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• History and General Information
• Buying & Storing Spices
• Varieties -
• Spices & Health -
• Links - to other spice sites

Most of our well known spices are grown in tropical coastal regions of India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. From ancient times they have been a major article of trade to Europe and the Mediterranean and were until recently horrifyingly expensive due to monopoly control.

The spice trade was a major factor in European development of sailing ship technology that made world conquest and the colonial era possible - and which, incidentally broke the monopolies that had controled trade resulting in lower prices. Today, all except labor intensive safron are quite affordable.

Buying & Storing Spices
The most important factor in successful spice usage is freshness. Flavor depends on oils which will evaporate and/or turn rancid in time. This process is accelerated by many times when the spice is ground.

The best place to buy spices (other than from Clove Garden) is from an ethnic gorcer or importer who services a large community that uses those spices. Supermarket spices may have bee years getting to you. Comparing ground termeric from your local supermarket with that from an Indian grocer is a revalation.

Since ground spices degrade so rapidly it is better to buy them whole and grind as needed.A small whirrling blade coffee grinder does a remarkable job of grinding spices in just seconds. Gun it a few times, then turn it upside down and whack it with the palm of your hand to shake the spice into the lid.

Store spices, whole or ground, in tightly sealed containers in a cool dark place. Direct sunlight is very destructive to spices. Buy in quantities that will be used up in about a year for whole spices, 6 months or less for ground.

Black pepper declines very rapidly after grinding but is used so frequently I don't want to grind it every time. I grind a couple teaspoons every week and keep it in one of those ultra-tiny "must be good for something" gift basket jam jars to be spooned out as needed.

Roasting Spices
Particularly in India and Southeast Asia spices are prepared for grinding into spice mixtures by dry roasting. The Indian tava (also used for making flat bread) is the traditional pan for this. It is slightly concave and works great on a clay stove or over a bucket of charcoal, but it doesn't work on our gas burners or electric elements. The absolutely perfect pan to use is the Lodge L90G3 10" round griddle. Both items are shown in the photo, though our wood handled tava is a bit "upscale" compared to what you'd find in an average Indian household.

When roasting spices, do them one at a time because their timing is so different. Heat them stirring frequently until they start releasing their characteristic fragrance and start to darken just a touch, then pour out into a bowl to cool. I always start with cumin since it is so distinctive it'll let me know when the pan is hot enough for the others. I also do this step before handling dried chilis or I may not be able to smell anything.

Every time our government is thrown out of a country it invaded or has been meddling in all the colaborators move to Los Angles and open restaurants. Naturally they send home for ingredients as soon as they can and specialty grocers are soon opened. The happy result is that nearly every spice used in the world is available here.

Amchur, Amchur Powder - unrip fruit of the mango tree, available as slices and powder. Called for by many recipes from northern India, it is very sour with a slight sweetness and just a bit resinous. Use it for marinades where it has the same tenderizing effect as lemon juice (1 teaspoon amchur powder is equivalent to 3 tablespoons lemon juice) and in curries. Because it's light, dry and does not spoil easily as lemons and lemon juice do it's more portable in hot climates.

Anise -[Pimpinella anisum]
The fruits of this potent member of the carrot family are used to provide a "licorice" flavor to many drinks and candies, though it is unrelated to the root from which "true licorice" is obtained. In the U.S. anise is used mostly in cookies and other baked goods while the related but less "licoricy" fennel fruits are used more for cooking.

The bulbs and fronds sold as "Anise" or "Sweet Anise" in the groceries are actually Fennel. See also Star Anise for another unrelated spice with a similar flavor. Anise fades rapidly if ground so you should keep whole "seeds" (actually a dried fruit) and grind them as needed.

Annatto - [Achiote (sp)]
Primarily used to infuse oil with a red-gold color and subtle warm flavor, as well as giving an orange/yellow color to cheeses, butter and othe food ingredients. Particularly used in Cuban, Filipino, Portuguese, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Jamaican Cooking.

Asafoetida - [Hing (india), Ferula assa-foetida (Parsley family)]
Dried sap from roots of this parsley family herb native to Central Asia was used in Europe from the time Alexander until the 16th century. It was important in Roman cuisine as a substitute for Silphium which was very expensive. It is still much used in India, particularly as a substitute for onions and garlic by Indian Brahmins for whom those are forbidden. The flavor is not the same but it adds a similar sophistication. Asafoetida is used mainly with vegetable dishes but it can also add an interesting flavor to meat.

