The only edible member of the orchid family, vanilla is one of the world’s most fragrant and best-loved spices. There are three main areas of vanilla production: Tahiti, Madagascar, and Mexico. The variety found in Tahiti has strong fruit and floral overtones, while the type native to Mexico (used by Aztecs and Mayans to flavor [...]
Like ginger, turmeric is a root. It is native to India and is used for cosmetic and dyeing purposes along with culinary ones. It is also an important part of Indian wedding rituals and religious ceremonies. Often times, turmeric is used instead of the much-more-expensive saffron to lend a yellow color to food. Though not [...]
Many different types of sweet bell peppers are dried and ground to make paprika. The best paprika is made in Hungary, where the selection, drying, and blending of the peppers is considered to be a culinary art form–the sweetest paprika is made by removing the ribs and seeds from the pepper before drying and grinding [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
