Spice guide

Spice guide

Cumin (Kyoumel): Enhances fatty and heavy foods. Goes well with meat, stews, and cabbage-based dishes. Some cheeses or breads are tastier with cumin.
Juniper (Kedrokoukoutso): In Europe it is used to flavor beers, alcoholic beverages and dishes. Its dried fruits combine well with meat, especially with venison and lamb. It will flavor your sauces and marinades. Be careful when using it, because in excess it is bitter and covers the flavors.
Star Anise (Illyricum) : In China and Vietnam, star anise is a spice that goes well with poultry and meat dishes. It is a key ingredient in the Chinese “5 spice” mixture. In Eastern cuisine, star anise is mainly used in sweets. It can also flavor your hot drink.
Vanilla: The vanilla plant is a variety of orchid. It is a key ingredient in sweets, desserts, puddings and chocolate. Vanilla extract is used to flavor liqueurs, syrups, ice creams and tobacco.
*The main component of vanilla aroma, vanillin, is also produced synthetically to be more economical, but due to the absence of many other ingredients, it cannot compete with real vanilla.
Clove (Clove): Strong flavor with a pungent and pleasant aroma. Among our very common spices, clove flavors red meats and sauces, is widely used in confectionery, syrupy sweets and in flavoring liqueurs.
Anise: Due to its slightly sugary taste, anise is an ingredient in confectionery and bakery. A key ingredient in ouzo and flavored raki and tsipouro. It is suitable for syrups, fish, seafood and white meats and in sauces instead of dill. Known for its digestive action.
Cinnamon (Ceylon): A basic ingredient for confectionery. It is suitable for creams, sweets with honey or nuts, cinnamon cookies. It is very often found in oriental cuisine in spicy meat dishes.
Green cardamom: Pleasantly aromatic, cardamom is used in sweets such as cakes, desserts, with milk, puddings and compotes. It also combines well with cold cuts, meat, poultry and fish. In oriental cuisine, cardamom enhances curries and pilafs. In all Arab countries, cardamom is added to coffee, for its aroma but also as an aphrodisiac.
Coriander (Coriander): Its flavor is reminiscent of a mixture of sage and orange peel. Its aromatic fruits are combined with legumes and cabbage. It gives flavor to bread and we also use it in some sweets. It also goes well with roasts, lamb, beef and fish. An essential ingredient in curry.
Turmeric: Often used as a substitute for saffron. A key ingredient in curries and Worcestershire sauce. Goes well with seafood, rice dishes, ragouts, eggs, and mustard sauces. Turmeric reduces the spiciness of pepper.
Cumin: There is no curry without cumin. A staple in Arabic, Indian and Mexican cuisines. It pairs well with chicken, fish, lamb and ideally enhances bread, cheese and bitter liqueurs.
Longpepper: Probably the hottest but also the most aromatic. Excellent for heavy meats, in kontosouvli and kokoretsi. Although known in Greece since the time of Hippocrates mainly for therapeutic use, today it is rare in European cuisine. It is worth trying.
Mastic: A unique product of Chios. In Greece it is used in sweets, marzipan, syrupy cakes and tsoureki. Mastic goes exceptionally well with lemon.
Nutmeg blossom (masis): The nutmeg blossom is not the flower but the bark of the fresh nutmeg. It has a more delicate flavor and is used mainly in foods. Its flavor is considered superior to the fruit.
Nutmeg: Adds finesse to potatoes and mashed potatoes, white sauces, roasts, ragouts and desserts such as apple or pear compotes.
Mustard (Mustard Seed): We use the whole seeds with pickles, pickles, fish marinades and even as a seasoning for cold cuts. We use mustard powder plain to marinate meat or as a base to make the famous mustard.
Allspice: It comes from the Caribbean, also known as Indian Pepper. It has a distinctive & spicy flavor that is a combination of three other spices: cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. It is used in all foods, especially red ones, while it also has interesting applications in sweets and drinks.
Poppy seeds: Spicy flavor reminiscent of coconut. Poppy seeds are known as a spice in breads or as a flavoring ingredient in desserts. It gives a refined flavor to salads and pasta.
Paprika: Enhances roasts, poultry, fish and vegetables. It is very tasty with fried potatoes or in the oven and in egg dishes. There is sweet, hot and smoky paprika.
White Pepper: Ripe pepper that is peeled. Less strong with a very characteristic aroma. Goes well with white sauces and seafood.
Black Pepper: It is the most well-known spice. Its aroma is sharp, penetrating and irritating to the nose and the taste is very hot. It goes with almost all foods and is therefore widely used in cooking.
Green Pepper: Black, white and green pepper are the fruit of the same plant at different stages of ripening. Green pepper has a slightly lemony flavor, suitable for fish, soups and lemony mixes.
Pink Pepper: Not related to the peppery variety but to the schino. It comes from Peru. It has a spicy, resinous flavor, suitable for salads and fish. Lately you will see it in chocolate sweets and cocktails.
Sichuan pepper: Named after a region in southeastern China. It has a very complex aroma and flavor reminiscent of lemon, mint, anise, and resin. A staple of Chinese cuisine and the "5-spice" blend. It is suitable for seafood sauces and is used in sweets and chocolates.
Ginger: It has a peppery and lemony aroma. Dried ginger root is used for sweets, desserts, marinades and lemonades. Fresh ginger gives its unique aroma to vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, soups and rice. It is used in perfumery and distilling (Corfuians use ginger to make their signature drink, ginger beer). It can flavor your tea or beverages.
Saffron (Crocodile): The most expensive spice in the world. It is used in Oriental and Mediterranean cuisines. It flavors and colors rice dishes, soups, seafood, desserts and sweets. A little saffron on the tip of a spoon is enough to color your dishes. If it is added at the end of cooking, its aroma is better preserved. If we want a more intense color, we add it from the beginning.
Sumac (Shumach, Rus): It has a vinegary aroma and is used in foods that would suit vinegar or wine, such as stews, legumes, and salads. It is the dried flesh of a wild cherry. Its beautiful deep red color allows for decorative use.
Fenugreek (Tsimeni or Muscovite): It plays an important role in Indian cuisine, it is used in curries and spice mixtures. It goes well with lemonade, meat and minced meat (it gives a wonderful flavor to meatballs), potatoes, vegetables. It is used in pastourma recipes.
Chili Pepper: Strong pepper and spicy. A key ingredient in curry powder, chili sauce and Tabasco. We will find it in meat or vegetable dishes, stews, pizza and Mexican dishes. We add it after cooking because if cooked it becomes bitter.