Food writers have struggled to describe the foul smell of the raw resin - struggled because food writers aren't familiar with SAE 90W hypoid gear oil which contains similar sulphur compounds. Fortunately the odor is subdued by cooking. This product is sold in two versions, pure resin (which may be in powdered form) and Hing powder, which has powdered resin cut with rice flour and other substances. I strongly recommend the pure resin.

Asafoetida resin must be fried in hot oil briefly before other ingredients are added to the pan. For pure resin powder this is just a couple of seconds but will be a little more for coarser resin. Hing powder is supposed to not need this step but I disagree.

Caraway, Black - Generally refers to Nigella - there is no Black Caraway.

Cassia Bark - []
An aromatic bark interchangeable with (and often confused with) Cinnamon See the cinnamon article for more details and how to tell them apart.

Charnushka (U.S. Armenian) - Nigella

Chili Peppers
Another important and prolific member of the Nightshade family, chili peppers originated in Central America and have spread throughout the world. They are so important and there are so many varieties, we have a separate (and extensive) Chili Pepper page of their own.

Cinnamon - []

Cloves - [Nelke (german), laung (hindi), Syzygium aromaticum]
Flower buds of a myrtle family tree native to Indonesia, harvested and dried before opening. Cloves have been in great demand in Europe since the Roman Empire and were very expensive considering they had to come all the way from Indonesia. They were not grown elsewhere until recently. Despite demand abroad, cloves have never been an important spice in Indonesia, where the major use is in cigarettes.

Coriander - []
Another member of the parsley family. What are called "coriander seeds" are actually the dried fruits. The fresh plant is called Celantro, but the leaves are almost never used dried. Indian coriander produces larger, lighter colored and softer fruits than European coriander.

Cumin [Jera (ind)]
Cumin is a member of the parsley family. What are called "cumin seeds" are actually the dried fruit and contain the seeds.
White Cumin - the regular cumin, used in India to differentiate from Black Cumin.
Black Cumin [Kali Jera (ind)] - a cumin used for some particular spicings in northern India. The seeds are much smaller than white cumin and the flavor much more aromatic (and the cost much higher). Substituting with White Cumin is distinctly imperfect.
Cumin, Black (improper) - see Nigella

Curry Leaf
Leaves of the tree Chalcas koenigii, a member of the citrus family and essential to authenticity in the cuisines of southern and central India and Sri Lanka. There is no known substitute so if you don't have them you just have to leave them out. They have an aromatic and slightly camphorous taste and are generally used in small quantity, fried in oil with the cumin or mustard seeds before adding the onions or other main ingredients.

Fennel - [Sweet cumin, Foeniculum vulgare (parsley family)]
Fennel is unusual in being used as a spice (dried fruits) as an herb (fronds) and as a vegetable (swolen stem bases). It is native to the Medeterranian but grows easily in any temperate climate. The yellow-beige fruits (left in photo) are now used as a dried spice through most of the world for flavoring fish and meat, soups, sweets, drinks and curries. The fruits are similar to Anise but notably sweeter and more licorish like. The variety used for spice is not the same variety used as a vegetable but they are of the same species. Lucknow Fennel, a variety grown in northern India, has much smaller seeds with an even sweeter more licorishy flavor. This fennel is called for in many dishes originating in northern India and can be found in Indian groceries (at a much higher price than regular fennel).

Fenugreek [Methi, Trigonella foenum-graecum (Bean family)]
This bitter aromatic bean, tiny and angular compared to common beans, is used extensively in India, where it is generally roasted to bring out the flavors before grinding for spice mixes like garam masalla. It is also used in Greece, the Near East, Persia and Southeast Asia.
Fenugreek Leaves are also used as a slightly bitter fresh herb in the cooking of Persia, parts of India and the Near East.

Five Spice Powder
This mixture is used all over China and to a very lesser extent in Southeast Asia. It properly contains Sichuan Peppercorns, Star Anise, Casia Bark (or Cinnamon), Cloves and Fennel all in equal quantity. Sometimes other spices are added and for a short time recently ginger and some other spices were substituted for the essential Sichuan Peppercorns for versions exported to the U.S. due to a USDA embargo, now conditionally lifted.

