Celery seed does not come from celery. It comes from a wild ancestor of the celery plant sometimes called smallage, lovage or Chinese celery. Celery along with its ancestor plant is in the same family as parsley and the carrot. These plants originated in the Mediterranean region. Both the leaves …
Origin of annatto seeds The name used for annatto in Latin America is achiote; its seeds have been widely used throughout Central and Latin America since the time of the Aztecs and Mayans. It gets its Latin name (bixa orellana) from Francisco de Orellano, the 16th-century discoverer of the Amazon. …
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all used mustard to flavor meat and fish. They would mix crushed mustard grains in with their food to enhance its flavor. The early Romans also used mustard pastes that were similar to the prepared mustards that we use today. These pastes consisted of ground …
As you might expect, ancho powder is made from ground ancho chilies. The grinding of dried peppers to make powder is a practice that dates all the way back to the Aztecs, who cultivated poblano peppers used to make ancho chilies. The peppers were dried to preserve them and were …
Star anise is a spice that comes from an evergreen tree native to southwest China. The Chinese have used it for thousands of years as both a culinary spice and a medicine. Its pods are shapely with eight arms, and this was believed to signify “good luck.” The spice was …
Fenugreek is among the oldest known medicinal plants. Fenugreek seeds were found in Iraq that date back to 4,000 BC. Archaeologists have also found fenugreek seeds in Tutankhamen’s tomb. The ancient Egyptians ate it as a vegetable and the seeds were among the spices that they used for embalming. Ancient …
Mace comes from the aril of the nutmeg and you can purchase it in whole or ground form. Since mace comes from the nutmeg plant, the two share a common history. Nutmeg originated in a set of Indonesian islands called the Banda Islands. It has been in use from as …
The history of saffron stretches all the way back to the late Bronze Age and back then it had numerous uses just as it does today. Saffron consists of the dried stigmas of the crocus flower and was used in the Middle East as a spice, dye and as perfume. …