepily making coffee - I’ve grabbed cumin without noticing more times than I’d like to admit lol"

- shirleysparrow

Iced Coffee GIF by CinnabonGiphy

Turmeric

"Turmeric, tasty and anti-inflammatory"

- norfolkdiver

"It's the 'secret' ingredient in a lot of Latin American cuisine, not just Indian."

"It's not just one flavour, it can be changed into dozens of different flavours with very little help."

- Captcha_Imagination

"Turmeric is basically a wonder drug."

"It’s a potent anti-cancer agent, shows significant benefits for diabetes, is as beneficial to artery health as regular exercise, and much, much more."

- ashomsky

Cardamom

"Cardamom."

"Seriously, tho: add some cardamom to your pancake or waffle batter, game changer."

- Remoru

"Ever tried black cardamom?"

"It is like the most intense, smokey, woody, fragrant spine you will ever try. I put them in curries and eat them whole, it is amazing."

- Iwanttosleep8hours

"Try it in spice cookies like Snickerdoodles! Deelish!!"

- silvervm

"Add it to sugar cookie dough, vanilla ice cream, or hot cocoa."

"You can also put a handful of whole cardamom pods into basmati rice when making rice to go with curry. You don't eat the pods, but it makes the whole batch of rice taste and smell fancier."

- tractiontiresadvised

Cardamom Ahmed Amin GIF by NETFLIXGiphy

Saffron

"Depends on how you define spice but I’m a big fan of Saffron."

"I know it’s expensive, but god damn just a tiny pinch of it can completely change a dish in my opinion."

- tortillakingred

Celebrity Masterchef Saffron GIF by MasterChefAUGiphy

Almost Bacon

"Smoked paprika, if you haven’t tried swapping it in, definitely do so."

- undead_opossum

"Smoked paprika has the most amazing flavour. Regular paprika is flavourless."

- Apprehensive_Egg6077

"Straight up smoked paprika."

"Since I’ve stopped eating as much meat it’s as close as I can get to bacon flavoured vegetables."

- DarthJiveTurkey

"When I first discovered smoked paprika in a meal kit, I was blown away by the flavor. It almost smelled bacon-y. I now make that recipe all the time."

- a-tiny-pizza

"Smoked paprika. Makes everything taste like you added sausage!"

- Tall_Mickey

food porn bacon GIF by HuffPostGiphy

Cayenne

"Cayenne pepper."

- adriatic_harmony

"Always gotta have cayenne on the spice rack."

- Hydra_Master

"Yes finally! It took me ages to find this one. Cayenne is the stuff off the gods."

- lularose1611

"Forgot about his love for cayenne!"

"To me cayenne pepper > black or white pepper."

- adriatic_harmony

season 1 netflix GIF by Gilmore Girls Giphy

Ginger

"Ginger for me."

- ok_im_trying_again

"Ginger supremacy."

- GRZ_KIMI

"I was all for Posh Spice myself"

- stevebobeeve

"Ginger embodied the overall spirit of Girl Power the most and had the best story arc (and a great autobiography) but I've always been particularly fond of Baby."

"Emma Bunton's first 2 solo albums were pop gems."

- PeterCrissOnTheDrums

ginger spice girl power GIFGiphy

Beyond Standard

"It’s a blend, but: Capetown Curry"

"Similar to standard curry, but a slightly broader flavor and just a tiny hint of tangy. Excellent on popcorn, also eggs, among many other things."

- holmgangCore

More GIF by Shorty AwardsGiphy

In Their Own Way

"There is nothing that can be labelled as a 'best' spice. Every spice is special and beneficial in its own way."

"Turmeric has anti-bacterial, anti-septic and anti-inflammatory properties. It is also rich in anti-oxidants. The milk helps in easing body pains, menstrual cramps, boosting immunity and providing relief from cold and cough."

"Cinnamon has anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. It has a sweet and earthy flavour. You can add cinnamon to your curries, desserts, cakes, pancakes and oats."

"Ginger contains gingerol which has powerful medicinal and benefits like helping in digestion, reducing nausea, fighting common cold and flu. It may also help in weight loss, lower blood sugar levels and ease menstrual pains."

"Green Cardamom has high amounts of anti-oxidants, helps in reducing blood pressure, has anti-inflammatory properties, may help in improving digestive problems and help in treating infections because of its anti-bacterial properties."

"Jeera is a good source of potassium and iron, builds good immunity, is packed with anti-oxidants and has anti-bacterial properties as well. It helps in digestion, are a good source of iron, controls blood cholesterol, promotes weight loss and prevents food-borne diseases."

- AbhishekTSM

Bring It In The Goldbergs GIF by ABC NetworkGiphy

The Best Commercials

"Old Spice....I'm on a horse now."

