SPICEography 
Maple syrup is Canada’s favorite syrup and is known globally, both as the quintessential Canadian product and as a flavoring. Maple syrup is a versatile sweetener that has far more applications than just pancakes and waffles. It is only a good sweetening option if you use it correctly. Here are …
Black cardamom is a useful spice that is related both to green cardamom — a better known and possibly more versatile spice — and to ginger. Unless you cook a lot of Chinese or Indian food, you may not always have black cardamom on hand. If running out and grabbing …
What is black cardamom? Black cardamom is one of those spices that has a variety of aliases. Black cardamom also goes by Nepal cardamom and brown cardamom, among other names. Like its relative green cardamom, black cardamom belongs to the Zingiberaceae family, so it is also related to ginger. The …
What is red miso? Red miso — also called aka miso — is from Japan’s northern island known as Hokkaido and is one of the three main varieties of miso used in Japanese cuisine. Miso had its beginnings in China, despite its present status as one of Japan’s best-known foundation …
Loomi is one of the names for the dehydrated limes used in certain Middle Eastern and Persian dishes. Other names for loomi include black lime because the dried limes take on a dark, almost black color. Loomi can be used to offset unpleasantly gamey or fishy flavors. If you can’t …
Seasoned salt is a spice blend that includes salt as one of the ingredients and is a US invention. There are many variations of seasoned salt across the US, but all appear to be variations of the only universal one: Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. For starters, Lawry’s is the only one …
Lampong pepper gets its name from Lampong Province in Southern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Lampong part of the pepper’s name and in the name of the Sumatran province is sometimes spelled Lampung. Lampong pepper’s botanical name is Piper nigrum — AKA black pepper — and it is called lada in Indonesia, …
Black lava salt is a gourmet salt used to enhance food with more than just a salty flavor. Black lava salt doesn’t contain any lava as the name might lead you to believe; rather, it is a table salt colored with activated charcoal. Most black lava salt comes from one …