"Four-spices" usually include four of five spices and are commonly used to season forcemeats for sausages and terrines. I include all five. This is one combination of spices that I try to keep on hand in small quantities. This recipes is a suggestion; quantities and proportions given are typical but not written in stone. Vary the amounts to suit your own palate.

Ingredients

　　1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

　　1/2 teaspoon (about 12) whole cloves

　　1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

　　1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

　　Put all of the ingredients in a spice mill or blender and process until evenly ground. Store in a cool, dark, dry place.

　　Excerpted from Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking: Recipes and Ruminations From Charleston and the Carolina Coastal Plain © 1992, 2012 by John Martin Taylor. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.