SPICEography 
Coconut butter is a product made with the fruit of the coconut tree. The meat of the coconut fruit contains a lot of oil, which is what accounts for coconut butter’s spreadable consistency. Coconut oil is the main component of coconut butter and has been used for food for thousands …
Apple butter is one of the classic fruit-based spreads. In the US, it is strongly associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch, but it has a long history in Europe, too. It is an important element if you are trying to cook Dutch or German foods. If you have run out and …
Walnut butter is made with ground walnuts. Walnuts are full of oil, and grinding them causes the release of that oil, which helps convert the ground nuts to a spreadable paste. Walnuts originated in Persia, which is called Iran today. From Persia, they spread throughout Asia and Europe. As one …
Apple butter’s main ingredient is cooked and puréed apples. In some parts of Europe, the term apple butter is used for a syrup made from reduced apple juice. While apple butter is associated primarily with the US — colonial America, in particular — its history goes back to Europe. It …
Sunflower butter and almond butter are two of the more common nut and seed butters. Both are widely considered to be excellent alternatives to peanut butter and can be used interchangeably in many applications. That said, there are some important differences that you can learn about in the SPICEography Showdown …
Nutella and peanut butter are two incredibly popular nut-based treats. Nutella is more of a newcomer in the US, though it has been a part of European cuisine for decades. They are both typically used in the same ways, but have very different properties. Let’s compare them in this SPICEography …
Nutella is an immensely popular treat that is commonly used as a spread for bread. It consists of hazelnut butter flavored with chocolate. Nutella is easy to find in most places and has a distinctive flavor that won’t be easy to replicate. That said, here are some good Nutella substitutes …
Nutella’s inventor was an Italian pastry chef from Turin named Pietro Ferrero. According to legend, Fererro invented Nutella to be a sweet treat for factory workers. The blend of chocolate and hazelnuts was not new, as the two were already combined in a traditional confection from Piedmont called gianduja. In …