Often, you can tell what cuisine you’re eating just by taking that first bite. In some cases, the aroma alone is enough to tip you off. But do you know what ingredients are used to create those distinctive flavors? Let’s get up close and personal with some of the most sought-after and recognizable spices in global cuisine.

Jamaican Allspice

Jamaican allspice is a single-origin ingredient, meaning that it hails from a specific geographic region. In this case, of course, that region is the country of Jamaica.

Allspice berries are used in many baking recipes, especially around the holidays. The Jamaican version has the traditional notes of nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, and pepper, but the flavors are noticeably more intense.

The complexity of the Jamaican allspice berry makes it a natural fit for both sweet and savory dishes. It can be used to lend background notes to a seasonal cocktail, or stirred into a mushroom saute to give the earthy flavors a welcome dose of warmth.

Garam Masala

Garam masala is an Indian seasoning blend, the name of which translates into warming spice. Its ingredients help the body ward off infection by boosting the immune system. Don’t be frightened off by the name–while garam masala has a warm flavor, it isn’t particularly spicy.

The blend includes coriander seeds (not the leaves), cumin, mace or nutmeg, cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and black peppercorns. As you might imagine, the flavor has many different layers, each contributing their own welcome kick to the rest of the ingredients.

In practice, garam masala is stirred into curries or vegetable dishes to liven up the flavor. Unlike tandoori masala, a spicy blend that’s used to marinate meats, this one is usually added at the end of the cooking process.

Baharat

Baharat is Arabic for spices, and this Middle Eastern blend shares many characteristics with garam masala. The flavor is a nice balance of smoke and sweetness that may take on different notes, depending on the region.

While the basic recipe consists of black pepper, paprika, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves, different countries make their own contributions to the mix. For example, Turkish baharat will usually have dried mint in it, while North African chefs might mix dried rosebuds in with the cinnamon. Other additions might include saffron, sumac, or turmeric.

Baharat can be used to season a myriad of dishes, but it’s a welcome addition to protein sources like meat and lentils. If you choose to make your own, add some dried chili peppers for an extra blast of heat.

Berbere

This savory spice blend originated in Ethiopia, where it’s used to imbue stews and sauces with a rich, complex taste. Dried chiles are the main ingredient, so you can expect this mixture to be spicier than many of the others listed here.

Berbere can be difficult to find, even in specialty food stores. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to make at home. Simply mix 1/2 cup of ground dried chiles with small amounts of fenugreek, paprika, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, mace or nutmeg, allspice, and salt.

Galangal

If you’ve ever seen galangal before, there’s a good chance you mistook it for ginger. This root grows in Thailand and China and is used in many Thai dishes, including the classic restaurant staple, thom kha gai (chicken soup with coconut milk).

Galangal is part of the ginger family, but it’s actually a different root that shares flavor characteristics with turmeric. Experts have found that it’s beneficial in reducing inflammation and may even have cancer-fighting properties.

Chinese Five Spice

As the name suggests, this mixture hails from China and contains five spices, all of which pair beautifully with poultry and pork dishes. It combines the warmth of Sichuan peppercorns, the complexity of star anise and fennel seeds, and the sweetness of cinnamon and clove. A welcome addition to spice rubs, it also lends a nice touch to the breading for fried chicken.

Fines Herbes

One of the subtlest herb blends, fines herbes is a French creation that’s famously used to flavor omelettes. Whereas herbes de Provence is made from dried herbs, fines herbes contains equal amounts of fresh parsley, tarragon, chervil, and chives.

While fines herbes have been around for over a century, Julia Child was largely responsible for bringing them to America’s attention. Early versions of the “blend” sometimes contained only chopped parsley, a practice which was decried by French chef Auguste Escoffier in 1903.

Hawaij

Hawaij is a Yemeni spice blend, made up of black pepper, cumin, coriander, green cardamom pods, cloves, and turmeric. While it has sinus-clearing properties thanks to the turmeric and pepper, the spiciness is earthy and subtle.

Sprinkle hawaij on pork chops or steaks before adding them to the grill, or mix a tablespoon into a soup or stew before adding the liquid.

Adobo

Adobo is actually a somewhat misleading term, as it refers to a cooking technique, a sauce, and a seasoning all at the same time. The word comes from the Spanish adobar, which means marinade. The spice blend, however, is used widely in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Adobo blends are used to season meats before grilling or roasting. Both wet and dry versions are used, depending on what’s for dinner. Dry mixes include oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Commercially prepared versions are usually available in supermarkets and specialty food stores.

Old Bay

In the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, Old Bay Seasoning can be found everywhere. Though it’s typically used to season seafood dishes, it turns up regularly on the dinner table alongside the salt and pepper. There are even potato chips made with Old Bay flavoring.

Celery salt is the predominant flavor in Old Bay, but it also contains paprika, mustard powder, black pepper, cayenne, and ground ginger, to name just a few. A man named Gustav Brunn invented it as a seasoning for crabmeat, and the rest is history. It’s named after the Old Bay steamship line, which used to run from Baltimore to Norfolk in the early 1900s.

Pickling Spice

Pickling spice is one of those recipes that’s prone to endless variations. As you might have guessed, it’s used to turn cucumbers (or other ingredients) into pickles by soaking them in a mixture of vinegar and aromatic spices. It can also make appearances in soups or stews. If you decide to brine the turkey next Thanksgiving, try adding pickling spice to the salt and water mixture.

Favorite ingredients include mustard seed, allspice berries, coriander, whole cloves, bay leaves, and crushed red pepper flake. To keep things relatively simple, try to limit the number of ingredients to 6-8.

Sansho Pepper

Sansho is Japan’s answer to the Szechuan pepper that’s ubiquitous in Chinese cooking. Its use dates back as far as 1000 BCE, with some sources claiming that it’s been around even longer than that.

Sansho pepper is harvested from prickly ash, which has ties to citrus plants. The flavor profile is hot and slightly numbing, but it’s not as spicy as peppers that contain capsicum (jalapeno and habanero, for instance). While it’s similar to the Szechuan peppercorn, the citrus flavors are more noticeable in the Sansho.

Ras El Hanout

A Moroccan blend of ginger, cardamom, mace, cinnamon, coriander, allspice, turmeric, and nutmeg, ras el hanout isn’t used in everyday cooking but is instead reserved for specialty dishes. Its name means head of the shop in Arabic, so it stands to reason that it would be used only for the finest Moroccan cuisine.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to try mrouzia, an intensely flavored lamb dish, you’ll have a good idea what ras al hanout tastes like. In fact, it’s such a staple in that dish that it’s sometimes referred to as “mrouzia spice.”

Final Thoughts

We hope you’ve enjoyed this trek through the various seasoning mixes used around the world. The next time you want to add a boost of complexity and richness to a dish, take a look through the spice cabinet to see what you can create.