It presumably owes its origins to France’s colony in southern India.
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What about Mace? It doesn’t get much attention and when added to cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves adds a brightness that’s missing in warm spices blends. I use it in muffins and cinnamon rolls.
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This oregano, sold in a grinder, utilizes the whole form small buds and when ground with each use has an incredible freshness dry oregano is not known for long term.
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Habanero togarashi. Togarashi isn’t unusual if you have a decent Japanese or Asian market nearby, but I much prefer the habanero version. Anything with a kick is rare in Japanese cuisine, unless you count wasabi. The habanero helps a bit.
Not sure you would count this a spice, but belacan is not easy to find where I am. Love the pungent umami, shrimpy and spicy goodness.
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That’s surprising. In Manhattan (and throughout the five boroughs, I’m sure) Adobo is available in pretty much any random bodega or supermarket. Five Spice is easy enough to find in Chinatown, and it’s also on the shelf at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s - and that can’t be only true at my local branches.
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We found this for sale at Lidl.
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Not uncommon in British baking.
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Smart Brits!
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Our use of spices goes back centuries - certainly in documents from the 1500s. A major reason for development of the empire.
BY the by, there’s two things called mace. First the spice whihc is the outer casing of nutmeg. And second, the herb mace which grows in the UK and has a mild thyme like flavour.
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Exactly. From the pharmacist and behind the counter. More recently I was able to buy it in Paris from a spice man from Brittany whose mother would buy a dozen from a pharmacy in Brittany and send them to him.
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And there I was imagining you as a character from the Matrix, walking around on walls.
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Enjoy them both. Easier to access here is the nutmeg casing and even then its key to shop a spice house that turns over product well.
I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that… 
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That’s also where I was introduced to dukkah. Oleana’s recipe for dukkah is here: https://www.cookstr.com/recipes/carrot-pureacutee-and-egyptian-spice-mix-with-nuts-and-olive-oil
We’ve enjoyed it on roasted vegetables.
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“Adobado” means (basically) marinated or “pickled” in Spanish, and there are a lot of variations on the basic theme of chicken/pork “en adobo” from most Spanish-influenced countries (including the Philippines, iirc)
I don’t know what its “original” origin is, but variations on modern commercial “adobo” (which is basically salt and/or MSG and garlic granules or powder, plus much smaller amounts of variable spices) are a basic seasoning wherever there’s a significant population of people of “Hispanic” descent, which is a lot of places in the US, if not often as strong as in South Florida after the massive influx of Cubans starting in the 1960s. (And I use the word Hispanic specifically to allude to the Spanish influence versus the more general “Latin” description.)
Very anecdotally, it seems to me it’s more common in Central America and the Caribbean than in South America and even Mexico, which I’m inclined (though without benefit of formal research) to think is due to a stronger influence of Spanish cuisine (at least 16th-17th century Spanish cuisine) versus the latter countries that have had a stronger, longer-term influence from their native cuisines (as in Mexico and many of the Andean countries).
Fwiw, I think variations on the “en adobo” theme are pretty common in the Philippines too (and the basic technique is hardly unique to Spain), but I don’t know if the “modern” seasoning blend is also popular there…
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Thanks for posting! I hunted for that dukkah recipe yesterday and could not find it. +1 for using dukkah on roasted vegetables, yum.
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I’ve started a list and very time someone mentions something I don’t already have I add it to the list. This is not going to be pretty.
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Thxs for the recipe link.
Sumac. Which seems to be having a bigger moment in baked goods like brownies and shortbread. I bought it for roasted vegetables.
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I bought these Ethiopian herbs a while back when I was excited about making vegetarian Ethiopian dishes. Some Boston-area HO’s knew of a convenience store in Cambridge that sells good-quality injera, so that would streamline the meal. (My one attempt at making injera from 100% teff resulted in a gummy, gluey mess.) Unfortunately, I haven’t yet gotten my act together to actually use these. so the cans remain unopened. Hopefully I’ll motivate myself to learn more while I have the time.
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