Smoky
Smoked paprika, chipotle and black cardamom: fire and smoke in a jar.
Smoky spices carry the taste of fire. Smoked paprika, chipotle, black cardamom, lapsang tea and some salts and chilli flakes give a campfire scent.
Where smoke comes from
Smoked flavour is gained by drying or roasting over wood. In La Vera in Spain, peppers are dried over oak, and chipotle is a ripe jalapeno smoke-dried in Mexico. Black cardamom pods are dried over open fires in the Himalayas.
How cooks use them
Smoky spices add depth to stews, beans, rubs, barbecue, paella and marinades. A small amount gives the effect of long cooking over fire without the effort.
Tips
Use a light hand, as smoke can dominate a dish. Smoked paprika comes sweet, bittersweet and hot, so choose by taste.
Smoky on EveryMasala
The spices written up so far, best known first.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Choricero peppers: Tamorlan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source