Herbs & Spices

Basil sits firmly among the kitchen standards as an aromatic herb from the mint family originally from tropical Asia. Its distinctive fragra...

Open any well-stocked walk-in and chances are you will find Soy Sauce — a liquid fermentation product of soybeans wheat, salt and water. Fer...

Thyme is one of the fundamental herbs of Mediterranean cuisine and a go-to component of bouquet garni (with parsley and bay leaf). Its chara...

Miso sits firmly among the kitchen standards as a fermented paste of soybeans salt and koji. Depending on the base and fermentation period,...

Hard to imagine a kitchen without Parsley — the most widely used fresh herb in the Western commercial kitchens. Two varieties exist: flat-le...

Mirin — a Japanese sweet rice wine made by fermenting mochigome (glutinous rice) with koji and shochu. The end product contains 40–60% sugar...

Extra Virgin Olive Oil — the cold-pressed oil from fresh olives with a free fatty acid content of no more than 0. 8%. It is the only oil leg...

From bistro to banquet hall, Dashi earns its spot as the fundamental Japanese stock made by cold- or hot-extracting umami-rich ingredients i...

On the line, Dill holds its place as an annual herb from the carrot family closely related to fennel and caraway. The characteristic aroma i...

Coriander is one of the most widely used herbs in the world, but also one of the most polarising: genetic variations in the OR6A2 receptor d...

Mint includes more than 25 species, of which spearmint and peppermint are the most used in commercial kitchens. Spearmint primarily contains...

Chives are the mildest member of the onion family and have a subtle, fresh onion-garlic flavour without the sharpness or intensity of onion,...

Oregano belongs to the mint family and is closely related to marjoram. Its characteristic aroma is determined by thymol and carvacrol, two p...

Bay leaf comes from the Mediterranean bay laurel tree and is one of the oldest used culinary herbs in the world, documented in classical Gre...

Cumin is one of the most widely used spices in the world and forms the backbone of North African, Middle Eastern, Indian and Latin American...

Think Saffron and you are looking at the most expensive spice in the world by weight: a gram costs three to five euros at wholesale and cons...

Few ingredients rival Nutmeg when it comes to being the dried seed kernel of the fruit of Myristica fragrans a tropical tree native to the B...

Turmeric sits firmly among the kitchen standards as a rhizome from the ginger family native to tropical South Asia. The dried and ground rhi...

Paprika is dried and ground red pepper and is available in three main varieties for commercial kitchens: sweet (mild, no capsaicin), semi-sw...

Star Anise, the dried fruit of a tree belonging to the family Schisandraceae native to southern China and Vietnam. The eight pointed rays of...

Think Fresh Ginger and you are looking at the rhizome of the ginger plant and contains gingerols as its primary flavour and bioactive compou...

Ceylon cinnamon is "true" cinnamon, native to Sri Lanka, to be distinguished from Cassia cinnamon, the most common supermarket variety. Crit...

Across kitchens, There has made a name for itself — a reason Cardamom shows up on so many prep lists: it is the seed pod of a plant in the g...

Bourbon vanilla comes from Madagascar and the islands of Réunion and Comoros, and is the most widely used vanilla variety in professional pa...

Walk through any serious kitchen and you will spot Real wasabi: a semi-aquatic plant that grows along mountain streams in Japan and is one o...

Fenugreek — a legume of which both the leaves and seeds are used. The characteristic maple syrup odour comes from SOTOLONE (3-hydroxy-4,5-di...

Ask a seasoned cook about Lemongrass and you will hear about a tropical perennial grass from the family Poaceae native to South and Southeas...

Walk through any serious kitchen and you will spot The leaf of the makrut lime: a characteristic double leaf: two leaves grown on one stalk,...

Think Pimentón de la Vera and you are looking at a smoked paprika with PDO status from the comarca La Vera in the Spanish region of Extremad...

Sichuan pepper is botanically not a true pepper but belongs to the rue family. The edible part is the red pericarp (outer fruit wall) of the...

In any well-stocked kitchen, There earns its place: a reason Aleppo Pepper shows up on so many prep lists: it is a semi-dried chilli from th...

The tonka bean — the dried seed of a South American tree from the legume family, native to the Amazon rainforest of Venezuela, Guyana and Br...

Rosemary is one of the most aromatic Mediterranean herbs, with a resinous, camphoraceous scent and flavour profile from rosmarinic acid and...

On the line, Savory holds its place as an aromatic herb from the mint family and spans two main species for culinary use: summer savory and...

Sage — an aromatic herb with a warm lightly medicinal, camphor-balsamic flavour caused by the thujone in its essential oils. It is a shrubby...

Ask a seasoned cook about Lemon Balm and you will hear about a perennial herb from the mint family native to Southern Europe and Central Asi...

Tarragon (estragon) is one of the four fines herbes of classic French cuisine, along with parsley, chervil and chives. It has a complex arom...

