- Allspice
- nutrition-and-you.com, allrecipes.com
- health benefits: increase digestive power, anti-flatulence
- taste: resembles mixture of pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.
- commonly combined with: ginger, black pepper, bourbon, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel seed, nutmeg, orange and vanilla
- Cinnamon
- nutrition-and-you.com, allrecipes.com
- health benefits: perceived health benefits with regard to diabetes and lowering cholesterol
- taste: characteristically woody, musty and earthy in flavor and aroma. It is warming to taste. The finer the grind, the more quickly the cinnamon is perceived by the taste buds.
- commonly combined with: allspice, black and red pepper, bittersweet chocolate, cardamom, chile peppers, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel, ginger, nutmeg, paprika, and vanilla; (mustard seed, coriander seed, fennel seed, bay leaf and cayenne pepper to create a spiced lobster dish)
- Cilantro/Coriander
- nutrition-and-you.com, allrecipes.com
- health benefits (ccilantro): rich in anti-oxidants and dietary fiber which help reduce LDL or "bad cholesterol" while increasing HDL or "good cholesterol" levels; Cilantro is one of the richest herbal sources for vitamin K; provides about 258% of DRI. Vitamin-K has potential role in bone mass building by promoting osteotrophic activity in the bones. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.
- health benefits (coriander seeds): The coriander seeds oil have found application in many traditional medicines as analgesic, aphrodisiac, anti-spasmodic, deodorant, digestive, carminative, fungicidal, lipolytic (weight loss), stimulant and stomachic
- taste (cilantro): The leaves and stem have slightly citrus flavor
- taste (coriander seeds): aromatic, sweet and citrus, but also slightly peppery
- commonly combined with:
- Cumin
- nutrition-and-you.com, allrecipes.com
- health benefits: Its seeds are used to prepare decoction which is sometimes used in treating flatulence and indigestion in traditional medicine; Used in traditional medicines to stave off common cold.
- taste:
- commonly combined with:
todo: cardamom, anise, bay leaf, black pepper, green pepper, pink pepper, white pepper, capers, caraway, carom (ajwain), cayenne pepper, chili peppers, cloves, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, horseradish, mustard seeds, nutmeg (and mace), poppy seeds, saffron, sichuan peppercorns, tamarind, turmeric, paprika, sumac, ginger, garlic, cloves, dill, sage, thyme, rosemary, lavender, lemongrass, mint, marjoram, parsley, oregano, basil, garlic, ginger, annatto, celery seed, caraway, catnip, sumac
link to list of healthy spices
turmeric has bad side effects
wikipedia's list of spices and herbs
Spice store in pike place, World Spice; their spice recipes (see the one for hummus)