The most common spices

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The most common spices

Good cooks think that “cooking without spices is like painting without colours”.

Spices range from sweet cinnamon to hot chilli and it is impossible to obtain any dept of flavour without them.

ALLSPICE The dried, unripened form of tropical myrtle. The berries look like oversized brown peppercorns and should be bought whole, then ground as needed. They add a hint of peppery cloves and cinnamon to dishes.

Traditionally used in British cooking as a pickling spice, particulary with beef, pork and sweet pickled fruit such as peaches, allspice works well with other sweet spices, especially in rich fruit cakes and biscuits. Also delicious added to pilau with peppercorns, clover and bay leaves.

BLACK PEPPER The dried green berry of the vine pepper, which grows throughout the

tropics and contains an alkaloid, piperine, which acts as a stimulant and aids digestions. The best peppercorns are large, even-sized and free from dried stems and dust. Black pepper enhances the sweetness of all foods, including fresh fruit such as melons, apple or strawberries.

CARDAMOM A member of the ginger family, whose aromatic seeds are found inside pale green pods. Avoid jars and packets where the pods are broken open or vary in colour – these are past their best. Roughly crush the pods or remove the seeds and grind just before use. Cardamom enhances the dominant ingredient in a recipe with its light, zingy flavour. Try cooking with chicken or fish, mellow-flavoured fruits such as pears, or creamy custards. It is heavenly infused into Middle Eastern coffee.

CINNAMON The bark of a Sri Lankas camphor laurel, dried till it curls up into tight quills. It should not be confused with the coarser-tasting cassia bark, which comes from a close botanical relation.

Ground cinnamon quickly loses its pungency once opened, so should be replenished often. Its slightly sweet aroma works well with lamb and chicken, as well as a wide variety of fruit and spiced cakes. It has a natural affinity with chocolate but is also gorgeous beaten into butter with sugar and eaten on toast.

MACE The air that surrounds the nutmeg seed is removed and pressed flat to dry, forming lacy

“blades” of yellow-orange mace. These are very hard, so mace is normally sold ready-ground.

Its aroma will quickly fade once the jar is opened. It works with dairy products, fish and meats such as chicken, pheasant, partridge, veal and pork. Mace is often included in pickling spices, while in commercial blends it is ground with coriander seed, allspice, clover nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon.

MUSTARD Two kinds of dry mustard seeds are commonly sold in Britain – alba or white mustard and the smaller–seeded juncea or brown mustard, sometimes called Indian or black mustard. The latter is quite pungent and widely used in Indian cooking. White mustard seeds are normally used in Britain to make traditional pickles, along with coriander seeds, allspice berries, dried chillies and black peppercorns. However, they add a delicious nutty, slightly bitter flavour to meat or vegetables.

STAR ANISE The dried fruit of a member of the magnolia family, native to China. Its intense, spicy flavour perfectly suits duck and pork. It’s used in Chinese and Vietnamens cooking, and is one of the ingredients in Chinese five-spice powder. Star anise is best used lightly, but tastes wonderful ground and rubbed into roast duck or baked ham with honey and cloves. It can be infused into custards and ice creams in place of vanilla or cooked with plums, peaches and nectarines. It’s even good in spicy, sweet fruit pickles.

Adapted from: Waitrose, Food Illustrated, October 2000, London