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Spices (and herbs) are essential for cooking flavoursome, tasty, interesting and creative dishes. Overall, the more the merrier, but as we are all limited by space, cost and the freshness, it makes sense to start with a basic set and develop your own "spice library" from there.

What you need depends, partially, on the type of cooking you do most often and the part of the world from which your favourite dishes come. I lie in the UK and come originally from Poland, so a lot of my meals are of Northern-European variety, but I use a lot of Italian, French and Greek inspiration and I do cook Indian, Thai and Chinese food quite often.

To start with, general advice: buy your dry spices whole, where possible and grind at home. It only takes a few seconds in a pestle and mortar, and it gives fresher flavour and massively prolongs the lifespan of the spices. When you know what you are going to use a lot of, you can buy the ones you go through quickly ready ground. What follows is my basic dozen, and then suggestions for extras depending on your culinary leanings.

Ethnic stores often offer better prices: you get significantly more of the spice in a significantly bigger packet. In the UK, this applies particularly to Indian spices, with brands like Rajah and Nisa even available in some larger supermarkets at substantially lower prices than the likes of Schwartz or even their own brands.

1) Salt. It enhances, deepens and brings up flavour. Only about 10% of people are salt-sensitive health wise, and the best way to reduce your consumption, if you are worried about it, is to avoid ready-made foods and don't offer salt on the table. But for cooking it's a must.

2) Black pepper. The most widely used seasoning in most everyday dishes, if you have salt and pepper, you have the basics for adding some flavour to your food.

3) Sweet paprika. Made from sweet pimentos, it is an essential ingredient for many curries and in Spanish and Hungarian cooking, but it's also a fantastic spice for many everyday dishes, and terribly underutilised. I use it in beef stew and hash, on burgers and in beef stew. I also sprinkle it on chicken before roasting and on chicken breasts for grilling. In addition to flavour, it gives a lovely colour! Despite being red, it doesn't always work with tomato sauces, especially when they contain chilli (cayenne), so watch out there.

4) Bay leaves. The main dried element of a bouquet garni, does wonders for soups, stock and all sauces, from white bechamel to tomato.

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