Curated playlist
Indian spices
- MangoIn 1974, Filipino horticulturist Ramon Barba made mango trees flower on demand.
- CorianderCoriander, known to botanists as Coriandrum sativum, is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae, and it splits dinner tables in two. For most people, a fresh leaf tastes bright, with a faint citrus edge. For others, the very same leaf tastes…
- CinnamonAncient writers thought cinnamon grew in Arabia, guarded by winged serpents. Traders kept the real source secret.
- Black pepperBlack pepper was found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II. It was placed there during his mummification rituals.
- CardamomOne German coffee planter helped make Guatemala the top cardamom grower. He brought the plant there before World War I.
- Chili pepperBirds can eat the hottest chili peppers without distress. They lack the pain receptor that responds to capsaicin.
- GingerIn 14th century England, a pound of ginger cost as much as a sheep. Ginger began as a crop of ancient seafarers.
- NutmegBritain gave up a nutmeg island to the Dutch and got Manhattan. Run Island was traded in the Treaty of Breda.
- CloveMinisters of a Han Dynasty emperor had to hold a clove in their mouths before speaking to him.
- BasilA pot of basil in a Boccaccio tale led to a Keats poem and two paintings. The herb's name means royal plant in Greek.
- Mustard seedA grieving mother searched a village for mustard seeds from a home untouched by death.
- TamarindTamarind, known to botanists as Tamarindus indica, carries a name that points to the wrong continent. In Arabic it was called tamr hindi, meaning Indian date. Yet the tree is indigenous to tropical Africa. Its pods hold a sweet and tangy…
- SaffronSaffron is the spice made from the crimson threads of a purple autumn crocus, and about 150 flowers are needed to produce a single gram of the dried product. That arithmetic explains why people call it red gold. It also helps explain why…
- TurmericTurmeric, known to botanists as Curcuma longa, may owe its English name to the Latin phrase terra merita, which means deserved earth. The Latin word longa in its scientific name simply means long. That modest label sits oddly on a root…
- LiquoriceLiquorice, spelled licorice in the United States, is the name for the root of a bean-family plant called Glycyrrhiza glabra. Dig it up, and you find something that tastes sweeter than sugar. It also tastes different from sugar, and people…