As with other spices, Five Spice is best mixed from the whole spices and ground in a spice grinder when needed. It is most used in batters for coating deep fried meats and in marinades for meats.

Kalonji (India) - Nigella

Khas Khas - see Poppy Seed, White

Mustard Seed

Yellow Mustard Seed is the familiar European variety most of which goes into the manufacture of the "prepared mustard" we buy in jars and squeeze bottles.

Mustard seed ground to a powder has little flavor until it is mixed with water and let stand for about 10 minutes. An enzyme reaction produces the familiar mustard pungency. Mustard prepared this way loses its pungency quickly so is usually discarded at the end of the day.

Mahlab [(variously spelled), Mahlepi (Greece), St Lucie Cherry Prunus Mahaleb]
The oval kernel from the stones of a small black cherry tree that grows wild in the Mediteerranian region and Turkey, and now cultivated in Iran. Iran is the largest producer with Turkey second. It is used particularly in Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Iraq and Iran but also elsewhere in the Near East and Mid East. Purchase it as whole kernels and crush or grind as needed since it degrades quickly once ground. It is used to flavor baked goods, pastries and sometimes Nabulsi Cheese.

Nigella - [Onion Seed (improper), Black Caraway (improper), Black Cumin (improper), Charnushka (U.S. Armenian), Kalonji (India)]
It looks very much like onion seeds, but is not at all related and has a very distinctive flavor. It is mixed into Armenian string cheese and on the outside of Nabulsi cheese as well as on some Jewish baked goods. Nigella is held to have strong medicinal properties for a number of illnesses.

Panch phoron (Bengal) - a mix of 5 spices in equal part - nigella, fenugreek, cumin, black mustard seed and fennel. Panch phoron and mustard oil together provide the distinctive flavor of Bangali cooking. The spice mix is always fried in mustard oil before use to bring out the flavors and is generally used unground.

Pepper / Peppercorns - Black, White, Green, Red - [Piper nigrum]

Pepper originated on the Malabar (west) coast of India, but major plantations were later established in Indonesia for trade with the Dutch. It is now grown also in Brazil and several South East Asian countries. Pepper has never been popular in Indonesia despite being grown there, but has long been used in India and parts of Southeas Asia, particularly before chilis were brought from South America. In Europe it has been the most important spice since the Roman Empire and was extremely expensive until the 18th century due to trade monopolies.

In more recent times pepper has spread to just about every cuisine, particularly since the price has fallen so much and growing area has increased. Pepper use has increased in Southeast Asia due to it being grown there now and Thailand has taken a liking to fresh green peppercorns.

Peppercorns of all colors are from the same piper nigrum pepper vine, just picked at different stages of ripeness and processed differently.
Black Peppercorns (center) are berries taken just before they are mature and sun dried with the green outer skin and flesh still surrounding the seed. The closer to mature at harvest the better the product but the more risk so a higher cost.
Tillicherry pepper is the highest grade of black pepper as the berries are picked at the ripest point they can still be made into black pepper - actually tillicherry is more a dark brown.
White Peppercorns (left) are fully matured red berries that are processed so the outer skin and flesh are rotted off. This provides the full pungency but little of the unique pepper flavor. White pepper is used mainly in European cooking to keep white sauces pure white - considered important in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when "purity = white" was as important as "natural" is today.
Green Peppercorns are either fresh (available only in pepper growing areas), force dried (right in photo), pickled, or packed in brine (top in photo). If you have a recipe for fresh green peppercorns and don't know sombody at a pepper plantation you can used brined (a pretty good substute in my opinion) or you can soak force dried green peppercorns in water to reconstitute them (not the same but better than none). Pickled green peppercorns are considered too acidic for most recipes. Note: the brined, being low acid, must be refrigerated immediately after opening or they will turn black). Dried green peppercorns are the correct item to use in Western dishes like pepper steak that use large amounts of peppercorns.
Red Peppercorns are fully ripe with skin on. They are only available pickled much beyond the pepper plantations and are very rare even then.

Few spices fade as quickly as peppercorns once ground, so you should always grind fresh. That can be a hassle so I grind up about 1/2 T every week and store it tightly capped in one of those tiny "must be useful for something" jars "sampler set" jams and jellies come in.

