Top Spices From Around the World that are Found in Every Kitchen
Spices are the components that take your daily cooking a notch higher and bring out the rich flavours and colours. There are thousands of spices that offer a unique flavour to the dishes. Irrespective of where you live, today world spices are available within a click of a few buttons. If you want to buy spices online, you will find some authentic websites that offer spices from all parts of the world. Today we will be talking about some of the popular spices from around the world that liven up any dish.
1.Cumin
Cumin is a popular spice that is used in a wide range of spicy dishes. You can see the use of cumin in Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican, Portuguese, and Spanish cuisines. Cumin is a part of curry powders, Latin/Spanish blends and savoury spice blends. It has a spicy and warm fragrance that fills up the room. As for its taste, it has a savoury and pungent taste. You can either buy cumin powder or cumin seeds and ground it into powder.
2.Chinese 5-Spice Blend
Chinese 5-spice Blend is a staple in Chinese cooking, and it comes in a wide variety. However, the most commonly used Blend has spices, including cloves, fennel, Szechwan peppers, star anise, and cinnamon. It also has spices like nutmeg, ginger, and liquorice. You can use
Chinese 5-spice Blend in any Chinese dish to get the right Asian flavour. Traditionally, people used to blend these spices in their homes, but if you don't want to do that, it comes in a bottle, and you can purchase it from the supermarket or online stores.
3.Garam Masala
Garam Masala comes from India, and it is a blend of spices. Garam is a Hindi word, means hot and masala refers to the spice blend. An aromatic blend of toasted spices increases your body temperature and makes you feel warm after eating the dish. Different regions in India have different spice blends, so garam masala is often considered a personal recipe. Some of the common spices included in garam masala are cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, cardamom, fennel, black peppercorns, bay leaves, cinnamon, clove, and mace.
4.Turmeric
Turmeric is another beneficial spice that comes from South East Asia. Along with spice, it is also used as a dye in many Hindu rituals. Ground turmeric is popularly used in Moroccan and Indian dishes. It is used as a food colourant, in making rice, curry, scrambles, etc. Turmeric is a spice that adds colour to many Asian dishes. It has an earthy and warm smell. This aromatic spice has a slightly bitter taste and boasted with a lot of health benefits.
5.Allspice
While allspice sounds like Blend a spice, it is a single spice that has an amazing aroma of multiple spices. Some of the dominant fragrances of this spice include cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. It is native to Central and South America, but it is also grown in Mexico as well. Allspice comes from berries and is used in kitchens around the world. You can purchase the allspice in a grounded form or as a whole. It is a warm spice that has a sweet but slightly pungent and peppery flavour.
6.Fennel
Fennel is both a spice and a herb. People use fennel as seeds and grounded form in their cooking. Fennel is native to the Mediterranean but also used by Greeks and Romans. It is also grown in South America, Australia, India, and the United States of America. It has a sweet, warm and aromatic scent similar to liquorice. The taste also resembles a lot to liquorice, but fennel is slightly milder. Fennel is a popular spice in curry powders, garam masala, Chinese 5-spice powders, liquors, etc.
7.Ginger
Ginger is a spice that comes from China and India. In fact, it has been used in Chinese medicines for centuries now. It also popular in Europe and was used to combat the plague. You can buy ginger as a whole or in a grounded form. While fresh roots have the strongest aroma and flavour, ginger powder comes in handy as well. Ginger has a sweet, warm, and pungent flavour and a unique aroma that can be recognised easily.
Final Thoughts
Above are some of the most popular spices from around the world. Each of these spices has a unique flavour that gives a dish its characteristics. While these spices are often easy to find, if you want to buy spices online, you have that option as well. When it comes to spices, the options are extensive. Every region has a spice that it associates itself with. And, above were merely a handful of spices that are found in almost every kitchen around the world.