TOP TEN SPICES AND THE MOST SPICY CITIES

Utah residents are using a lot more herbs and spices than they did 20 years ago. But on McCormick & Company's list of the top 50 "Super-Spiced" cities, Salt Lake City only ranks 43, sandwiched between Cincinnati and Charlotte, N.C. 

McCormick, the Maryland-based spice and herb company, considers some seasonings as "super spices" for their natural antioxidant qualities. They ranked the cities that use the most of these, based on spice category grocery sales from Sept. 2009 to Oct. 2010. (So all those old jars still sitting in your spice cabinet didn't count!)

Ranked alphabetically, the "super spices" are:

Black pepper

Chili powder

Cinnamon

Cloves

Cumin

Garlic powder

Ginger

Oregano

Red peppers (including paprika)

Rosemary

Thyme

Turmeric

And which cities use the most of them?

New York, Chicago and Los Angeles are the top three "super-spiced" cities, which would seem logical, since these are big cities with large ethnic populations. But the great foodie city of San Francisco doesn't even make the top 20. It's ranked 23, just below Oklahoma City. Having visited Oklahoma City many times (and just returned from another trip there last week) I will say there seems to be a lot of interest in both barbecue and Mexican dishes. I was surprised to see New Orleans ranked below Charleston. Having done a lot of taste-testing in both cities, it seemed to me that Charleston's traditional dishes were just a tad more bland than the Cajun cuisine of New Orleans. 

The survey pointed out a few other surprises. For instance, Philadelphia consumed more than 176,000 pounds of garlic powder. Charleston, S.C., used nearly 9,000 pounds of oregano last year.

Los Angeles consumed more than 208,000 pounds of cinnamon — that's a lot of cinnamon toast. This sweet spice has been linked in studies to controlling blood sugar levels.

San Antonio, home to Tex-Mex, used more cumin than any other city in the nation — 98,000 pounds.

Here's the list of McCormick's "Super-Spiced" cities:

1. New York

2. Chicago

3. Los Angeles

4. Dallas/Ft Worth

5. San Antonio/Corpus Christi, Texas

6. Houston

7. Memphis, Tenn.

8. Philadelphia

9. Charleston, S.C,

10. Jackson, Miss.

11. New Orleans

12. Albuquerque, N.M,

13. Atlanta

14. St. Louis

15. Phoenix

16. Grand Rapids, Mich.

17. Sacramento, Calif.

18. Roanoke, Va.

19. Birmingham, Ala.

20. Baltimore, Md.

21. Raleigh, N,C.

22. Oklahoma City

23. San Francisco/Oakland

24. Hartford, Conn.

25. Nashville, Tenn.

26. Indianapolis

27. Norfolk, Va.

28. Springfield, Ill.

29. San Diego

30. Harrisburg, Penn.

31. Seattle/Tacoma

32. Cleveland, Ohio

33. Miami/Ft Lauderdale, Fla.

34. Omaha, Neb.

35. Detroit

36. Kansas City, Kan.

37. Louisville, Ky.

38. Tampa/St Petersburg, Fla.

39. Syracuse, N.Y.

40. Boston, Mass.

41. Toledo, Ohio

42. Cincinnati

43. Salt Lake City

44. Charlotte, N.C.

45. Jacksonville, Fla.

46. Spokane, Wash.

47. Portland, Ore.

48. Las Vegas

49. Knoxville, Tenn.

50. Pittsburgh