and heat. In Silk Road cookery, it is used in both sweet and savory applications. It does indeed taste like a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. Although allspice is available ready-ground, it is best to buy the spice whole to retain its flavor, and grind just before use.
Medicinally, allspice has been used as a deodorant and has also been said to provide relief for indigestion and gas.
BAY LEAF grows on the coast of the Black and Mediterranean Seas. It refines and adds aroma to many sour dishes and is typically added to soups and stews because of its pungent flavor. Since these leaves are so pungent, one is generally enough for a dish, and the leaf is removed prior to serving the dish. Look for pale, green and unbroken leaves for best flavor. They’re usually sold dried.
BLACK PEPPER is native to India and has been a prized spice since ancient times. It was cherished for its ability to add pungency to bland foods, and to disguise a food’s lack of freshness when there was no efficient means of preservation available.
Pepper became an important spice that stimulated much of the spice trade, due to its varied uses. Pepper loses flavor and aroma when exposed to the air, so airtight storage helps preserve its original spiciness. Once ground, pepper’s aromatics can dissipate quickly, which is why it’s best to grind whole peppercorns immediately before use.
CARDAMOM comes from the seeds of a plant that, like ginger, can be propagated through its rhizomes (stems that grow mostly underground, in tangled masses). But unlike ginger, it is the seed-pods that find their way into the spice pantry. These can be used whole or split, but either way, must be cooked. You can also bruise (lightly smash) the pod to open it, and fry the seeds before adding the main ingredients to the pan. And you can pound them with other spices to make a blend.
Cardamom has a distinct, warm, sweet, pungent aroma and tastes like a combination of citrus, camphor, and eucalyptus. Toasted, ground, or in its whole form, cardamom’s versatility is incredible; it infuses all kinds of dishes with a distinctive flavor note. Curries, breads, desserts, rice, tea, and coffee can all benefit from the addition of cardamom. Bruised green pods have a stronger and sweeter aroma than black cardamom pods that are found in Asia and Australia.
Cardamom loses its flavor and aroma quickly. It’s best to purchase it in its whole pod form and grind what you need when you need it. Even the pods will lose up to 40 percent of their potency during their first year in storage.
CINNAMON is native to Sri Lanka. The brown bark of the cinnamon tree, which is available in its dried tubular form known as a quill, or as ground powder. Although available throughout the year, the fragrant, sweet, and warm taste of cinnamon is a perfect spice to use during the winter months. The two varieties of cinnamon, Chinese and Ceylon, have a similar flavor; however, the cinnamon from Ceylon is slightly sweeter and more refined, with a greater concentration of oils. Which should you use? It depends on what you’re cooking—and your budget. Ceylon cinnamon is more difficult to find; you will have to seek it out in specialty spice shops. Cassia, as Chinese cinnamon is known, is more widely available; it’s what’s usually stocked at your local grocery store. Keep cinnamon in a tightly sealed glass container in a cool, dark, and dry place. The refrigerator will help extend cinnamon’s freshness. If it no longer smells sweet, it’s stale and should be tossed.
CLOVES have a strong, peculiar aroma and a sweet-hot-spicy flavor. They can easily overpower a dish, particularly when ground, so only use a dash. They are often used in curry powders, hot drinks with wine, punches, fruit juices, desserts, and stewed fruits.
CORIANDER refers to the seeds and leaves of an annual herb; in the U.S., the leaves are called cilantro and the seeds are called coriander. And in some places, the leaves are known as Chinese parsley.
Whatever you call it; this distinctive herb has a flavor that can be likened to a blend of lemon and sage. All parts of the plant are edible, but it’s the fresh leaves and the dried seeds that are commonly used in cooking, and many cultures have made it an integral part of traditional dishes.
CUMIN is an aromatic spice with a distinctive, bitter, earthy flavor with a hint of lemon and a strong, warm aroma due to its high oil content. Cumin “seeds” are actually the small dried fruit of this annual plant, which is a member of the parsley family. Native to the Mediterranean, cumin is sometimes confused with caraway, but it is hotter to the taste, lighter in color, and larger. Sold whole or ground, the seeds come in three colors: amber, white, or black. Amber is most widely available. If you find the black variety, be warned; it has such a complex flavor that it should not be substituted for the other two. Cumin is a popular ingredient in Middle Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean, and Mexican cuisines, and is one of the main ingredients in curry powder. Toasting the seeds enhances their flavor.
CURRY POWDER is a blend of several spices that are ground and mixed in certain proportions. (Every Silk Road cook has a favorite formula; in the West it is typically sold pre-mixed.) It is composed of coriander, turmeric, chilies, cumin, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cassia, and clove. Curry’s popularity in recent decades has spread outward from the Indian subcontinent to figure prominently in international cuisine. Consequently, each culture has adopted curry into its indigenous cooking to suit its own unique tastes and sensibilities. It’s a true global phenomenon. It is common to toast curry powder in a dry pan for 30 seconds or until fragrant before using it, to add depth and flavor.
FENNEL SEEDS are native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean area. They are often confused with anise, which has a similar shape. However, fennel seeds are smaller and green or yellowish brown in color; they are also sweeter and less pungent than anise. The seeds have a distinct licorice flavor and is used widely in Mediterranean cuisine, on the Indian subcontinent, and in the Middle East. They are an essential ingredient of the Oriya spice mixture in Bengali cuisine and in Chinese five-spice powders. In many parts of Pakistan and India roasted fennel seeds are consumed as an after-meal digestive and breath freshener.
GINGER is a rhizome—a plant whose stems grow largely underground in a tangled mass. Native to India and China, it takes its name from the Sanskrit word stringa-vera, or “with a body like a horn,” meaning an animal horn such as antlers.
Fresh ginger is essential to Asian and Subcontinent cooking. It is used in pickles, chutneys, and curry pastes, and in dried and ground form is a constituent of many curry powders. In the West, dried ginger is mainly used in cakes and cookies, especially ginger snaps and gingerbread, but it’s also used in puddings, jams, preserves, and in drinks such as ginger beer, ginger wine, and tea. Ginger root is available in various forms; the most common of which are whole raw roots, powdered (dried ground) ginger, and crystallized ginger.
LEMONGRASS
