Spices and their uses

Allspice - A flavor that resembles a blend of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Long cooking or marinating enhances it. Add it to baked goods, stews, sauces, and marinades.

Anise - A licorice flavor. Use it in cookies and candies.

Bay Leaf - It's strong flavor increases with cooking. Use 1/2 to 1 leaf in sauces, marinades, and for pickling.

Cardamon - Used in sweet pastries, hot wine, curries, and tea. Both the small, dark-brown seeds and their creamy white pods can be used.

Cinnamon - A baking spice or to flavor cooked fruits, puddings, and hot drinks.

Cloves - Insert them whole in baked ham, marinades, and fruit dishes. Use the ground spice in baked goods.

Coriander - The whole spice is good in punch or pickles, the ground version in gingerbread and curries.

Cumin - One of the main ingredients in chili or curry powder.

Ginger - A root that is a principal ingredient in oriental cooking. It's best fresh, but is also used dried and ground. Ginger is delicious in preserves, chutneys, cakes, cookies, and with meats.

Mace - The skin of the nutmeg shell. Use in soup and gingerbread and to season seafood, meat, and vegetables.

Nutmeg - Used in milk drinks, puddings, or use it in baked goods. Sprinkle it (freshly) grated, on vegetables.

Peppers - Black pepper, a berry, is picked  under-ripe and allowed to ferment; white pepper, picked when ripe, is preferred for light-colored foods. Freshly found is more flavorful, and prolonged cooking makes them bitter.

Cayenne and chili peppers - Fruits with spicy, hot flavor. Use them with caution in sauces, on meat and seafood.

Paprika - A mild red pepper, can be added in greater quantity to meat and fish.

Saffron - Used for color and flavor in rice, chicken, or seafood dishes.

Turmeric - Used to color such foods as butter, cheese, and pickles. Add it to curries and rice.