- [Reddit]

"Old Spice"

- dependonmemes

"Old Spice of course"

- jennysook

Old Spice Yes GIFGiphy

Biased

"In my experience, cinnamon for sweets, garlic for everything else. You can't go wrong with them."

"People would think I'd be biased against garlic since I'm from Transylvania - but nope! Love it."

- SlothActionForce

Art Vampire GIFGiphy

Cumin Around

"I don't know about best, but I love cumin."

- Brieflydexter

"Cumin makes everything more delicious."

- gaybe88mph

"I’ve just discovered Black Cumin. I put it in everything now."

- ilikecatsandukulele

Cross Eyed Dan Aykroyd GIF by Jason ClarkeGiphy

So Salty

"Salt. Without it any food will not taste good."

- Hypn0231

"Salt … It’s literally in everything and that’s why it’s always on the table."

- BanannyMousse

Stephen Curry Reaction GIF by MOODMANGiphy

Classic Flavor

"Vanilla people, it’s vanilla."

"Vanilla is a classic. How is this not everyone's first choice?"

- SoyLuisHernandez

Ice Cream Eating GIFGiphy

The Green Lid

"Garlic salt."

"But specifically the one at costco with the green lid."

- livewumbo

"All garlic salt is good, but green lid garlic salt hits different."

- [Reddit]

Licking Jackie Chan GIFGiphy

This Moment of Honesty

"I'm too Indian to answer this thread. 🤣"

- milk_y_bae

Bollywood Indian GIF by SAATH MNGiphy

You didn't honestly think we were going to make it through a spice article without a Spice Girls reference did you?

C'mon now. Y'all know I live for a good late 90's/early 00s reference!

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Men Break Down The Weirdest Things Someone's Ever Said To Them After Sex

"Reddit user ella-es-julia asked: 'Men Break Down The Weirdest Things Someone's Ever Said To Them After Sex'"

People say the darndest things after -- and sometimes during -- lovemaking.

Maybe it's the euphoria.

Maybe it's the adrenaline.

Maybe it's the tequila.

It's always good to have a kind-hearted joke on hand or a generic compliment.

Or maybe just grab your belongings and skedaddle.

Redditor ella-es-julia wanted to hear about the craziest pillow talk stories, so they asked:

"Men of Reddit: What's the weirdest thing a girl said to you after sex?"

The weirdest I ever got was... "What city am I in again?"

Geography matters.

Morbid Much?

In Bed Home GIFGiphy

"Met girl, went on date, brought girl home, had the sex, finished the sex, laying there she says 'What would you do if I died right now?' and demanded an actual answer."

Vixxay

Meow

"Not to me, but as she walked over to the bathroom after the deed, she said 'I just did your owner' to my cat. Sexiest thing that ever happened to me."

shlanky369

"My Fiancé and I were about to start going at it when the cat appeared from under the bed and stared at me. I went, 'Babe the cat is here. I don't like how he's staring at my boobs."

"Fiancé grabbed the cat and yeeted him into the hallway with the phrase, 'Get out you weird pervert.'"

"The cat proceeded to (without his claws) smack the door over and over again while screaming for a few minutes straight. Pervert."

Trumpet6789

POP!

"'I need you to take me to the hospital. Something is now bleeding and hurts.'"

"Turns out her ovarian cyst popped. We're still together with the running joke of sex so good it put her in the ER."

DasBatt

"Ah ah ah, 2 hemorrhagic cysts ruptured, I was bleeding internally, but only a little bit. I'm still impressed by how quickly you went from a naked sex stupor to being ready and carrying me to the car. Good times."

"In the ER when they asked me what happened all I could do was shout 'we were f**kin!' through my tears. That memory still makes me laugh."

Straystar-626

Damn it's Good

"We were going at it for some time then her face went instantly from 'damn it's good' to full-on crying. I stop, ask her what's wrong and she tells me 'I can't cheat on my boyfriend, it is wrong.'"

"So this is when I learned that the girl that I met on a dating website and that I started seeing 3 weeks before and that she told me she was single had a boyfriend for over 5 years. Got her to talk more, and she told me she was on the dating website to see if there were guys better than her boyfriend so she could end up with someone better."

"This was like 20 years ago, a coworker I have right now knows her (his girlfriend is like a distant relative of hers) and I learned she had 5 different boyfriends since then, cheated on all of them except the last one (for now). She was also a cam model in secret, one of the boyfriends was a high-paying customer."

draftstone

A Binding Contract

"'Pleasure doing sex business with ya.' We then shook hands."

"Still together 5 years later!"

Tatarstan

It's nice when people who have great sex make great partners.

And it all starts with a handshake.

