Allspice
Did you know that allspice is also known as Jamaica pepper? It’s not a mixture of spices, but it is called allspice because it has an aroma and flavor reminiscent of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Allspice is the dried berry of the evergreen tree, pimento.

Anchovies

Anchovies are often a chef’s favorite ingredients, although anchovies may not even appear on the menu. But they are in the sauce, in the recipe, often hidden from the patron. Anchovies are expected in a Caesar salad or as a topping for pizza but also eloquent in a balsamic dressing for fish.

Today, in addition to traditional fishing methods, anchovies are detected by radar and sonic scopes and are often found in large schools swimming near the surface. Fresh from the sea, the anchovies are placed in large buckets of brine for the first cleaning stage. Skilled workers clean each fish, mostly by hand as they have for centuries. The fish are laid out on huge trays for grading and selection. The fish are rinsed with brine again and arranged in cylindrical barrels in layers. Each layer is topped with salt. Heavy stones of different weights are placed atop the barrels, pressing the anchovies down and eliminating water and fat from the fish. The weighted barrels are stored from 4 to 12 months. When removed from the barrels, the anchovies are thoroughly rinsed and pressed or placed in a centrifuge to remove as much water as possible. In a very delicate, but swift operation, the remaining skin and bones of each tiny fish are removed by hand. The workers then divide each fish into two fillets and pack them by hand, carefully in rows, side by side in cans, which are then filled with olive oil or soybean or sunflower oil. The cans are then sealed and kept cool, packed and readied for shipment.

Anise has a licorice-like flavor. It has been used for culinary and medicinal purposes for centuries. Anise is still used in medicine for digestive complaints and is an ingredient in cough medicines.

Arborio rice is traditionally used to make risotto because its increased starch gives this classic dish its creamy texture.

Bay Leaves are also called laurel leaf. Early Greeks and Romans attributed magical properties to the laurel leaf. It has long been a symbol of honor, celebration and triumph, “winning your laurels”.
Chiles
The ‘heat’ in chiles comes from capsaicin, an oil found in the ribs and seeds of the chile pepper. Capsaicin is said to arouse the appetite and aid digestion. To quench the heat after eating a too-hot chile, take a swallow of milk or a bite of buttered bread. Water will only fan the flames!

Ancho Chile Peppers are dried poblano peppers.

Chipotle Peppers are the smoked, dried version of jalapeno peppers.

Habanero Peppers are also known as Scotch Bonnet, the hottest of the chiles.

Cinnamon was once used in love potions and as a perfume for wealthy Romans.
The original sugarplums were actually sugar-coated coriander seeds. When a youngster sucked off the sugar and bit into the seed there was an explosion of flavor. Later on, bits of fruit were used for sugarplums.

Mace comes from the same fruit as the nutmeg. It is the skin, which surrounds the nutmeg seed.

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Ancient Romans and Persians called it ‘Red Gold’. It has been used, over the centuries, as a cosmetic, a pharmaceutical and as a yellow fabric dye. It is mentioned in the Old Testament, in the writings of Shakespeare and found with Egyptian mummies.

Saffron comes from a delicate flower, a lavender crocus that blooms in the fall. It takes 4,000 flowers to make one ounce of saffron. Each flower is picked by hand, early each morning, before the sun is too strong to wilt the petals and only during a 2 to 3 week period when the flower blooms. It is estimated that between 200,000 and half a million stigmas are needed to make 2 pounds of saffron.
Vanilla Bean
The long thin vanilla bean is a pod from an orchid. Of over 20,000 varieties of orchids, it is the only one that bears anything edible.

The vanilla bean was cultivated and processed by the Aztecs who used it to flavor their coca based drink.

The vanilla bean was once considered an aphrodisiac. It was so rare that it was reserved for royalty.

Pure vanilla is still expensive today because of the labor-intensive process needed to produce the beans. Its orchid blossoms open only for a few hours one day a year. The flowers are hand pollinated. After pollination, it takes approximately 10 months for the beans to reach maturity. The pods are hand picked and cured for 3 to 6 months.

Wasabi is a Japanese version of horseradish from the horseradish from the root of an Asian plant. It makes a green colored condiment with a sharp, pungent flavor.

Wild Rice isn’t really rice at all. It is a long-grain marsh grass native to the Great Lakes area.