Chilean Spices: Merkén, Pebre, Boldo, Cumin and Oregano

Chilean cooking leans on a few strong flavors, not long spice lists. The star is merkén, a seasoning of Mapuche origin made from smoked goat’s horn chile ground with toasted coriander seed and salt, which Taste Atlas ranked the world’s best condiment in December 2024. Then there’s pebre, the fresh cilantro salsa that comes with bread, meats and empanadas, plus cumin, oregano and, in some kitchens, the bay-like leaf of the native boldo tree.

At a glance

Merkén

Merkén is the most distinctly Chilean seasoning here. When the food guide Taste Atlas ranked it the world’s best condiment in December 2024, two Chilean news outlets described it the same way: a seasoning of Mapuche origin made from dried, smoked ají cacho de cabra (“goat’s horn” chile), ground with toasted coriander seed and salt.²³ CNN Chile adds that the dried chiles are smoked by hanging them from the ceiling over a wood fire, and that the coriander seed gets smoked too.

PepperScale says the chile itself is native to Chile and one of the most commonly used peppers in Chilean cooking, fresh and dried. It gives cacho de cabra a low to medium heat of 1,000 to 5,000 Scoville heat units, without naming a method, and describes its flavor as sweet, fruity and smoky.⁴

Neither news source lists cumin, though you’ll sometimes see it given as a merkén ingredient. Commercial blends vary, so check the label. The flavor is a smoky aroma with a balanced level of heat. People use it to season meat, sprinkle it on pizza and mix it into pebre, and it also goes into soups, stews and even bread. In the south, you’ll find pebre made with merkén.

If you know chipotle powder and smoked paprika, merkén sits somewhere between them: smoky like both, hotter than paprika, with a citrusy lift from the coriander. You may also read that merkén stayed obscure because it was seen as a working-class spice. We found no source that supports that.

Pebre

Pebre is Chile’s everyday table salsa. The traditional version is tomato, onion, cilantro, green chile (ají verde), oil, lemon juice and salt, and it usually comes with bread, meats and empanadas. The name comes from the Catalan word pebre, meaning pepper.⁵

Recipes vary. A 2026 recipe from Directo al Paladar uses red chile, green bell pepper, tomato, fresh cilantro, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon, salt and black pepper.⁶ Neither source calls for ají amarillo, the Peruvian chile. The chile in pebre is a local green or red ají. On the plate, it does much the same job as chimichurri in Argentina: a sharp, fresh sauce to cut through rich grilled meat.

See cilantro, cooking with cilantro and cilantro substitutes.

Boldo

Boldo is the leaf of Peumus boldus, a tree in the Monimiaceae family native to central and southern Chile. The leaves are aromatic, reminiscent of camphor and cinnamic acid, and slightly bitter. Their essential oil, about 2% of the leaf, is about 40% ascaridole, a compound Gernot Katzer says rarely turns up in culinary plants, along with 1,8-cineole and other terpenes.⁷

In the kitchen. Katzer calls boldo almost unknown outside the kitchens of indigenous peoples in South America. He suggests using it in place of bay leaves, in slightly smaller amounts since it’s strong, and recommends it for fish, sauces and gravies, mushrooms and pickled vegetables.⁷ We found no source showing that boldo is a common ingredient in Chilean recipes in general.

As an herbal medicine. Boldo leaf is also sold as an herbal medicine. The European Medicines Agency’s herbal committee accepts boldo leaf preparations, based on long-standing traditional use only, for relief of indigestion and mild gut spasms in adults. There are no clinical studies in patients. The EMA says these medicines must not be used by people with bile duct obstruction, inflammation of the bile ducts, liver disease, or gallstones and other bile duct disorders that need medical supervision, and that allergic reactions have been reported.¹ That guidance is about medicinal preparations, not a leaf in a stew. Still, if you have liver or gallbladder problems, check with a doctor before drinking boldo tea.

See bay leaves and bay leaf substitutes.

Cumin

Cumin is especially popular in Asian, North African and Latin American cuisines. In Chile it seasons stews, meat fillings and roast pork. We couldn’t confirm, in any source we reviewed, the specific dishes often named for it, like cazuela or pernil. See cumin, cumin uses and coriander vs. cumin.

Oregano

Dried oregano is a common seasoning in Chilean stews and meat dishes. You’ll often read that Chilean cooks prefer Mexican oregano. We found no source for that. Mexican oregano is Lippia graveolens, in a different botanical family (Verbenaceae) from true oregano. See oregano, Mexican oregano and Mexican oregano vs. oregano.

Related pages

• Peruvian spices and Spanish spices
• Chipotle powder and smoked paprika
• Coriander
• The master list of herbs and spices