What to Expect and an All-purpose Meat Rub

I like to rant about the science of cooking, so it will end up in here.  I'll try to stick to recipes, with appropriate explanations of why the dish works and points you need to know to make sure it works.  I'll also try to cite where I got the info that inspired the dish if possible, though hot-links to those citations may take a while for me to get into.  Remember Cooking for Geeks and a few favorite cookbooks that deal in your style of food are must-haves, do not forgo getting yourself them.

Now, about that meat rub.

We concocted this brilliant dry rub mix at college, using my eclectic tastes in seasonings and some random experimentation.  It was designed for pork (since I think pork is generally pretty vile unless you cover up that sort of grimy off flavor it has), but it can work for just about any meat.  Haven't tried it on poultry yet.

You will need (with parts in parentheses):

• Garam Marsala (1) - The short of this mix, as I understand it, is "curry powder is what you get when the British mix Indian spices; garam marsala is what you get when Indians mix Indian spices."  It has a strong spiced flavor with a bit of a hot kick at the end.
• Fenugreek (4) - I don't remember how I came across this.  I think it was in the Atlantic Spice Company and I just nabbed some; it has since become an indispensable element in my curries.  Fenugreek has a sort of middle, mealy-savory flavor that I can't ever pin down.  It's good on meats, I know that.
• Garlic Powder (1) -  This is an all-purpose rub, so garlic powder is okay here.
• Smoked Paprika (1) - One of the more magical secret ingredients you should have in your arsenal; it tastes like, you guessed it, smoke.  And a hint of bell pepper, but mostly smoke.
• Thyme (1) - Usually I use thyme on poultry; it just seems to work well.  Thyme adds an herby light flavor.
• Oregano (1) - Pizza tastes like pizza because of oregano; other than that I'm sure you are familiar.
• Salt (1) - Duh.
• Pepper (1) - Double-duh.

That is from memory, mind you; I'm just about out and I have to scrounge up the recipe again soon.  It's a great thing to have around if you need an emergency meat seasoning.

A cool thing to note is that Thyme and Oregano both have the same aromatic chemical in them that gives them the bulk of their flavor (that's in Cooking for Geeks); it just so happens that Thyme is good on poultry and oregano goes pretty well on four-legged meats.  A pretty nifty accident of our messing around.