Powerful and liquorice-like, star anise is used in the East as aniseed is in the West. Chinese stocks and soups very often contain the spice, as do many…
Used in cooking for their rich nutty flavour, black sesame seeds are especially common in far Eastern cuisine. Here, meat or fish is rolled in the sesame…
Saffron, the worlds most expensive spice, is the stigma plucked from the purple-flowered crocus. Each has only three stigmas, and a five acre plot yields…
Used predominantly in European cooking, blue poppy seed is slightly nutty and sweet, with a almond-like flavour. Sprinkled over or incorporated into breads…
The most sought after and heavily traded spice in history, pepper lives up to its expectations by transforming blandness into bite in almost every imaginable…
Nigella (Nigella sativa) has small, matte black, hard, sharp-cornered seeds with an oregano-like scent; they’re used for their hauntingly aromatic, acrid…
Paprika, the name for a wide range of aromatic powdered red peppers from various strains of Capsicum annuum, ranges in flavour from sweet to hot, depending…
There are three main types of mustard, all in the Brassica (cabbage) family and all with small, rounded seeds. Relatively mild though still pungent, white…
Kaffir lime leaves (Citrus hystrix) are the highly perfumed leaves of a Southeast Asian citrus fruit that’s not actually a true lime. The glossy, dark…
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) has small, roughly angular, brownish yellow seeds. The seeds have a bitter yet pleasing flavour and potent aroma…
Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) has small, curved, khaki-coloured fruits (commonly called seeds) with a warm, earthy, lingering aroma and pleasingly bitter, pungent…
Clove (Syzyium aromaticum) is a dried, unopened flower bud that resembles a small, dark, reddish brown, round-headed nail—the source of its name in many…
Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tropical tree (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) which has a rich, strong, spicy aroma and a delicious, sweet flavour. In Malay cooking…
Asafetida (Hing) is an essential ingredient in Indian vegetarian cooking. Asafetida is the strong-smelling, even stinking, dried brownish resin extracted…
Celery seeds are light brown to khaki in colour with a penetrating, haylike aroma reminiscent, not surprisingly, of freshly cut celery stalks and with…
Green cardamom Elettaria cardamomum – is an expensive spice, sometimes called the “seed of paradise”. The fruit is harvested before it is completely ripe…
Caraway (Carum carvi) has tiny, crescent-shaped fruits (commonly called seeds); their colour is warm brown with pale yellow edges. Caraway seeds have a…
Amchur, a pale gray to light yellow powder made from dried unripe mangos (Mangifera indica), is used as a spice in northern India for its subtle, tart…
Ajwain is a popular spice in India, where both fruits and leaves of this pungent plant in the parsley family are used. The small, hard, oval, pale brown…
Ginger (Zingiber officinale), a subtropical plant, is grown for its spicy, aromatic, gnarled, and bumpy root (rhizome or underground stem), which is used…
