Sweet and mellow
Vanilla, liquorice, paprika and fennel: soft, round and gentle.
Sweet spices carry a natural sweetness and are used in desserts and drinks. Vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, liquorice and fennel seed are among them.
What makes them sweet
Vanilla owes its character to vanillin, cinnamon to cinnamaldehyde, and anise and fennel to anethole. These compounds smell sweet, and the brain reads sweetness from the smell, so a vanilla scent can make a dish taste sweeter without more sugar.
How cooks use them
They flavour custards, ice creams, biscuits, milk puddings, sweet rice and drinks. In South Asia, cardamom perfumes kheer and tea, in the Middle East rose water and mastic flavour sweets, and in the Americas vanilla and cinnamon appear in chocolate and cakes.
Pairings
Sweet spices also work in savoury food, such as cinnamon in a meat stew or fennel in sausages. They pair well with citrus, nuts and dairy.
Sweet and mellow on EveryMasala
The spices written up so far, best known first.
🇺🇸 United StatesCarolina Reaper
A gnarled red cultivar of Capsicum chinense bred in South Carolina for extreme heat.Chilli · Hot and fiery · Sweet and mellow
🇸🇾 Syria and 1 moreAleppo pepperفلفل حلبي
A moderately spicy, fruity flake from Syria and Turkey, named for the city of Aleppo.Chilli · Hot and fiery · Sweet and mellow
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreEspelette pepperpiment d'Espelette
A mild Basque chili with sweet, fruity notes and protected origin status.Chilli · Sweet and mellow · Hot and fiery
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreFresno chile
A medium-sized Capsicum annuum cultivar with a conical shape and bright red skin.Chilli · Hot and fiery · Sweet and mellow
🇹🇷 TurkeyUrfa biber
A sun-dried and night-wrapped chili from Turkey with a smoky, raisin-like taste.Chilli · Smoky · Sweet and mellow
🇧🇷 Brazil and 2 moreBishop's crown
A wrinkled, three-sided Capsicum baccatum cultivar with mild heat and a sweet flavor.Chilli · Sweet and mellow
🇸🇷 SurinameMadame Jeanette
A fruity, very hot chili cultivar from Suriname with a reddish-yellow skin.Chilli · Hot and fiery · Sweet and mellow
🇲🇽 Mexico and 5 moreCapsicum annuum
A flowering plant producing berries of many colors and heat levels, from sweet bell peppers to fiery chilies.Fruit · Hot and fiery · Sweet and mellow
🇯🇲 JamaicaPimiento
A sweet, heart-shaped red chili pepper used for stuffing olives and making cheese spreads.Chilli · Sweet and mellow · Hot and fiery
🇮🇳 IndiaByadagi chilliಬ್ಯಾಡಗಿ ಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ
A deep red, mild cultivar from Karnataka prized for its colour and oleoresin.Chilli · Hot and fiery · Sweet and mellow
🇪🇸 SpainPiquillo pepperpimientos del piquillo
A sweet, mild red chili cultivar from Northern Spain, prized for its thick flesh and gentle heat.Chilli · Sweet and mellow · Warm and sweet-spiced
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreChimayó pepper
A prized New Mexico chile cultivar known for its sweet, smoky flavor and twisted dried pods.Chilli · Sweet and mellow · Smoky
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreBig Jim pepper
A large, mild New Mexico chile cultivar developed in the United States for green roasting.Chilli · Sweet and mellow · Hot and fiery
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Fresno chile: Nadiatalent, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chimayó pepper: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Urfa biber: Fornax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Capsicum annuum: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, Public domain, source
- Capsicum baccatum: Retama, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Piquillo pepper: sindändùne -, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Big Jim pepper: User:Carstor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Madame Jeanette: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Carolina Reaper: Dale Thurber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pimiento: Challiyan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Byadagi chilli: Msclrfl22, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Espelette pepper: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aleppo pepper: Badagnani, CC BY 3.0, source