Sleep on It

“'I don’t usually say this but, yeah, you can stay.'"

lennyukdeejay

"Did you high-five after that? Seems like that statement called for it."

EvilNinjaX24

"This is the best one."

TomKhatacourtmayfind

Tiny Dancer

"Not really weird but I slept with this girl while backpacking Asia, she was also a backpacker. After a bit of chillin'/talking, I got up to get dressed, she looked at my flaccid manhood and said 'You're quite shy when you're not excited.' I thought it was hilarious."

fleetwoodsackk

"That's a much better way to put it. My wife, when we were just dating and had moved in together and eventually saw it flaccid just said 'Aww, it's so little.' Thanks, hun, exactly what every guy wants to hear."

striker180

Fine!

"She said 'If I get pregnant I'm keeping it.' I was dumbfounded and when I didn't respond quickly enough she got really agitated like I had hurt her feelings and yelled 'Fine! You don't have to be involved if you don't want to!'"

"We had just met that night. My condom use skyrocketed after that night."

Fullyme

"When I was a poverty-stricken college student I was banging a girl who said, 'If you get me pregnant I’ll take you for everything you own.' I said, 'All I own is my bicycle. You want that?'”

OrwellWasRight101

Amen

"Best weird compliment I ever got was 'Damn boy, you f**k like the Devil!'"

"I married her, we still goin' at it."

BeBearAwareOK

Well, these certainly created some lasting relationships... or hilarious tales to tell their friends.

Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.

woman in black pants and red tank top
Jakayla Toney on Unsplash

Giving compliments is pretty easy, although most of us don't do it often enough.

Accepting compliments can be much harder.

Too many of us immediately shift into disclaimers to explain why we don't deserve the praise.

But we just need to say thank you—even if the compliment is a little odd.

Keep reading...Show less
Woman standing alone in the rain
Neal E. Johnson on Unsplash

We can all agree that, as fun as it's supposed to be, the dating scene can be really, really hard.

Here's the secret: as hard as the dating scene can be to navigate, some of the trouble lies with us. We may not to be able to find a long-term partner or a date at all because of something that we're doing.

But when a friend is in this situation, it can be really hard to tell them the brutal truth about their dating history.

Redditor teekzer asked:

"What is causing your friend to remain single that you don't have the heart to tell them?"

Chasing Deadends

"He keeps hanging on to the past and spending all his time hanging out with ex-girlfriends who are unavailable, or women who like him but he doesn’t romantically like."

- SqueakySnapdragon

Baby Talk

"I always wondered why she couldn't get a date because she is gorgeous until I saw her flirting with someone."

"The first night they met, flirted, and swapped numbers. Then, she was immediately clingy, talking in a baby voice to him, and making baby noises."

- robocop_robocop

Body Odor

"I can smell them. Everyone can smell them."

- not-read-gud

"You should find a way to tell them, it might hurt but they'll appreciate it."

- iciclesnbdayclothes

The Nice Guy Mindset

"He really is not as nice of a person as he thinks he is."

- Rusti3dp

"The ones who claim this rarely are."

- SummerOfMayhem

Impossible Standards

"The people they like aren’t real. They are idealized, cartoonish caricatures. Now my friend himself has a lot to offer in my opinion, but he is looking for a person who doesn’t exist. Hard to find something that’s not there."

- Sufficient-Spell9935

"I have a friend who started dating his flatmate after being really into her for a while, and then after a week or two said something like, 'Dating you doesn't feel as good as I thought it would,' TO HER."

"He basically torpedoed his own potential relationship because of his own ideal fantasy, and to be honest, I don't know if he actually realized he'd created an unrealistic standard in his own head."

"He's been single for the last decade, his mental health has only got worse in the time I've known him despite therapy, and I think he's probably so detached from 'appropriate dating behavior' at this point that he could be single for the rest of his life."

- fish993

Questionable Humor

"Brother-in-law, not friend. But he makes the same jokes about poop and farts all the time. Like, constantly."

"Yes, some women like potty humor, but they usually also want it to be funny."

"He is also very negative; finds insult or something wrong with any situation."

- EatYourCheckers

Living in Fantasy Land

"He lies to himself about almost everything. He lives in fantasy land."

"He thinks he's in the gym five days a week, eats great, climbs mountains, goes camping, and makes loads of money."

"In reality, he's at the pub five days a week, over eats like s??t, went on one hike in January, can't hold a job, and lives paycheck to paycheck..."

"If you were to confront him with this reality, it wouldn't even get through to him."

- Fit_Yogurtcloset_291

Mismatched Attraction

"The type of guys she claims she likes isn't what she's actually attracted to."

"She keeps saying how much she loves shy introverted sensitive guys but when she finds one and dates him suddenly, she's like, 'He's not outgoing enough, doesn't speak his mind enough, and is too shy!'"