Peppercorns, Pink - [Schinus terebinthifolius (cashew family)]
Fruit of the Brazilian pepper tree is completely unrelated to black, white, green, red or Sichuan peppercorns. It's used both as a spice and as a medicinal in the Caribbean and as a spice by trendy California chefs.

The tree grows agressively in many areas but cautions should be observed. The main source for the spice trade is the island of Réunion while peppercorns grown in Florida are reputed to cause a mild alergic reaction (irritated throat) in some people. Peppercorns from the trees trying to take over my yard in Southern California seem to be fine.

Peppercorns, Sichuan (Szechuan) - [Flower Pepper, Prickly Ash (eng), jiao (china) Zanthoxylum piperitum, Z. simulans and others (citrus family)]
Dried fruits of the Chinese prickley ash tree. These "peppercorns" are essential to the famous Sichuan cuisine of China and a similar fruit is important in Nepal. They are quite unique with a remarkably sharp, citrusy flavor and a numbing anesthetic effect on the tongue. Other countries have related species with flavors that vary more or less from the Chinese. Some of these are listed on the Detail Page.

Peppercorns, Tasmanian - [Tasmannia lanceolata]
These "peppercorns" look much like dried black peppercorns but have a pungency and numbing effect on the tongue similar to Sichuan peppercorns. A related species, dorrigo pepper (Tasmannia stipitata), has similar properties but it is dried leaves that are used rather than fruits.

Poppy Seeds
There are two kinds of poppyseeds sold on the spice market, Black and White. They are imperfectly interchangeable due to color, taste and other characteristics.
Black Poppy Seeds are commonly used in Europe and the U.S. sprinkled on baked goods. These come from the infamous opium poppy but contain no significant amount of the alkalai which has to be gathered long before the seeds are mature enough to harvist. Poppyseed is also used as an oil seed but in the U.S. it's used for slow drying artist's oil paints rather than for cooking.
White Poppy Seeds [Khas Khas (India)] are always called for in Indian cooking. They are used roasted and ground primarily as a thickening agent in light colored sauces. They come from a line of poppies specifically bred for these mild light colored seeds.

Sambaar Podi [sambar powder]
A spice mix used in the south of India, particularly in Tamilnadu on the east coast. It's a mix of roasted urad dal (tiny lentils), cumin, coriander, fenugreek and black pepper, optionally mustard seeds, chiles and asafetida. It's used along with curry leaves to flavor the thin lentil curries served with pancake like bread (dosai) in the region.

Silphion - [(Parsley Family)]
Silphion was grown in North Africa when it was the breadbasket of the Roman empire, but was rendered extinct by the desertification resulting from poor agricultural practices. While the leaves were sometimes used as an herb and stalks as a vegetable the main use was for resin obtained by cutting the roots or stalks. This resin was highly prized and very expensive, but the only similar product available today is Asafetida which was considered inferior when silphion was available.

Star Anise - [Bat Gok (china), badiyan (from persian but adopted by other languages), Illicium verum]
An essential for Chinese cooking this spice is also grown and used in Vietnam and Laos. The licorice flavored seed pods grow on a tree related to the Magnolia and native to China. The hard seeds which may be present in the pods can be discarded because they lack flavor. Star Anise is an essential ingredient of the Five Spice powder used all over China and extending into Southeast Asia.

Star Anise is almost always sold as whole or broken pods and should be ground just before use.

Turmeric
A relative of Ginger, turmeric is most familiar as a finely ground yellow powder, but fresh and whole dried roots are also available in Indian and Southeast Asian markets. The fresh root is preferred in SE Asia. Shown are fresh root, dried root, powder, and our ever present dried red kidney bean for scale.

The powdered form is most commonly used in India and is ground weekly from dried roots whenever possible. The U.S. spice trade considers Turmeric mostly for it's color so the dried powder is likely old with inferior flavor. That found in Indian groceries generally has better flavor and aroma because turnover and expectations are much higher.

White Turmeric (Zedoary) is also available as fresh root and is used particularly in Southeast Asia as an aromatic vegetable, and in India it is grated and added to various pickles. It has little color but a considerably sharper taste than yellow turmeric.

• A1 - Spice / Herb encyclopedia - Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages.
• A2 - Pepper - Evalu8.