Fajita and taco seasoning are two spice blends that both have their origins in Mexican cuisine and are combinations of the most widely used Mexican spices. They serve as an easy way to add traditional flavor notes to popular Mexican dishes and are often viewed as interchangeable. But how similar …
Sesame seeds are full of nutrients and add a significant amount of flavor to both Eastern and Western dishes. If you want to make sesame chicken or bake your own bagels, you may need one or the other. If you are unfamiliar with either type, you may be wondering whether …
As products of the same plant, cacao nibs and cacao powder have much in common. The Theobroma cacao tree from which both of them come has been cultivated for thousands of years. Both are nutrient-dense and provide the pure flavor of unprocessed chocolate, which means they can be fairly bitter. …
Tapioca and arrowroot starches are both popular ingredients for gluten-free cooking. They also have a few advantages for thickening gravies, soups, and sauces when compared to a more common starch like corn starch. As the two most popular gluten-free starches, how do tapioca starch and arrowroot starch compare to each …
Sesame seeds have an exterior coat that can be removed. This coat is also known as the hull or the husk. Hulled sesame seeds are seeds with the hulls removed. You can tell which one is which by the fact that unhulled sesame seeds are brown. Hulled sesame seeds are …
If you plan to make pork sausages or certain cabbage dishes, you will need caraway seeds or fennel seeds. These two spices can easily be mistaken for each other as they share many qualities; however, they are completely different ingredients that will bring different qualities to your dishes. When choosing …
Sugar plays a fundamental role in cooking and especially in baking. Aside from sweetness, it can provide coloring as well as moisture and bulk. Brown sugar and white sugar provide these things to different degrees, but how different are they from each other? Do they taste the same? Can you …
Ras el hanout and garam masala are two spice blends that some in the west would consider exotic. While many of the spices used in each are familiar to western palates, blends that include all of them may not be. Indeed, the same ingredients often appear in each blend, but …