Spices & Herbs Archive
Spice Advice
Lior Lev Sercarz: Green Figs & Jam; How to Blend Spices; What To Do with All That Mint
- How to Stock a Spice Larder: The Essential Thirteen
- How to Keep Spices Fresh and Flavorful
- How to Blend Spices: A Few Simple Rules from an Australian Spice Merchant
- How to Describe Aroma and Flavor: “Brown Spice” or “Dirty Socks”?
- Your Spice Questions Answered: Sichuan Peppercorns, Grains of Paradise, Prepared Mole Paste
- Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages: Everything About Every Spice
- Great Reads: From Australia, A Global Primer on Spices and Herbs; Demystifying Grains of Paradise
Cinnamon
A Spice Tool to Banish the Blahs: Cinnamon Hill’s Grater & Fresh, Fragrant Cinnamon
A Hot Tea for Cold Days: the Pungent Magic of Ginger & Cinnamon
- SpiceLines: Get Our Free Newsletter on Cinnamon
- The Softer Side of Cinnamon: Whispers of Clove and Citrus; a Mexican Favorite
- Cassia: A Bittersweet Spice Warms Up Autumn’s Chill; the Other Cinnamon
- Cinnamon Harvest in Sri Lanka: How the Peelers “Magically” Remove the Bark in One Piece
- An American Paradox: Cinnamon, from Asia, Conjures Up the Comforts of Home; Spicy Apple Cider with Cassia, Black Peppercorns and Clove
- Oaxaca Spice: Susana Trilling Shares the Secrets of Cinnamon and Chiles–and the Mysteries of Mole
- What’s a Chocolatier to Choose? Lemon Verbena, Hawaiian Pink Sea Salt or Cinnamon?
- Spice News: Cinnamon in Saveur; Recipe for a Medieval Hand Sanitizer
- Spice News: Is Nutmeg a Hallucinogen? Pepper and Cinnamon Prices Shoot Upwards
Chiles
- “You Say Chili, I Say Chile;” A Culinary Firestorm Gets Hotter; Does Spelling Matter?
- Basics: How to Fire Roast Green Chiles (and Other Fresh Peppers)
- A Bowl of Green Fire: How to Make New Mexican Green Chile Sauce—and How to Eat It
- The Pleasures of Pimenton, and a Recipe for Sauteed Fingerling Potatoes with Roasted Red Peppers, Green Olives and Smoky Spanish Paprika
- Global Pantry: Three Essential “Turkish” Peppers; Istanbul’s Egyptian Spice Bazaar
- Two Pints of Pickled Peppers, Piquant with Indian Spices and Sweetly Hot
- Feeling Good: An Explosion of Peppers on a September Morning
- An Explosion of Peppers at the Farmer’s Market
- Adventures in Autumn Pickling: Pumpkin with Thai Chilies; Crab Apples with Star Anise and Ginger
- World’s Hottest Chili? The Dorset Naga; Why We Eat Hotter and Hotter Chilies; “Benign Masochism”
- Oaxaca Spice: Susana Trilling Shares the Secrets of Cinnamon and Chiles–and the Mysteries of Mole
- Jalapenos Gone Wild: A Blow Out in the Kitchen
- Chilies and Chocolate: A Global Warming Trend
- Spice News: Chile Mania in Gourmet; Why Hot Peppers Are Hot, in The Times
- Spice News: Cooking Classes for Spice Lovers; Tracking Rare Chiles and Green Parrots with Susana Trilling
- Spice News: India’s Hottest Chili Pepper Fires Up U.S. Heat Seekers
- Spice News: How to Describe a Chile’s Heat. (And is it Chile, Chili or Chilli?)
- Spice News: The Latest Terror Threat? Burning Bird’s Eye Chilies
- Good Reads: Elephants and Chili Peppers; Russia’s Forgotten Recipes; Istanbul’s Creative Meze
Cumin
Curry and Curry Leaves
- What is Curry? Lizzie Collingham Has the Last Word
- Curry Leaves: Mystery Ingredient Lends a “Muscular” Taste to Indian Cooking; a Whiff of Scorched Brakes
- Weekend Project: Purging the Spice Pantry; Nigel Slater’s Chicken Curry
- My Moroccan Weekend with Mourad, and a Recipe for Sweet Potatoes with Aziza Curry and Thyme
- Asia Society New York: Currying Flavor in America
- Spice News: Why Airline Food Is Tasteless–And What Cardamom, Lemongrass, and Curry Can Do About It
Garlic
- Where Garlic Gets Its Bite–And a Recipe for Pico de Gallo
- How to Peel a Clove of Garlic
- How to Roast Garlic: Mellowing the Fiery Clove
- The Pungent Clove (Part 1): Looking for Really Good Garlic in New Mexico
- Leaving Santa Fe: A Suitcase Full of Garlic and Other Good Smells
- When Garlic Turns Green–and Why; Pungent Words from Harold McGee on the Science of Cooking
- Garden Journal: Too Early for Green Garlic
- Garden Journal: Curly Garlic Scapes, and a Hong Kong Recipe
Ginger
A Hot Tea for Cold Days: the Pungent Magic of Ginger & Cinnamon
Herbs
- Summer Flavors: Basils That Taste Like Cinnamon, Anise and Clove—and Don’t Forget Lime
- E Pluribus Unum: Making a Pesto with Basil, Marjoram and Tarragon; Celebrating Our “Composite Country”
- Sweet Marjoram: A “Cheerful” But Forgotten Herb In Search of Adventurous Cooks
