Best spice
Twenty spices that flavour the world's kitchens, from black pepper to saffron.
Tier list by PairTier · 20 items
- Black pepper — Dried berries of the Piper nigrum vine from India; the world's most traded spice.
- Cinnamon — Inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, used in both sweet and savoury cooking.
- Cardamom — Aromatic seed pods of the ginger family, essential in Nordic baking and Indian chai.
- Saffron — Hand-picked stigmas of the saffron crocus; the world's most expensive spice by weight.
- Vanilla — Cured pods of a climbing orchid native to Mexico.
- Cumin — Earthy seeds central to Indian, Middle Eastern and Mexican cooking.
- Paprika — Ground dried peppers, sweet, hot or smoked; a hallmark of Hungarian and Spanish food.
- Turmeric — Yellow rhizome of the ginger family that colours curries.
- Nutmeg — Seed of a tree native to Indonesia's Banda Islands; mace comes from the same fruit.
- Cloves — Dried flower buds of a tree native to the Maluku Islands.
- Ginger — Pungent rhizome used fresh, dried or in gingerbread.
- Cayenne pepper — Ground hot red chilli pepper.
- Star anise — Star-shaped fruit with a liquorice flavour, part of Chinese five-spice.
- Coriander seed — Citrusy dried fruit of the coriander plant.
- Allspice — Dried berry from the Caribbean that tastes like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves combined.
- Fennel seed — Sweet, anise-flavoured seeds used in sausages and breads.
- Mustard seed — Tiny seeds that give mustard its bite and are fried in Indian tempering.
- Sumac — Tangy, deep-red ground berry common in Middle Eastern cooking.
- Caraway — Seeds that flavour rye bread, sauerkraut and aquavit.
- Fenugreek — Bitter-sweet seeds and leaves used in Indian curries.