All pepper contains capsaicin, the active compound in pepper that makes our eyes tear and our noses run. Some, however, have more of it than others. Tabasco peppers are among some of the hottest are are reputedly from Tabasco, Mexico. They are now grown in Lousiana and are used to make the famous brand-name hot [...]
Like cilantro and coriander, nutmeg is a 2-in-1 spice with mace: mace is the outer lacy covering of the fruit while nutmeg is the hard inner kernel. Four hundred pounds of nutmeg will only yield one pound of mace, a fact which means that you won’t find mace on the shelves of your grocery store [...]
Its Greek name originally meant “joy of the mountain.” Aphrodite, it was said, created oregano to be a symbol of happiness. Today, its most common uses in the States are in pizza sauces and Greek salad dressing. There are also Turkish and Mexican varieties of oregano; each differs slightly in taste. Brazilians, Cubans, and Colombians [...]
This has to be among the world’s most popular edible roots! You’ll find it ground and ready to use in baked goods, preserved in rice vinegar and served alongside sushi, and cut into cubes and candied. Fresh gingerroot can be peeled and then finely diced for use in stir-frys; chunks of it can be infused [...]
Cumin is that unmistakable flavor in Indian curries and many Mexican dishes, from the Americanized faijita to the more-traditional enchiladas. Specifically, it is the seed of the flowering Cuminum cyminum plant. You’ll also find it in the Indian tandoori (a tandoori is a type of oven; hence, tandoori refers to any dish cooked in it), [...]
Though little-known in American cuisine today, coriander has enjoyed a rich past. It was named as an aphrodisiac in 1,001 Arabian Nights, it was treasured in China during the Han dynasty (207 B.C.E.-220 A.C.E.), and it is one of the bitter herbs of Passover. Coriander seeds have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. Romans used [...]
This false relative of parsley–sometimes called Chinese parsley–is the world’s most-widely consumed fresh herb. Cilantro is used extensively in Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern cooking. Culantro, a closely-related plant, is native to Latin American and the Caribbean and is used often in Puerto Rican and Cuban cuisine. Traditional salsa, salsa verde, the [...]
What better scent is there than clove-studded oranges during the holidays? Cloves have been a highly-sought-after spice in Europe ever since the 1400s. Native to Indonesia, the Dutch had a monopoly on supplying cloves to their European neighbors until France managed to smuggle out some trees and cultivate the spice in Mauritius in the late [...]
The “real” cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka. Cinnamomum zeylanicum is much milder than Cinnamomum cassia, the hotter variety to which we are accustomed. Both, however, are the bark of an evergreen tree. The distinction is of legal importance in England and Australia, however–there, it is illegal to pass off cassia as being cinnamon. The [...]
Chili powder is actually a mix of several different herbs and spices–most commonly, it is cumin, oregano, black pepper, garlic, and chile pepper. It may also contain coriander, cloves, and/or turmeric. Chili powder is an indispensable ingredient in American Southwestern cooking, Mexican cuisine, and many Spanish dishes. The type of chile used in chile powder [...]
