Spice C - C cont

Our chilli powder is made by finely cutting hot, dried chillies. (Not to be confused with Mexican-style chilli powder which is mixed with cumin and other spices.) Add as much or as little as you and your guests desire. Chillies are the pods of an annual plant of the Capsicum family. There are many different varieties whose subtleties of flavour are as varied as their heat levels which range from mild to fiery hot cookery.

Chinese Five Spice. Strongly flavoured with star anise, but given depth by the other ingredients. The mix is simple, with only 7 (no I don’t know why its not call 7 spice) ingredients but tastes and smells very complex with pungent, sweet, sour and slightly bitter flavours - a little bit goes a long way! This blend is popular in Chinese and Vietnamese dishes as it gives a clean and fragrant taste. Chinese Five Spice can be used with meat and vegetable to make a quick stir fry or added to egg, or rice noodles.

Ground cinnamon is the dried inner bark of various evergreen trees belonging to the genus Cinnamomum. At harvest, the bark is stripped off and put in the sun, where it curls into the familiar form called "quills." Cinnamon in the ground form is used in baked dishes, with fruits, and in confections. Cassia is predominant in the spice blends of the East and Southeast Asia. Cinnamon is used in moles, garam masala, and berbere. Cinnamon was one of the first known spices. The Romans believed Cinnamon's fragrance sacred and burned it at funerals. Because Cinnamon was one of the first spices sought in the 15th Century European explorations, some say it indirectly led to the discovery of America.

Cloves can be used in cooking either whole or in a ground form, but they are extremely strong so they are used sparingly. The spice is used throughout Europe and Asia and is smoked in cigarettes (also known as kreteks) in Indonesia and in occasional coffee bars in the West, mixed with marijuana to create marijuana spliffs. With great difficulty the French succeeded in introducing the clove tree into Mauritius in the year 1770; subsequently the cultivation was introduced into Guiana, Brazil, most of the West Indies, and Zanzibar, where the majority of cloves today are grown.

Coriander Seed is the dried, ripe fruit of the herb Coriandum Sativum. The tan brown seeds have a sweetly aromatic flavour which is slightly lemony. A zesty combination of sage and citrus, Coriander is actually thought to increase the appetite. Coriander is used in lentils, beans, onions, potatoes, hotdogs, chilli, sausages, stews, and pastries. It is used in the cooking of North American, Mediterranean, North African, Mexican, Indian, and Southeast Asian cuisines, as well as spice blends, including curry powders, chilli powders, garam masala, and berbere. Coriander's history can be traced back for thousands of years. It was grown in Persia 3,000 years ago and used to fragrance the hanging gardens of Babylon. There is mention of Coriander in the Bible where manna is described as being "like a Coriander Seed, white" (Exodus 16:31). As civilization spread, so did the popularity and uses of Coriander. It has been used as a condiment and as an ingredient in medicines. It is still widely used in tonic and cough medicine in India. The leaves of the plant, cilantro, are also a popular flavouring in many Latin American dishes.