- Fresh Coriander: The Leaf You Love–Or Love to Hate
- Is Nothing Sacred? Google Takes a Leaf from Cilantro
- Cilantro: Oliver Platt’s “Proustian Moment”
- A New Way to Peel Fresh Ginger (Hint: Use a Spoon)
- Lavender: “Your Eyelids Are Closing. You’re Getting Very, Very Sleepy…”
- Flower Power: Lavender, In and Out of the Kitchen
- SpiceShop: On New York’s 9th Avenue, the Scent of Wild Oregano
- Spice News: Bay Leaves, Nutmeg Entwined with Mace, and Jefferson’s Kitchen Garden
Nutmeg
Peppercorns
- SpiceLines: Get Our Free Newsletter on Black Peppercorns
- A Spice Lover’s Guide to the World of Peppercorns
- A Pepper Primer: Black Peppercorns
- A Pepper Primer: True Red Peppercorns
- A Pepper Primer: Green Peppercorns
- A Pepper Primer: White Peppercorns; a Pale Fire
- Elephants, Tigers and a Taste of the Sun
- India: In Kerala, Gardens of Peppercorns, Vanilla and Nutmeg; Getting to Know the Unknown
- A Conversation with Gerard Vives: A Spice Hunter’s Quest for Amazing Peppercorns; Poivre Sauvage
- Bombay Spice: A Conversation with Floyd Cardoz
- Spice News: A Tale of Champagne and Peppercorns, Shipwrecked in the Baltic Sea
- Spice News: Mosquitoes Biting? Try Pepper; Grant Achatz and a Chef’s Sense of Taste
- Spice News: The Many Flavors of Peppercorns, Now Revealed
- Holiday Gifts for the Spice-Obsessed: Rare Peppercorns, Hummingbird Vanilla and a Copper Couscous Cooker
Saffron
- The DIY Chronicles: Home Grown Saffron. Maybe.
- The DIY Chronicles, Continued: What Can You Do with Six Saffron Threads?
- The Marco Polo of Saffron: Goumanyat et Son Royaume in Saveur
- Spice News: Why Southern Chefs Love the Iranian Saffron King
- Spice News: In Navelli, Saffron Buys Children’s Shoes; Stashing a Precious Spice in the Wardrobe
- Spice News: Gathering Saffron in Iran, Sneaking Hot Dogs in Istanbul
Salts
A 70-Million Year Old Salt & a “Frosty” Recipe: Double-Salted, Toasted Walnuts
- Salt, Salt Everywhere: The Five Salts You Really Need
- Confessions of a Salt Eater: Five Favorite Salts and How to Use Them
- Please Pass the Salt! And a Dash of Truth, If You Can Find It
- Ancient Japanese Sea Salt: A Delicious Salt with the Taste of “Umami”; The Virtues of Seaweed
- Spice News: The Food Police Target Salt
Vanilla
- Mark Bittman’s Minimalist Pantry Is Great…But What Happened to the Vanilla?
- Veracruz: The Secret of Vanilla’s Aroma
- Veracruz: In the Land of the Vanilla Orchid
- The Indiana Jones of the Spice Trade: Cyclones, Deadly Riots, and a Recipe for Vanilla Oil
Blends
- The Mixologist of Spices: Lior Lev Sercarz and His Forty Blends; At La Boite A Epice, Spices That Evoke the Indian Ocean
- Ras El Hanout: The Secret Ingredient in Moroccan Cooking; Lifting Chicken and Vegetables from the Ordinary to the Sublime
- Morocco Diary: In Marrakech, a Spice Merchant’s Pungent Blend; Nutmeg, Grains of Paradise and More
- Holiday Gifts: From the Souks of Marrakech, Spices and Other Treasures
Other Flavors
- Mmm, Mmm….Umami: Why Roasted Tomatoes, Fish Sauce and Parmesan Cheese Make Everything Taste So Good
- For Dark Days, a Splash of Brightness: Meyer Lemons, Blood Oranges Chase the Blahs
- Cooking with Tea: Lapsang Souchong-Smoked Duck Breasts with Soy, Star Anise and Ginger
- Spice News: For Cooks, Rose Water Could Be the Next New Thing
- Global Cook: Hich Elbetri Talks about Moroccan Spices, Russian Food Marts and the Best Homemade “Sandwhiches” in Chapel Hill
- In Praise of the Slow Pantry: It’s All About the Ingredients
- The Spice Room: Arzak’s 1,000 Ingredient Flavor Bank; a Famed Spanish Restaurant’s Best-Kept Secret
- Spice Rx: Can Turmeric Cure Cancer? Why You Should Always Have Ball Park Mustard in the Fridge (No, Dijon Will Not Do)
- Flavor Pairings: Wasabi and Maple? Toasted Mustard and Fennel? Sea Salt and Smoked Tea? The Far Edge of the American Palate
- What’s a Chocolatier to Choose? Lemon Verbena, Hawaiian Pink Sea Salt or Cinnamon?
- The Other Nigella: An Ancient Spice
- Spice News: Do You Crave Chiles, Mint and Lots of Salt? Big Food Companies Have Your Number.
- Spice News: Supercharged with Spices, Food Films Zap Bacteria; Cloves, Thyme, and Oregano
- Spice News: Deciphering the 17th Century Decline of the Spice Trade; a “Fruit” That “Leaves Your Mouth Burning,” or the Allure of Subtle Flavors?
- Spice News: The Father of Molecular Gastronomy Tackles Love
- Your Spice Questions Answered: Sichuan Peppercorns, Grains of Paradise, Prepared Mole Paste
Spice Shops
SOS Chefs: Culinary Treasures on Avenue B; Vanilla, Turmeric, Egyptian Salt