Long pepper is one of two peppers in the Piperaceae family, relatives of Piper nigrum or black pepper, Indian Long Pepper (Piper longam) and Indonesian Long Pepper (Piper retrofractum). Both of these are quite similar to one another in culinary use. The fruits of these pepper plants are not small round berries, like those of … Read more
Ask anybody in my family and there is an ailment that they will say we all have in common: acid reflux and heartburn. For me, it comes in waves. I have periods of time where I’m just going to get heartburn every day. Then it eases off for a while. Then it comes back. But, … Read more
The terms coriander and cilantro produce confusion for novice cooks. Are they the same? Are they different? Is coriander an herb or a spice? Is it a plant or a seed? It is all of these. The confusion, however, comes from how we use both terms from a culinary standpoint versus a botanical one. Coriander … Read more
Amchur (amchoor, aamchur) is dried unripe mango flesh, used either as slices or as a powder. It is an important spice in India, especially in the Northern states, where most of it is produced. Usually, unripened mangos which have fallen prematurely from the tree are used to make amchur. Mango is a climacteric fruit, which will continue to ripen … Read more
Mexican cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), actually the bark of a tree, is a type of cinnamon from Sri Lanka called Ceylon but known as Canela in Mexico. It is often considered “true” cinnamon, whereas the relative cassia, a much more widely marketed cinnamon common in the United States, is a native of Indonesia and has a … Read more
Grains of Paradise, or melegueta pepper (aframomum melegueta), are the small brown to black seeds of a perennial reedlike plant in the Ginger family, or zingiberaceae. The plant is also related to cardamom. Indigenous to the West Coast of Africa and growing in swampy terrain, the seeds look like small black peppercorns with a white interior … Read more