Level Up Your Cooking With These 4 Ingredients

No matter how skilled you are, cooking daily can become uninspiring. Over time, it’s easy to feel like the meals we cook are lackluster - even the favorites. Luckily, there’s a world of spices out there that can wake up those taste buds and take you on a culinary trip around the globe.

We recommend skimming the following most popular spices from around the world, picking one, and working backward to find a recipe that will challenge your cooking skills and put a new spin on breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Even better, make it a family activity and experience and try a new spice a week!

Epazote (Mexico)

Epazote is a pungent and aromatic herb that turns up in quite a few Mexican dishes, but it seems to be less prevalent in other parts of the world. Also known as Mexican tea and Jesuit tea, epazote’s flavor is described as akin to anise, licorice, or fennel, but is much headier. As a leafy herb, it can be used fresh or dry, but the flavor is somewhat abated in dry form. Several recipe sites recommend using it for flavoring beans, quesadillas, corn salad, and several rice and seafood dishes. Similar to cilantro, it’s not to everyone’s liking; however, epazote nevertheless adds authenticity to many Mexican dishes.

Herbes de Provence (France)

A collection of several herbs, herbes de Provence comes from the Provence region of France, which is just off the Mediterranean coast. The seasoning contains bay leaf, savory, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, basil, marjoram, and oregano. You’ll find it useful in seasoning Mediterranean recipes for fish, stews, and chicken, but it is worth experimenting with on other meat-based recipes. Add olive oil and coat meats or vegetables before you grill or roast them for a rich, Gallic taste.

Nigella Seeds/Kalonji (India)

Indian cuisine is bursting with spices, seasonings, and flavor , from the hugely popular (cumin) to the less commonplace (bhut jolokia, or ghost pepper). Nigella seeds turn up in plenty of Indian dishes but are probably less well known outside the country. These are black seeds with a slight bitterness mixed with a certain sweetness. They’re most often found in naan bread, curries, and rice dishes to provide flavor and crunch. Employ nigella seeds outside of Indian cuisine by adding them to baking recipes that call for sesame seeds. They’re good as a salad topping or with eggs; add extra flavor and a touch of calcium to your meal.

Bitter Orange (Yucatán)

The name might be off-putting, but dried bitter orange spice can add a kick to your next taco Tuesday. Among the most popular spices from around the world, bitter orange is (surprise) not at all sweet and memorably astringent. Bitter orange is useful for creating salsa recipes from Yucatán, as well as marmalades, pies, chutneys, sauces, and marinades. This unique ingredient is a challenge to cook with but nonetheless worth it once mastered.