101 ingredients · 108 producers · 41 origins
The world through what has taste.
Selected spices
The atlas
Kampot Province, Cambodia
Kampot Pepper
The pepper that sommeliers taste like wine.
Malabar Coast, Kerala, India
Tellicherry Pepper
The largest black peppercorn on earth.
Sava region, Madagascar
Bourbon Vanilla
The vanilla every other vanilla is measured against.
West African coast, Ghana
Grains of Paradise
Renaissance Europe's favourite spice, almost forgotten.
Khorasan, Iran
Iranian Saffron
More than 90% of the world's saffron comes from one Iranian province.
Banda Islands, Indonesia
Mace
The crimson lace around nutmeg's seed.
Sichuan, China
Sichuan Pepper
The tingling-numb spice that redefined Chinese heat.
Northern South America, Venezuela
Tonka Bean
The wrinkled black bean that replaced vanilla in haute cuisine.
Explore the atlas
View all →Kampot Province, Cambodia
Kampot Pepper
The pepper that sommeliers taste like wine.
Malabar Coast, Kerala, India
Tellicherry Pepper
The largest black peppercorn on earth.
Sava region, Madagascar
Bourbon Vanilla
The vanilla every other vanilla is measured against.
Eastern rainforest, Madagascar, Madagascar
Voatsiperifery Pepper
The wild pepper that climbs forty-foot trees.
West African coast, Ghana
Grains of Paradise
Renaissance Europe's favourite spice, almost forgotten.
Indian subcontinent, India
Long Pepper
The pepper Romans paid more for than gold.
Khorasan, Iran
Iranian Saffron
More than 90% of the world's saffron comes from one Iranian province.
Lampung, Indonesia
Lampong Pepper
The workhorse of global pepper — sharp, smoky, Sumatran.
Malabar Coast, India
Malabar Pepper
The original pepper — Kerala's baseline for the world.
Penja Valley, Cameroon
Penja Pepper
Volcanic-soil pepper, Michelin's open secret.
Sarawak, MY
Sarawak Pepper
Borneo's clean, gentle pepper — hand-cleaned by the Bidayuh.
Nepalese Himalayas, Nepal
Timut Pepper
The Nepalese pepper that smells like pink grapefruit.
Banda Islands, Indonesia
Banda Nutmeg
The original nutmeg, from ten volcanic islands.
Eastern Himalayas, India
Black Cardamom
Cardamom's smoky cousin, dried over open fire.
Yunnan, China
Cassia Cinnamon
The loud, red-brown cinnamon that rules bakeries.
Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
Ceylon Cinnamon
True cinnamon, thin-barked, sweet with a floral lift.
Guangxi, China
Star Anise
The eight-point star that perfumes Cantonese braises.
Mediterranean basin, Morocco
Coriander Seed
The round seed with two lives — citrus then toasted.
Java, Indonesia
Cubeb Pepper
The tailed pepper that once ruled medieval kitchens.
Western India, India
Cumin
The most cooked-with spice in the world after pepper.
Mediterranean basin, Türkiye
Anise Seed
The Mediterranean seed behind every pastis glass.
Tropical Americas, US
Annatto
Achiote red — the Amazonian colorant of Mesoamerica
Mediterranean basin, Italy
Fennel Seed
Anise's sweeter, more digestible sister.
Java, Indonesia
Galangal
Ginger's piney, more disciplined cousin.
Maritime Southeast Asia, India
Ginger
The rhizome that warms, sharpens and settles the stomach.
Jamaica, Jamaica
Allspice
The single spice that tastes like many.
Western Ghats, Kerala, India
Green Cardamom
The queen of spices — and the third most expensive by weight.
Pampore, Kashmir, India
Kashmiri Saffron
Mongra saffron, all-stigma, from the Pampore plateau
Banda Islands, Indonesia
Mace
The crimson lace around nutmeg's seed.
Middle East, Türkiye
Mahleb
Cherry-pit kernel that tastes of almond, rose, vanilla.
Brazil, Brazil
Pink Pepper
Not a pepper at all — a Brazilian pink berry.
Honshu, Japan, JP
Sansho Pepper
The Japanese tingle, brighter than Sichuan.
Sichuan, China
Sichuan Pepper
The tingling-numb spice that redefined Chinese heat.
La Mancha, Spain
Spanish Saffron
La Mancha's DOP gold, born under the Don Quixote sky.
Levant, Türkiye
Sumac
The Levantine lemon — tartness without moisture.
Tahiti, French Polynesia, PF
Tahitian Vanilla
Floral cherry-anise vanilla from French Polynesia
Northern South America, Venezuela
Tonka Bean
The wrinkled black bean that replaced vanilla in haute cuisine.
Tamil Nadu, India
Turmeric
The golden root of Tamil Nadu — 4,000 years in the kitchen and the ritual.
Pemba, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Zanzibar Cloves
The unopened bud that made and unmade an island economy.
