Chaimen is an authentic Armenian spice blend that provides tons of flavor to numerous meat and vegetable dishes, as well as casseroles. However, it is mostly used for curing meats and sausages, although it can also be used in soups, stews, or as a dipping sauce for flatbreads.
The blend is typically prepared with ingredients such as fenugreek, paprika, salt, black pepper, cumin, allspice, garlic, and cayenne pepper. When used as a marinade, the dry spice blend is added to tomato paste, parsley, crushed garlic cloves, and either olive oil or yogurt.
Samardala salt is a traditional spice mix originating from Stara Zagora. The spice mix consists of only two ingredients – salt and samardala (Nectaroscordum siculum bulgaricum or Allium siculum), also called Bulgarian honey garlic, a spice that belongs to the allium family and is endemic to the Balkans.
This spice mix is often used on sandwiches with butter or minced meat, pizza, bread, potatoes, or hard-boiled eggs, and it adds a specific and slightly bitter and salty layer of flavor to the foods that it's used with. The ratio of samardala to salt should be 1:1.
Hawaij is a traditional spice blend that is deeply rooted in Yemenite Jewish tradition. The spice mix consists of ingredients such as saffron, turmeric, black pepper, and cardamom. Variations include other ingredients such as cumin, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, and even ginger.
The flavor of hawaij can be best described as earthy, peppery, and floral. It can be bought throughout Yemeni markets, but also in Arabian-specialized stores internationally. Although it is primarily used in soups, stews, as rice flavoring, and on grilled meats as a rub, it can also be combined with olive oil and lemon juice to make a stellar dressing for grilled fish.
Asafoetida is a dried gum resin obtained from the taproot or rhizome of giant fennels, particularly Ferula assafoetida. The plants used to produce the spice are native to Iran and Afghanistan. The resinous juice starts to coagulate when exposed to air, and it has a strong and pungent odor that's similar to garlic.
When the product sets to a solid mass, its color varies from grey to black, but it's usually reddish to brown. This spice can be bought in several versions – tears, mass, paste, and powder. The tears are the purest, the mass is the most commonly available commercially, and the powdered version usually contains additions such as gum arabic, flour, and turmeric.
Filé powder or gumbo filé is a herbal powder made from dried and ground leaves of the Sassafras albidum, commonly known as the sassafras tree. These powdered leaves were originally used by Choctaw Indians, but they soon started to be used by the Cajuns in Louisiana, who added it to stews, gumbos, and soups as an earthy thickener and flavoring.
Filé powder should be added to gumbo just before serving, when it's off the heat, because otherwise it can become stringy and too thick. Interestingly, this herbal powder is mentioned in Hank Williams Sr.'s song Jambalaya (On the Bayou).
Mahleb or mahlepi is a unique spice made from the seed kernels of the Prunus mahaleb (mahaleb cherry) tree, native to the Middle East and Southeastern Mediterranean.
The soft and chewy seed kernels are ground to a powder and used as a spice in various regional kinds of bread, cookies and cakes, meat stews, and pilafs. The taste can be described as sweet and slightly bitter, with a hint of almond and cherry. It is also believed that mahleb has medicinal properties, helping with digestive issues, respiratory problems, and inflammations.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Vadouvan is a French-style curry mix consisting of ingredients such as shallots, onion, cumin, garlic, turmeric, cardamom, curry leaves, black mustard, black pepper, and fenugreek. All of the ingredients are traditionally dried and pounded into a coarse spice blend.
Vadouvan is used in a variety of dishes featuring poultry, seafood, and vegetables, but it can also be added to salads. This spice blend is sometimes made into a paste by mixing it with oil and water.
Also known as Flemish bayleaf, Vlaamse laurier is a type of tree that has been cultivated in Flanders since the 16th century and is as such recognized and protected. It is a decorative bay tree that has been trimmed down to a perfect shape. It must be at least five years old and grown in a pot.
The trees are remarkably uniform in size and shape, which is a result of more than 400 years of cultivation during which the best mother plants were used to further perfect the next batch. In addition to being genetically outstanding, each tree is perfectly pruned to achieve symmetry and a variety of shapes such as a pyramid, sphere or pillar.
Jambú (lat. Acmella oleracea), is a leafy green herb native to the Amazon rainforest and certain regions of South America.
It is known for its distinct tingling and numbing properties, which make it a popular culinary and medicinal herb. The primary characteristic of jambú is that it provokes a unique sensation known as the "electric daisy effect." When consumed, the leaves of the jambú plant cause a tingling, numbing, and slightly buzzing sensation in the mouth hence it being described as consuming a mild electric shock.
Cubeb is a complex pepper variety native to Java, Indonesia. The pepper starts out as the immature fruit of a tropical climbing vine that sometimes grows in coffee plantations. The vines produce small flowers that turn into berries, which are gathered in the early summer.
The berries are then dried in the sun until they turn wrinkly and brown-black. Cubeb pepper barely has any heat, and the flavors are bitter, refreshing, and slightly numbing. Originally, it was grown for medicinal purposes, but over time it became popular as an ingredient due to its peppery and bitter notes.
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