Grains of paradise are the dried seeds of a West African reed-grass plant from the ginger family, native to the marshy coastal areas of West...

Berbere, a complex spice blend from Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine sometimes described as the "mother of all spice blends" in the Horn of Af...

Across kitchens worldwide, Amchur (Mango Powder) has earned a reputation as a dried powder made from unripe, green mangoes. The mangoes are...

Chervil — a refined European culinary herb with a delicate anise-like flavour. The feathery leaves are fragile and quickly lose their aroma...

In any well-run kitchen, Loomi (Dried Lime) stands out as a fully dried lime,a characteristic ingredient in the cuisines of the Arabian Gulf...

For chefs who know their craft, Lovage needs no introduction — a powerfully flavoured culinary herb with an intense celery-like and stock-li...

Open any well-stocked walk-in and chances are you will find Pandan Leaf — a tropical leaf from the screwpine native to Southeast Asia. It is...

Ask a seasoned cook about Sumac and you will hear about a dried ground berry from the Eurasian sumac shrub. The deep purple colour is caused...

Sansho — the Japanese variety of Sichuan pepper belonging to the rue family. Like Sichuan pepper, sansho contains hydroxy-alpha-sanshool and...

Think Galangal and you are looking at an aromatic rhizome that strongly resembles ginger but has an entirely different aroma profile. Greate...

Long pepper is one of the oldest and most extensively traded spices in the world, in use in Europe and Asia before black pepper. The plant b...

Za'atar is both a Levantine spice blend and the name of the herb plant Origanum syriacum. As a blend, za'atar consists of dried oregano or t...

Curry leaves are the fresh or dried leaves of the curry leaf shrub, belonging to the citrus family. They are not related to curry powder ble...

Stock your walk-in with Ras el Hanout — a North African spice blend of 20–30 spices,variable by trader and region. The typical base includes...

Ask a seasoned cook about Piment d'Espelette and you will hear about a protected designation of origin for a mild chilli variety grown in te...

Think Gochugaru and you are looking at the Korean dried and ground or coarsely ground red chilli pepper a cornerstone of Korean cuisine. The...

Pick up Annatto (Achiote) and you have a tropical plant native to tropical America whose red seeds are used as a colour and flavour spice. I...

When prep begins, The leaf of the fig tree is right there: a remarkably aromatic ingredient that is attracting increasing attention in conte...

Ginger root sits in almost every walk-in cooler for good reason. The knobby rhizome packs a sharp, warm bite that lifts stir-fries, soups, m...

Capers are the unopened flower buds of the caper bush, a thorny Mediterranean shrub that grows naturally on rocky coastlines of the Mediterr...

Sake is fermented rice wine with 14–16% alcohol, brewed from steamed rice, koji mould, water and yeast. In commercial kitchens, sake fulfils...

Ask a seasoned cook about Rice Vinegar and you will hear about the mildest vinegar in commercial kitchens: 4–4. 5% acetic acid compared to 6...

When prep begins, Toasted sesame oil (goma abura) is right there: the most aromatic finishing oil in Asian cuisine. The golden to brown colo...

When prep begins, Shiso is right there: the most widely used Japanese herb: a member of the mint family with a unique aroma profile that sim...

Harissa sits firmly among the kitchen standards as a Tunisian chilli paste recognised by UNESCO in 2022 as intangible cultural heritage of T...

Za'atar is both a wild herb species and the name of a Levantine herb blend that uses this herb as its base. In commercial kitchens, we almos...

Across kitchens worldwide, Gochujang has earned a reputation as a thick,dark red paste made from gochugaru, glutinous rice, soybeans and sal...

On the line, you will often reach for Doenjang — a dark brown,fermented soybean paste — the Korean counterpart of Japanese miso, but signifi...

Tarragon is one of the four fines herbes of French cuisine, alongside parsley, chives and chervil. The herb has a characteristic anise-like...

Open any well-stocked walk-in and chances are you will find Truffle — the most prestigious mushroom in the world. The black Périgord truffle...

Hard to run a kitchen without Fleur de sel — the thin, crunchy layer of sea salt crystals that forms on the surface of salt pans in summer a...

Few ingredients rival Dijon Mustard when it comes to being a sharp mustard prepared from brown and black mustard seeds combined with wine or...

Piment d'Espelette — an AOC-certified red pepper from the Basque village of Espelette at the foot of the Pyrenees. The pepper has Scoville v...

Hard to run a kitchen without Calvados — an AOC apple brandy from the Norman department of Calvados. Distilled from fermented apple cider (a...

Day in, day out, Cognac delivers: an AOC grape brandy distilled in the Charente region from double-distilled white Ugni blanc wine. Aged for...

Herbes de Provence, a dry herb blend representing the typical fragrance of the Provençal garrigue. Classic composition: thyme, rosemary, ore...