Everyday use: spices that mark them
The spices of the working kitchen, reached for every day.
Daily cooking is the main home of spice, with a few trusted spices used every day in every kitchen, such as turmeric, cumin and chilli in India, pepper in Europe, and cinnamon and allspice in the Caribbean.
The everyday spice rack
Most households use between five and fifteen spices regularly. A typical Indian kitchen has a masala dabba, a tin holding mustard seed, cumin, turmeric, coriander, chilli and one or two others. A European kitchen has pepper, paprika, bay, thyme and cinnamon.
How skill is passed on
Families learn the proportions by watching, and the same spices can taste different in each house. Many cooks toast and grind small batches weekly.
Keeping it simple
Few spices are needed to start. Learn a handful well, buy whole where possible, and keep jars fresh.
Everyday use on EveryMasala
The spices written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreBasil
A tender culinary herb with glossy leaves and a licorice-like aroma, native to tropical Asia.Leaf · Anise and liquorice · Warm and sweet-spiced
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreCardamom
Aromatic seeds from spindle-shaped pods used in sweet and savory dishes across Asia and the Middle East.Seed · Sharp and pungent · Warm and sweet-spiced
🇹🇷 Turkey and 5 morePoppy seed
The tiny kidney-shaped oilseed of the opium poppy, used in baking and cooking across Europe and South Asia.Seed · Earthy and deep
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreEast Indian arrowrootകൂവ
A wild South Asian ginger valued for its turmeric-scented foliage and starchy rhizome.Root · Earthy and deep · Herbal and green
🇮🇳 IndiaKewraकेवड़ा
A fragrant essential oil distilled from the male flowers of the screwpine plant.Resin · Sweet and mellow · Floral and perfumed
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreMixed spice
A British blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice for sweet bakingBlend · Warm and sweet-spiced · Sweet and mellow
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreCinnamon sugar
A simple blend of ground cinnamon and granulated sugar used to sweeten and spice desserts.Sweet and mellow · Warm and sweet-spiced
🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreMugwort艾草 (ài cǎo)
Aromatic leaves from the Artemisia genus used in Asian cuisine and traditional medicine.Leaf · Bitter · Herbal and green
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 5 moreGinger
The pungent rhizome of a flowering perennial, one of the world's most traded spices.Root · Hot and fiery · Sharp and pungent
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreLesser galangal高良薑
An aromatic Asian rhizome with orange flesh and a sweet, gentle spiceRoot · Sweet and mellow · Warm and sweet-spiced
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau and 5 moreCalabash nutmeg
The dried seed of a West African tree, used as a local substitute for nutmeg.Warm and sweet-spiced · Sweet and mellow
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChenpi陳皮
Sun-dried mandarin orange peel aged for use in Chinese cooking and medicineFruit · Sweet and mellow · Sharp and pungent
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mixed spice: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chenpi: Dboxes, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Poppy seed: Odedr, Public domain, source
- East Indian arrowroot: Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kewra: Miansari66, Public domain, source
- Cinnamon sugar: Ed! ( Photography Gallery ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ginger: Venkatx5, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cardamom: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Basil: Castielli, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Calabash nutmeg: Samuel Curtis and William Jackson Hooker, Public domain, source