The flavours behind the food we eat
Welcome to the reference guide for herbs and spices: 312 pages on every leaf, seed, bark, root and chilli worth cooking with; from a handful of basil to a Carolina Reaper, and the blends, pastes and traditions built on them.
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Bird's eye chilli
The small, fierce chilli of Southeast Asian cooking
Bird's eye chillies are small, pointed, very hot chillies used across Southeast Asia and Africa. The name covers several varieties of Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens.
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💡 Did you know…
- The curved, ridged seed of a biennial in the carrot family, with a warm, sharp, slightly minty flavour from carvone. Central to northern and central European rye bread, cabbage and cheese. (Caraway)
- Paprika is ground dried red Capsicum annuum peppers, from sweet and mild to hot. It is the national spice of Hungary, essential in Spanish cooking, and valued everywhere for colour and sweetness. (Paprika)
- Coriander leaf, called cilantro in the Americas, is the fresh green of the plant that gives coriander seed. Bright, citrusy and loved across Asia and Latin America, it tastes of soap to a minority of people. (Coriander (cilantro))
- A mixture of dried herbs of southern France, typically thyme, savory, rosemary, oregano and marjoram, used for grilled meat, roast vegetables and tomato dishes; lavender is a modern addition. (Herbes de Provence)
🌶️ Spice Finder
Tell us what you're cooking and what's in the spice rack, and we'll tell you which blend, rub or paste to make — and what you're missing.
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🌡️ The Heat Ladder Scoville scale
The bars are on a log scale: every fifth of the way along is ten times hotter, from a bell pepper's zero to pure capsaicin at 16 million. Pick a chilli, or use the arrow keys. See capsaicin for why it burns.