Chicken Ras el Hanout

Robust and woody, with a light menthol quality and a smoky aroma. An important spice in Indian cuisine, and one of the cornerstones of most garam masala blends.

One of the world’s oldest spices, cardamom was a key element to perfumes worn by Queen Cleopatra. The aroma’s just that intoxicating, even if you’re not ancient Egyptian royalty.

As its name suggests, Allspice brings forth a deliciously warm, subtle sweet flavor that’s evocative of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, all mixed together.

The name is as unoriginal as it sounds. When English settlers first encountered these pungent berries in Central America, they gave up trying to describe its complex flavor and settled on Allspice.

A citrusy crispness with slight notes of lemon and a pungent aftertaste, Coriander is bright and fresh and adds a vibrant aromatic quality to dishes.

Cilantro and coriander are different parts of the same plant, Coriandrum sativum. This happy marriage has delighted palates for centuries—there are ancient Sanskrit and biblical references to both!

A flavor that’s difficult to describe: more natural than earthy, and more biting than bitter. It’s slightly musky, but fresh—like the smell of rain on hot, clean stones.

As saffron is to red, turmeric is to a rich yellow/orange. Turmeric has been used as a dye for thousands of years and is still used as a non-toxic alternative to color textiles.

White Pepper has the same spicy, peppery taste, but milder and with a slight sweetness. A stronger dose of citrusy flavor keeps it bright.

White pepper and black pepper come from the same berry, harvested at the same time! While black pepper is laid out to dry in the sun, white pepper is soaked and skinned immediately after harvest.

Smoky, slightly fruity, with a mild, well-rounded heat and a jaw-droppingly vivid red color. It’s used widely in Indian cuisine for its flavor, heat, and especially color.

Kashmiri Chile was the original source of tandoori chicken’s characteristic crimson hue. These days, most restaurants just use red food coloring. It’s more cost effective, but less delicious.

A bold, peppery flavor infuses this unique cinnamon varietal. Rarely used in the United States, Chinese cassia has a strong, bitter flavor that bites.

True, fake...bastard? There have been many names for the many kinds of cinnamon. But no cinnamon is more “true” or “fake” than another—they’re just different species of the Cinnamomum genus.