Puebla (Tehuacan Valley), Zacatecas, Durango, MX
Ancho chile
The wide flat heart of Mexican mole, sweetest of the dried-chile trinity.
Mediterranean basin (Turkey, Greece, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Portugal), Türkiye
Bay laurel
The leaf that crowned Roman generals and still underwrites every serious stock pot.
Namhae (South Korea, modern origin ~2004), Japan, United States, KR
Black garlic
The slow-cooked umami bomb where garlic sheds its bite and becomes something closer to balsamic and dark chocolate.
Northern Europe, NL
Caraway
The rye-bread soul of Northern European cooking
South India (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka) and Sri Lanka, India
Curry leaf
The leaf that cracks open South India from the first mustard-seed pop.
South Asia, India
Dill Seed
The pickling jar's mandatory and unreplaceable passenger
Upper Egypt, Sudan (Kordofan, Darfur), Mexico (Guerrero, Oaxaca), Jamaica, EG
Dried hibiscus
The ruby calyx that powers karkade, agua de jamaica and bissap with a cranberry-cut tartness.
Batinah coast of Oman, Iranian Hormozgan, lower Gulf, OM
Dried lime (loomi)
The fermented citrus bomb of the Persian Gulf
Aegean Turkey (Izmir, Mugla), Greek islands (Crete, Kalymnos), Mexican Sierra Madre, Türkiye
Dried oregano
The sun-baked hillside herb that anchors pizza in Naples and tacos al pastor in Puebla.
Gujarat and Rajasthan, India
Ajwain
Carom seeds: thyme concentrated into a pinhead.
Aleppo / Gaziantep, SY
Aleppo Pepper
Halaby flake: cumin, citrus and raisin over a slow Levantine burn.
Hindu Kush foothills, Herat and Kandahar provinces, AF
Asafoetida
The sulfurous gum that turns truffle-sweet in hot oil
Veracruz, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, MX
Chipotle
Smoke-dried red jalapeño that carries the fire and the fireplace in one bite.
Hindu Kush and Pamir (Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Northern Pakistan, Tajikistan), Iran
Black caraway
The wild mountain seed of the Hindu Kush that signs Persian biryani and Kashmiri rogan josh.
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar cottage industries, India
Amchoor
Sour without water: the dry acid of Indian kitchens
Kazanlak Valley of Roses (Bulgaria), Kashan (Iran), Kelaat Mgouna (Morocco), Isparta (Turkey), BG
Dried rose petal
The velvet petal that carries Persian advieh and Moroccan ras el hanout on a floral breath.
Tuscan coast (Maremma), Provence (Luberon, Alpilles), Spanish Murcia, Moroccan Khemisset, Tunisian Cap Bon, Italy
Dried rosemary
The pine-needled shrub of the sea cliff that carries focaccia, lamb and the Sunday roast.
Dalmatia (ISO grade 1), Albania, Turkey, US/California, HR
Dried sage
The Dalmatian herb that turns brown butter into a revelation and makes Thanksgiving stuffing smell like home.
Drome (France), Caucasus/Georgia (origin), FR
Dried tarragon
The anise-laced herb that makes bearnaise possible and elevates every French mother sauce it touches.
Provence garrigue (Vaucluse, Drome), Spanish Sierra de Segura, Moroccan Middle Atlas, FR
Dried thyme
The garrigue herb that ties the bouquet garni, salts the za'atar and scents the roasting chicken.
Pays Basque, FR
Espelette Pepper
The Basque chile strung in garlands against white half-timbered walls.
Rajasthan and Gujarat, India
Fenugreek
The maple-syrup molecule that hijacked a Toronto skyline.
Mainland Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, southern China), TH
Fingerroot
The piney rhizome that gives Thai jungle curry its medicinal edge.
Guerande (Loire-Atlantique), Ile de Re, Noirmoutier, Mer des Pertuis; Algarve (Portugal), FR
Fleur de sel
The hand-raked crust of crystals skimmed at sunset from Atlantic salt marshes.
Cayenne (French Guiana, namesake), Guntur (India), Jalisco (Mexico), Louisiana (United States), GF
Cayenne pepper
The thin-walled red lance that delivers pure, honest heat with no place to hide.
Provence (Haute-Provence, Vaucluse, Drome), FR
Culinary lavender
The Provencal bud whose linalool sweetens honey, not soap.
Maluku Islands (Ternate, Tidore, Moti, Makian, Bacan), Indonesia
Clove
The sun-dried flower bud from the Moluccas whose eugenol still rewires a kitchen on contact.
Korean peninsula (Yeongyang, Cheongyang, Goesan), KR
Gochugaru
The sun-dried Korean chile flake that paints kimchi its unmistakable crimson.
Kozani-Krokos (Western Macedonia), GR
Greek saffron
The crimson stigma from Kozani whose crocin concentration outscores every saffron on the planet.
Xinhui district, Jiangmen, Guangdong (Pearl River Delta), China
Chenpi
The decade-aged mandarin peel that trades like old Bordeaux in the Pearl River Delta.
