Seasonings & Spice Blends

🇮🇪Connacht, Ireland

Achill Island sea salt

Achill Island sea salt is a condiment from County Mayo, rooted in local cooking tradition.

🇮🇷Iran

Advieh

ادویه

The Iranian spice blend — rose petals, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin and turmeric in varying proportions — mixed differently in every region and household.

🇧🇯Benin

Afitin

Fermented locust bean (néré/Parkia biglobosa) condiment; a powerful flavour enhancer; called 'African mustard' in Benin; the Fon name is afitin and Yoruba name is iru; essential to sauces.

🇨🇮Côte d'Ivoire

Akpi

Djansang seeds toasted and ground into a thickening, faintly bitter paste that goes into palm-nut and okra sauces.

🇱🇷Liberia

Akpi

Aromatic African nut used as a thickener and seasoning in Liberian soups and sauces.

🇵🇷Puerto Rico

Alcaparrado

A Puerto Rican mixture of capers, olives, and pimientos used to season stews and rice dishes.

🇬🇧Wales, United Kingdom

Anglesey sea salt

Anglesey sea salt is hand-harvested from seawater in the Menai Strait and sold as fine or flaked crystals.

🇹🇹Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Angostura Bitters

Concentrated aromatic bitters made to a secret recipe in Port of Spain since the company moved there in 1875.

🇨🇭Switzerland

Aromat

A yellow seasoning powder of salt, monosodium glutamate, herbs and dried vegetable, shaken over eggs, potatoes and salad.

🇵🇭Bohol, Philippines

Asín tibuok

Asín tibuok, the "unbroken salt" of Bohol filtered through seawater-soaked coconut husk and fired in a clay pot that is smashed to release it, is made by a handful of families, is on the Slow Food Ark of Taste, and is one of the strongest rarity items available anywhere in the Asian file.

🇧🇧Barbados

Bajan Seasoning

A wet green paste of marjoram, thyme, parsley, spring onion, garlic and hot pepper, rubbed into every piece of meat and fish before cooking.

🇲🇲Myanmar

Balachaung

ဘလချောင်း

Dried shrimp pounded and fried in oil with masses of garlic, shallot and chilli until crisp, dark and floss-like; kept as a relish for rice.

Ingredient

Bandrélé Salt

Sel de Bandrélé

Traditional sea salt produced by 'mamas shingo' from mangrove mud in Bandrélé. The mud is filtered, evaporated over wood fires, and the resulting salt is sometimes blended with vanilla or other spices.

🇱🇷Liberia

Beniseed

Sesame seed used in Liberian sauces, breads and ground condiments.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Berbere

በርበሬ

The soul of Ethiopian cuisine. A deeply complex red spice blend built around dried chili peppers and layered with a dozen or more aromatics — fenugreek, cardamom, korarima, ajwain, cloves, ginger, garlic and more. The heat and depth behind every wot.

🇦🇪United Arab Emirates

Bezar Spice Mix

بهارات البزار

Traditional Emirati spice blend with cinnamon, cumin, coriander, fennel, cardamom, and other spices, essential for machboos and other dishes, aromatic blend with balanced flavors and fresh spices, essential.

🇧🇶Bonaire

Bonaire Sea Salt

Saliña di Bonaire

Sea salt harvested from Bonaire's historic salinas, where salt pans remain a defining landscape and part of the island's working heritage.

🇧🇬Thrace, Bulgaria

Bulgarian Rose Water

Българска розова вода

Distilled from Rosa damascena picked before dawn in the Valley of Roses, used by the spoonful in lokum, syrups and rose jam.

🇨🇲Cameroon

Bush Mango

Ndo'o

The dried and ground kernel of the wild mango, used as a thickener that turns sauces glossy and slightly stretchy.

🇸🇨Seychelles

Caris Masala

Seychellois curry masala spice blend — a mix of roasted spices including coriander, cumin, turmeric, fenugreek, cardamom, and cinnamon; the foundation of every Creole curry; reflects the Indian influence on Seychellois cuisine; each family has its own blend.

🇦🇺Australia

Chicken Salt

Chicken salt is a yellow savoury seasoning of salt, spices, and flavour enhancers, commonly shaken over hot chips.

🇵🇭Philippines

Coconut Curds

Latik

Golden brown coconut curds made by reducing coconut milk until the solids separate, used as a topping for kakanin.

🇬🇵Guadeloupe

Colombo Powder

Colombo

The signature Guadeloupean spice blend; a curry-like mix of pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and mustard seed; also called massalé; brought by Indian indentured workers in the 19th century; the foundation of Colombo dishes; the Colombo powder that is the soul of Guadeloupean cuisine.

🇨🇾Cyprus

Cyprus Flake Salt

Αλάτι σε νιφάδες Κύπρου

Cyprus flake salt is hand-harvested sea salt formed into delicate white crystals as brine evaporates in shallow pans.

🇳🇪Niger

Dawa Dawa

Fermented African locust bean condiment, called dawa dawa in Hausa; pungent, umami-rich, and used as a natural flavour enhancer in virtually every Nigerien soup, replacing or supplementing bouillon cubes.

🇬🇭Ghana

Dawadawa

Dawa Dawa

African locust bean seeds fermented, pounded and pressed into dark cakes with a powerful savoury smell.

🇩🇿Algeria

Dersa

دارسة

Garlic, cumin and paprika pounded to a paste with olive oil and used as the base seasoning of most red Algerian stews.

🇩🇲Dominica

Dominican Green Seasoning

Green Seasoning

A blend of coriander, thyme, green onions, garlic, and Scotch bonnet peppers; the foundation of Dominican cooking; used to marinate fish, meat, and poultry; the African tradition of using seasoning herbs endures in Dominican kitchens; the green seasoning of Dominica; the soul of island cuisine; the base of every pot.

🇭🇹Haiti

Epis

A wet green base of parsley, thyme, spring onion, garlic, peppers, cloves and sour orange, blended and kept in the fridge for every dish.

🇬🇼Northern Guinea-Bissau (Cacheu / Oio Mangrove Rice), Guinea-Bissau

Farim Salt

Sal de Farim

Artisanal salt harvested from the Cacheu riverbed near Farim, over 100 km from the Atlantic coast; the tidal river leaves a salt crust during the dry season (November–May); women collect, filter, and boil the brine using mangrove wood; a Slow Food Presidium product since 2011; one of the food products TasteAtlas lists for Guinea-Bissau.

🇷🇴Romania

Fermented Bran Sour

Borș

A sour liquid made by fermenting wheat bran with water and herbs, used to sour soups instead of vinegar or lemon.

🇧🇳Brunei

Fermented Durian

Tempoyak

Fermented durian paste used as seasoning in Sumatran cooking, funky and complex

🇵🇭Philippines

Fermented Fish Paste

Bagoong Isda

A fermented fish paste used in Ilocano cuisine, the base for pinakbet and dinengdeng, with a strong umami flavor.

🇲🇱Mali

Fermented Néré Seeds

Soumbala

A fermented condiment made from néré (African locust bean) seeds; a key flavoring in Malian and West African cuisine; the seeds are boiled, fermented, and dried; used to season sauces, stews, and soups; has a pungent, umami flavor; listed in What The World Eats as a core condiment of Mali; the Maggi cube of traditional Malian cooking.

🇵🇭Philippines

Fermented Shrimp Paste

Bagoong

An essential Filipino fermented shrimp or fish paste, pungent and salty, used as a seasoning and condiment.

🇫🇷Pays de la Loire, France

Fleur de Sel

Fleur de sel de Guerande

Premium hand-harvested sea salt from Guerande, with moist delicate crystals.