In Japanese sen means pouring and cha means tea. Put those words together and you get sencha, the most popular form of green tea in Japan: about 70 percent of Japan’s tea is sencha. Sencha is one of many Japanese teas that include the popular matcha and other types less famous in the West like […]
What’s A Good Smoked Sea Salt Substitute?
Smoked sea salt is sea salt with the added flavor of smoke from hickory or other aromatic hardwoods. It allows you to get the smoke flavor at the same time that you salt your food. If you can’t find smoked sea salt in your grocery store’s spice aisle and don’t want to make it yourself, […]
Five Classic (And Tasty) Basil Uses
Basil belongs to the mint family but has a unique flavor. The flavor is minty and herbaceous with subtle licorice and citrus notes; the different characteristics of basil’s flavor vary in intensity according to which variety of the herb you are using. Pesto Basil leaves play an important role in one of the simplest and […]
Smoked Sea Salt: Two Ancient Flavors In One Spice
Smoke has been used for preserving food since the paleolithic era. Most likely, people during this period discovered that the food they hung in a smoky part of a dwelling stayed edible for longer. They would also notice that the flavor that smoked meats took on was enjoyable. Similarly, both mined and sea salts have […]
Moringa Powder Vs. Matcha: SPICEography Showdown
Moringa powder and matcha are both made up of powdered leaves, typically used to make tea. Widely considered to be superfoods, both offer significant nutritional value but they are not the same. Below is a look at the qualities that set them apart. How does moringa powder differ from matcha? Moringa powder and matcha come […]
Myrrh Gum: A Fragrant Medicine
Myrrh gum is sometimes referred to as myrrh resin. It is the dried sap from a particular type of tree. There are two types of myrrh, both of which come from trees in the Commiphora genus. The two varieties are heerabol — also called true myrrh — and bisabol. The trees from which most myrrh […]
Iodized Vs. Non-Iodized Salt: SPICEography Showdown
Iodized salt and non-iodized salt are the two primary options you have when it comes to the world’s most popular seasoning. Not only are both of them essential to enhancing the flavors in savory foods, but they are also crucial for nutrition. There is a lot written on the supposed benefits of one over the […]
What’s A Good Matcha Powder Substitute?
Matcha powder is such a unique and special product that there is not an ideal substitute for it. That said, matcha is available at different quality levels and it is easier to replace the lower grades. The replacement is easier because lower grade matcha often gets used in dishes with other ingredients. Even though nothing […]
Five Savory And Sweet Star Anise Uses
Star anise and anise are two spices that share a name but come from different botanical families. Something else they share is a distinctive licorice note in their flavor profile. What they don’t share is an appearance — star anise is named for its unique five-pointed pods. The strong licorice note is one of the […]
Matcha Powder: The Healthiest Form Of Green Tea
Matcha powder is ground matcha tea. Matcha tea’s origins go back to the Tang Dynasty (7 AD to 10 AD). The original way of processing matcha tea for transport during the Tang era involved forming it into bricks. To prepare matcha tea, people roasted the bricks and ground them to a powder. They combined that […]