"I kind of think she has this 'I can fix him' syndrome and doesn't really acknowledge it. Like, she's attracted to the idea of a typical shy guy but thinks once they're in a relationship they'll suddenly be more open and turn into the guy she actually wants. That's not how it works!"

- Disig

Poor Self-Esteem

"She is so lovely. So kind, so generous, and so beautiful. But her crippling lack of self-esteem is so huge, it's visible from space, and her anxiety (and I'm 99% sure her undiagnosed ADHD) means that when she's at all nervous, she talks at 100 miles an hour in several directions at once."

"It's like being handed eight happy Labrador puppies to try and hold in your arms. I so badly want her to be happy and feel fulfilled but even I find it tiring sometimes."

- butwhatsmyname

The Negative Attitude

"I have two of these."

"One is the most talented, smartest, wonderful person I know and I wish I could pull the gremlins out of their brain so they could be happy."

"The other is self-fulfilling proficiency f**king up their life. He's not unlovable, or ugly, or uncared for, but walking through the world expecting rejection at all turns and living in a fog of negativity is what makes him unattractive to be around."

"So-and-so isn't hotter than you, that's not the reason they're getting more friends and lovers, but they are more positive and interested than you, and people are attracted to that company."

- cool_username_iguess

Just Pure Arrogance

"For my husband’s friend, it’s the selfish arrogance. I want what I want, and the subtext was that he never cared about what his girlfriend wanted."

"He would only go places he wanted to go, which never included her friends or family. He wanted to spend all his money on 'collectibles' related to sci-fi movies, DVDs, figurines etc."

"Engagement rings were a waste of money, investing, or buying a house ditto, no compromises were possible, he said NO, and no discussions were entertained."

"His opinion on every topic was the correct one, and he was not interested in your opinion, or listening to extra facts he did not know that might change his mind."

"He was once young and good-looking, and he thought he could find someone else when she walked when he was 32. They had dated for close to a decade. During the relationship, he had started to stack on the weight and losing his hair and he was not able to find a replacement."

"Now he is 49 and hasn’t had a girlfriend since. He still has not bought a house and they cost double what they did when they were dating, and his rent has tripled. He does have a copy of all his favorite movies in every format: VHS, DVD, AND BlueRay, a whole bedroom is dedicated to storing them, if you can get in there. His house is a hoarder's paradise."

"He says the reason no one wants him is because he is fat and bald, and it does not help, but it’s not the major turnoff."

"As for his ex, I don't really know what happened to her. She left all of us behind when they broke up. I did hear she got married, but no updates after that. She is a sweetheart, I wish all the good things for her."

- vicki153

Impossible to Move Forward

"Summarizing two types of my single friends:"

"Super successful, smart, funny, and good-looking. They also tend to go for folks who leave them on read for days. Their insecurities are their worst enemies and I think are the biggest factor of them chasing after partners who don’t want to be partners."

"Other friends don’t know how to commit to anything, including a job. It almost feels like a 'it’ll happen when it happens' type of ideology and so they don’t even try to make things happen? They act like things will happen on their own? So they’ll meet a person and then that’s it. Meet cute dead in the water."

- thunderkitty_

Too Desperate

"Desperation. From laughing way too hard at mediocre jokes to bringing up marriage on the first date, she reeks of it."

"We have all tried talking to her about it to no avail. The sad thing is that if she was just her regular funny, smart, relaxed self, then men would be falling over themselves trying to get her number."

- Julia_Sugarbaker123

A Want List

"Her standards are excessively too high. She brings nothing to a relationship. She's a walking contradiction, all of which is why she is single."

"I think it's great to have standards and high standards but hers is just a checklist of wants."

- Theunpolitical

Height Insecurities

"He’s convinced women won’t like him because he’s short. I keep telling him I know plenty of guys just as short as him in great relationships, I’ve dated guys as short as him in the past. He just refuses to believe it."

- MichaSound

"I dated a guy who was four feet, nine inches, and I'm five feet, four inches. He had such an amazing strong personality that you never noticed his height."

"I did find kissing standing up weird; the motions are so different when it's swapped."

"The relationship ended for other reasons than his height."

- lonelyronin1

Alternatively, Open to Feedback

"I had a friend who finally did just ask. He came up to the girls in our group and just let us have an open conversation. I'm sure it was awkward and uncomfortable for him, but we gently laid out some issues. He cut his hair, got some new clothes, and (the big one) started therapy."

"A couple of years later, guess who's got a wife and a wonderful child?"

- Stars-in-the-night

It's so disheartening to see the people we care about unable to have something that they would find so fulfilling like a long-term relationship.

But it's even worse when the reasons behind it are things they could work on, if we only had the guts to tell them or if they were open to hearing it.