Cayenne pepper is a well-known way to add moderate heat to dishes and is widely available in powdered form. If your dish calls for cayenne powder and you are out, you have many easy-to-find options that can bring the heat to your dish, but note – many do so with extra flavor notes that can change the profile of your meal.
SPICEography
Garlic Salt: Adding Two Loved Flavors At Once
Garlic salt consists of garlic powder and salt. It may also contain an anti-caking agent like calcium stearate. In most cases, commercial garlic powders are made by chopping cloves of garlic and pulverizing the pieces. Those pieces are then dehydrated. They may then be subjected to further chopping and mincing …
Celery Salt: A Versatile Blend Of Two Ancient Spices
Celery salt is made from ground celery seed or the seeds of lovage, which is a relative of celery. The seeds are combined with salt. The salt may be regular table salt or sea salt. Humans have been using celery for most of history. The plant is mentioned in Homer’s …
Shichimi Togarashi: The Japanese Equivalent Of Salt And Pepper
Shichimi togarashi is also marketed as Japanese seven-spice powder, which may give westerners the impression that this spice mix bears some similarity to Chinese five-spice powder. However, the two spice blends are very different. Shichimi togarashi is the product of a company called Yagenbori Shichimi Togarashi that has been in …
Berbere Seasoning: Ethiopian Heat
While historians do not know much about Ethiopian cuisine prior to the 13th century, it is believed that berbere seasoning came about around 5 BC. Berbere is the Ethiopian word for “pepper.” Its arrival was at a point in Ethiopia’s history when Ethiopians ruled the Red Sea Route to the …
Bouquet Garni: The Foundation Of French Provencal Cooking
A bouquet garni is simply a bundle of herbs. The traditional implementation involves placing the herbs into a cheesecloth bag and tying them up, but the bag not essential; the term refers simply to the herb. The first use of the bouquet garni has been lost to history, but the …
Caraway Seeds: An Old World Favorite
Caraway seeds come from the caraway plant, which grows in parts of Asia as well as in Europe and North Africa. The caraway plant is a relative of the carrot. The spice was well known in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome and many food historians believe that the use of …
Pink Pepper: Colorful Spice
Pink pepper come from two trees called the Baies Rose Plant and the Peruvian Pepper tree. These trees grow in South America and are not related to the black pepper from Southeast Asia. The pink peppercorn shrubs were introduced into Florida in the 19th century as decorative plants and have …