- Allspice : berry of the allspice tree; native to the West Indies. Used primarily in marinades, curries, and pickling fruits and vegetables. Good in pot roast, meat loaf, baked ham, stewed chicken Swedish meatballs.
- Ancho Chile : made from poblano chile peppers grown in Mexico. A mild paprika flavor, with sweet to moderate heat. Ancho is used to add flavor, heat, and color to sauces and moles.
- Anise : licoricelike flavor. Use sparingly, whole or crushed, in cookies, candies, fruit pies, compotes, applesauce, and spicecake. Adds flavor to warm milk or tea.
- Basil : delicate and fragrant. Best with tomatoes, in cold salads, with seafood and cucumbers. Crush leaves just before adding.
- Bay : has a refreshing, woodsy flavor. Excellent in soups, sauces, and stews. Use 1/2 leaf of the dried, 1 whole leaf of the fresh. Good with shrimp, crab, salmon, and lobster.
- Caraway seed : characteristic flavor in German and Scandanavian bread. Used as a digestive aid. Add whole to potatoes, cabbage, beets, seasoned butters.
- Cardamom : dried seed prevalent in Scandanavian pastries. Apropos in curry powders. For a different taste, try a bruised seed in a cup of after-dinner coffee.
- Cayenne : a powder ground from the seeds and pods of various peppers grown in the Cayenne district of Africa. Good in soups, sauces, eggs, and meats. Use sparingly.
- Celery Seed : from the flowers of the celery plant. It can be used in any dish calling for fresh celery. Best with cheese and cocktail juices, pastries, and sandwich spreads.
- Chervil : Even though it is a member of the Parsley family, it is much more aromatic. Poultry, seafood, vegetables, vinegar, and soups.
- Chili powder : made with ground pods of Mexican peppers plus cumin, garlic, and oregano. Adds flavor spark to corn, beans, rice, creamed seafood, and spareribs.
- Chives : grow these in your garden or windowbox. Best when eaten fresh. Perfect in salads, egg dishes, and with cottage cheese.
- Cilantro : Also known as Chinese parsley, Cilantro has a distinctive green, waxy flavor. Salsas, chutneys, salads, dips, beans, and soups. It is especially good in Mexican foods.
- Cinnamon : from the bark of the cinnamon tree. Use in sweet potatoes, squash, rice pudding, ham, cocoa, poultry stuffing. Whole sticks or ground.
- Cloves : strong, spicy-sweet flavor. Perks up chocolate, rice, and tapioca puddings. Best in gingerbread, applesauce, spicecake, beef stew.
- Coriander : good in soups, stews, curry dishes, and chili. Seeds are also used to flavor frankfurters, homemade butterscotch candy, and exotic dishes from North Africa.
- Cumin : fairly well known in Mexican and eastern Indian cuisine. Rub the seeds briskly between palms and let them fall into stews.
- Curry powder : generally a blend of 10 or more spices, including tumeric, cardamom, coriander, mustard, saffron, and allspice. Good with chicken, eggs, seafood salads.
- Dill : the leaves, chopped, go well with poached salmon, sour cream and cucumbers, eggs, cheese, and steak. Seeds are an ingredient for pickles, sauerkraut, and apple pie. Sprigs can be used as a garnish.
- Fennel : all of the plant - seeds, bulb, stalk, and leaves - is edible. Tastes like licoricelike. Use the same as anise or serve cold and eat raw like celery.
- Garlic : one of the oldest cultivated plants. A whole bulb will enrich a stew or sauce, or the juice from a clove can flavor a salad dressing. Garlic butter enhances steaks, chops, bread, and spaghetti.
- Ginger : pungent and zesty. It gives life to oriental dishes, meat, chicken, glazed carrots, fruit salad dressings, pie crusts.
- Juniper berries : a bluish-purple dried fruit with a bittersweet taste. Good in marinades, sauerkraut, and game.
- Leeks : popular in French cuisine. It is best in soups or stews, or cooked and served with lemon butter or vinaigrette sauce.
- Lovage : Similar to celery, but stronger. Soups, stews, sauces, meat or fish salads.
- Mace : the outer coating of the nutmeg seed. Similar to nutmeg in taste and uses. It complements chocolate, cherry dishes, cakes, cookies, preserves.
- Marjoram : part of the mint family. Spicy. Good substitute for sage. Best in food that requires lengthy cooking.
- Mint : Spicy and cool. Dark green leaves have a pleasant warm, fresh, aromatic, sweet flavor with a cool aftertaste. Roast lamb and beef, vegetables, sauces, relishes, jelly, salads and fruits.
- Mustard : Pungent taste. Pickles, relishes, sauces, egg dishes, marinades, pork and ham.
- Nutmeg : Warm, sweet, spicy flavor. Used in vegetables, egg dishes, beverages, breads, cookies, cakes desserts, sauces.
- Oregano : Strong and aromatic. Italian dishes, pizza and pasta, roasted meats, fish and seafood. stews and casseroles, soups, tomato sauces, vegetables.
- Paprika : Varies from mild, slightly sweet to hot; adds color to many dishes. Meats, poultry, dips, vegetables, soups and salads.
- Parsley : Mild flavour. Brings out the falour of most non-sweet foods. Popular as a garnish.
- Poppy Seed : Nutty flavour. Muffins and cakes, salad dressings.
- Poultry Seasoning : Like sage but milder. Poultry, stuffings, biscuits.
- Rosemary : Sweet, spicy, pinelike fragrance. Roasted meat and poultry, fish, stews, stuffings, salad, bread, egg dishes.
- Saffron: Most expensive spice on the earth. Strong aroma, slightly bitter, mainly used as a colorant and flavoring for cheeses, pastry, rice, and seafood dishes.
- Sage: Strong, slightly bitter. Roasted meats and poultry, fish, stuffings, soups.
- Savory : Pleasant peppery aroma, resembling that of Thyme. Meat, poultry, egg dishes, fish, stuffings, salads, soups, gravies, sauces.
- Sesame Seed : Mild, nutlike flavour. Used in many Asian recipes. As a garnish on bread, rolls, cookies, green salads.
- Tarragon : Mild, licoricelike flavor. Roasted meats, poultry, fish, stews, vegetables, sauces.
- Thyme : Strong, pungent flavour. Roasted meats, poultry, fish stews, vegetables, sauces.
- Tumeric : Aromatic, slightly bitter, pepperlike flavour. Curry dishes, pickles, relishes, salad dressings, dips.
- Vanilla : Fragrant, sweet aroma. Candy, cakes, chocolate, cookies, desserts, eggnogs, ice cream, puddings, soft drinks.
- White Pepper : A milder, more delicate flavor than black pepper. Ground White Pepper is used in light colored foods such as sauces and soups.
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