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia), TH
Bird's eye chili
The tiny incendiary that punches so far above its weight it redefined Southeast Asian cooking.
Durango, Coahuila, MX
Cascabel chile
The little rattle chile whose seeds shake inside the dried globe like a maraca from the Mexican desert.
Kampot (Cambodia), Chanthaburi (Thailand), SAVA Region (Madagascar), Cambodia
Green peppercorn
The unripe berry that brings pepper's heat without its gravity -- bright, grassy, almost reckless.
Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Durango, San Luis Potosi, MX
Guajillo chile
The berry-bright backbone of salsa roja and Mexico most-produced dried chile.
Yucatan Peninsula (Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo), MX
Habanero
Yucatan lantern where tropical fruit and fire share a skin.
Western Balkans and Apennines, MK
Juniper berry
Pine-forest resin with the backbone of every gin bottle.
Sambhar Lake, Didwana and Punjabi mines, finished in Uttar Pradesh kilns, India
Kala namak
The volcanic-smelling salt born in a kiln, not a mine
Indonesia (Java, Bali), Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia
Kencur
The sand ginger that hides in plain sight across Southeast Asian kitchens and Javanese medicine cabinets.
Konkan coast and Western Ghats (Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka), India
Kokum
The purple-black rind that gives the Konkan coast its quietest sourness.
Sumatra-Kerinci (West Sumatra / Jambi highlands), Indonesia
Korintje cinnamon
The Sumatran bark that quietly became seventy percent of every American spice rack.
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, southern India), TH
Lemongrass
The tropical grass whose citral backbone carries tom yum, pho and rendang.
Mediterranean basin, Iran, Turkmenistan, northern China (G. uralensis), Italy
Licorice root
The rhizome fifty times sweeter than sugar that runs from Calabria to the Chinese apothecary.
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos), TH
Makrut lime leaf
The double-lobed leaf that perfumes Thai curry from the first simmer.
Chios Island, GR
Mastic
Tears of Chios: a resin that chews like glass and tastes like pine forest.
Papantla-Veracruz (Totonac heartland), Oaxaca, Chiapas, MX
Mexican vanilla
The orchid pod that invented vanilla and nearly died trying to survive its own success.
Prairie Provinces, CA
Mustard Seed
A chemistry experiment you can eat by the spoon
Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, India
Nigella seed
Matte-black seeds, toasted onion and oregano in one bite.
Maritime Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Philippines), Indonesia
Pandan leaf
The Southeast Asian leaf whose popcorn-basmati aroma defines nasi lemak and kaya jam.
Oaxaca, Michoacan, MX
Pasilla chile
The wrinkled 'little raisin' that anchors mole negro and whispers of dried fruit where other chiles just shout.
Southeast Africa (Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi) via Portuguese trade, MZ
Piri-piri
African bird chile the Portuguese made a global marinade.
Central Europe (Czech Republic, Turkey, Spain, Hungary), CZ
Poppy seed
The kidney-shaped seed that bakes Central Europe and thickens North Indian gravy.
Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Yen Bai (Vietnamese central highlands), VN
Saigon cinnamon
The Vietnamese cassia that carries more cinnamaldehyde than any cinnamon on the shelf.
Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Guyana), Jamaica
Scotch bonnet
The Caribbean lantern that hides a mango-apricot perfume behind 350,000 Scoville units of liquid fire.
Indian subcontinent and East Africa (India, Sudan, Myanmar, Tanzania, Ethiopia), India
Sesame seed
The oldest oilseed on record, open-sesame for everything from tahini to gomashio.
East and Southeast Asia (Japan, Korea, Vietnam, China), JP
Shiso
The ephemeral sashimi leaf that dies within days of picking.
La Vera, Extremadura, Spain
Smoked Paprika
Oak-smoked Extremadura pepper that gave chorizo its colour and soul.
Szeged, Kalocsa (Great Hungarian Plain), HU
Sweet paprika
The scarlet powder that gave Hungary its national colour and Albert Szent-Gyorgyi his Nobel Prize.
Indian subcontinent, Thailand (Phetchabun), Mexico (Colima, Jalisco, Guerrero), India
Tamarind
The sour date-brown pulp that anchors sambar, pad thai and HP sauce on a spine of tartaric acid.
Sanliurfa, Türkiye
Urfa Biber
The dark purple chile that sweats raisin and tobacco under Anatolian stars.
Japan (Shizuoka Izu peninsula, Iwate, Nagano), JP
Wasabi
The mountain-stream rhizome whose heat vanishes in fifteen minutes.
Bangka-Belitung / Muntok (Indonesia), Sarawak (Malaysia), Central Highlands (Vietnam), Indonesia
White pepper
The naked seed that trades black pepper's bark for a sharper, more cerebral bite.
Japan (Kochi prefecture, especially Umaji village), Korea (Geoje), China (Yangtze valley origin), JP
Yuzu zest
The knobbly winter citrus whose skin holds all the flavour.
Where they come from
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