Spice Comparisons

Both Cajun and Creole Seasoning come from immigrants to Louisiana. These two spice blends represent a combination of Old and New Worlds and a mixture of cultures, much like other spice blends throughout history. Cajun seasoning is the product of the Acadians—Canadian Frenchmen forcibly relocated to the United States by the British. Creole seasoning is the product of different immigrant cultures, including those from Italy and Ireland as well as from Africa.

Both blends contain European spices, but were developed within cooking traditions strongly influenced by both Native Americans and African Americans. If you are trying to choose between these two spice blends, important questions include: how different is Cajun seasoning from Creole seasoning? Can one be used in place of the other? We will compare these two blends in this edition of SPICEography Showdown.

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Sugar and honey have a lot in common in that they are both known for being sweet and are widely used to make other food items sweeter. They also have some significant differences. In this installment of SPICEography Showdown, we will compare their flavors as well as how well these two sweeteners work as substitutes for each other. 

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Coconut sugar and date sugar are alike in a few respects. In addition to the fact that both are effective sweeteners and often advertised as being superior to refined sugar, they both also come from palm trees. Of course, there are significant differences in how they are sourced. Coconut sugar comes from the sap of the coconut palm, whereas date sugar is the dried and ground fruit of the date palm. If you are looking for a healthier sugar and trying to choose between these two options, you should consider some of their other differences such as those below. Let’s break things down in another SPICEography Showdown.

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Rock salt and table salt are two salt varieties with culinary applications, though rock salt is often known more for its use outside the kitchen. Both varieties come with striking differences and each comes with their own sets of benefits and drawbacks. If you are trying to decide which one to use for a particular application, consider the rock salt vs table salt comparison below in another SPICEography Showdown.

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Coconut sugar looks a lot like brown sugar and the two are often considered interchangeable, but are they? The answer is not as clear-cut as you might think. Below, we will take a look at the flavors of these two sugars and consider how well they work as substitutes for each other in another SPICEography Showdown. 

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It is important to note that coconut sugar and palm sugar (also known as arenga sugar) are two distinct types of sugar that are obtained in different ways from different plants. The problem is that coconut sugar is sometimes called coconut palm sugar, which can lead to confusion between the two types of sugar. This is a common mistake, with many online resources erroneously claiming that the two are one and the same. In many cases, they may be incorrectly labeled. You should check the ingredients list rather than rely solely on the product’s name.

Palm sugar is harvested from the trunks of palm trees, while coconut sugar comes from the blossoms of coconut trees. Given that these are two different products with different harvesting methods, do their flavors differ? Can one be used as a substitute for the other? We will answer these questions and more in this SPICEography Showdown.

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Both sea salt and food grade rock salt consist mostly of sodium chloride, which means that their flavors are almost identical. Even so, there are some significant differences between them. In this SPICEography Showdown, we’ll compare these two types of salt below and consider how interchangeable they really are, along with the best ways to use each of them.

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