A Sense of Wander: April 2017

Paolo Antonio Barbieri (1603-1649), "The Spice Shop." Online: http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

I wonder often what the Vintners buy
One half so precious as the stuff they sell.
Quatrain XCV

"Quotations from the quatrains of Khayyám, as translated in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," Fifth edition (1889) by Edward FitzGerald.
Online: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/246/246-h/246-h.htm

A few weeks ago I posted my analysis of what the recommended "basic" spices today were (see http://osborn.asenseofwander.com/2017/03/i-dont-need-anything-except-this.html).

This week I want to look at something rather different -- what are the most uncommon spices that are currently available for your spice cupboard?

There are different ways we could define "uncommon." We could use:

Cost: Those spices which are extremely expensive (and uncommon because hardly anybody can buy them).
Isolation: We could consider those spices which are only found in isolated or remote or unfamiliar places (or cuisines), and are therefore hard to get as "uncommon."

When it comes to costly spices, there is universal agreement: the most expensive spice, pound for pound, is saffron. In 2016 the price of saffron was estimated at $2,868 per kilo (see Telegraph 2016; see also Shirin 2017; Crossley 2014), which is very roughly comparable to CNN's estimate of $1,500 per pound in 2009 (The World's Priciest Foods 2009). Other expensive spices include high-quality pure vanilla (up to $200 per pound -- which is why artificial vanilla is popular) and cardamom ($30 per pound). But these spices aren't very hard to find (any well-stocked grocery store should have them), and though expensive they're usually used in very tiny quantities, and the per-meal cost (so to speak) isn't really all that bad. Cost just isn't a particularly good way to evaluate "uncommonness."

As for rarity based on isolation or limited distribution, that's potentially a bit better, but it has its problems.

It's obviously true that something that is only found in one place is rare everywhere else (kind of by definition). But in that one place it can be common as dirt. For example, do we really want to start thinking of something like filé powder (made from sassafras [Sassafras albidum]) -- a common, even essential ingredient in Cajun cuisine -- as rare merely because it isn't used (and would be hard to get) in other parts of the world?

Let's take a look at some examples of some possible candidates for "uncommonness":

Common Name	Species	Cuisine/Region	Scent/Flavor	Use
Alexanders	Smyrnium olusatrum	Mediterranean, British	Myrrh	Vegetable, seasoning
Anardana seed	Punica granatum	Middle East	Pomegranate	Seasoning
Aniseed Myrtle	Syzygium anisatum	Australia	Anise/licorice	Seasonging, essential oil
Avens	Geum urbanum	Europe, Middle East	Cloves	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Avocado Leaf	Persea americana	Mexico	Anise	Seasoning
Boldo	Peumus boldus	Chile	Camphor/bay leaf	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Clary	Salvia sclarea	Mediterranean	Resin	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Cubeb Pepper	Piper cubeba	Java, Sumatra	Pepper	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Culantro	Eryngium foetidum	Mexico, Caribbean	Cilantro (strong)	Seasoning
Dorrigo Pepper	Tasmannia stipitata	Australia	Cinnamon-pepper	Seasoning
Golpar	Heracleum persicum	Iran	Anise	Seasoning
Grains of Selim	Xylopia aethiopica	West Africa	Musky pepper	Seasoning
Huacatay	Tagetes minuta	Mexico	Apple	Seasoning
Isot Pepper	Capsicum annuum	Turkey	Raisin-chile pepper	Seasoning
Jimbu	Allium hypsistum	Nepal	Onion	Seasoning
Kinh Giới	Elsholtzia ciliata	Vietnam	Mint-Basil	Seasoning
Kokam	Garcinia indica	India	Tamarind	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Lemon Myrtle	Backhousia citriodora	Australia	Lemon	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Mahlab	Prunus mahaleb	Middle East	Almond-cherry	Seasoning
Mt. Horopito	Pseudowintera colorata	New Zealand	Peppery-chile	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Ngò ôm	Limnophila aromatica	Vietnam	Lemon-cumin	Seasoning, aquariums
Njangsa	Ricinodendron heudeloti	West Africa	Peppery-sweet	Seasoning, vegetable
Pandan Leaf	Pandanus amaryllifolius	South & Southeast Asia	Nutty-sweet	Seasoning
Strawberry gum	Eucalyptus olida	Australia	Cinnamon	Seasoning, herbal medicine
Voatsiperifery	Piper borbonense	Madagascar	Earthy/peppery	Seasoning
Zedoary	Curcuma zedoaria	India	Mango/bitter ginger	Seasoning

(links to articles on all of these are located at the end of this posting)

So here we have 26 spices/herbs that are almost certainly not in your spice cabinet.

But are they really -- by either of our criteria -- "uncommon?"

Some of these are hard (or impossible) to get. For instance, unless you're in Australia, you're just not going to be able to find Strawberry Gum leaves (the essential oil, yes, but not the dried spice). Unless you're in Nepal you probably can't get Jimbu. You might try your nearest South Asian market, but honestly I doubt it's going to be there. And it's not a matter of cost. Some of these things are just not obtainable outside their homeland.

On the other hand, some of these -- despite the fact that they're "uncommon" -- are both available and relatively inexpensive. For instance, 50 grams of Zedoary are less than $3.00*; 200 grams of Kokam are about $12.00**; 0.25 ounces of Avocado Leaves are just $7.00***. They're still not exactly common -- but they are obtainable.

Is it worth going to the effort of buying these things? Well, that's kind of a personal issue. Remember, nobody actually needs spices and herbs -- we just want them. And we want them a lot. As I remarked a few months back**** "Spices make us happy." Which is why people have fought wars over them:

"Atrocities would be freely committed, wars fitfully fought, states toppled, peoples uprooted, hundreds of ships lost, thousands of lives squandered -- and all for limited quantities of various desiccated barks, shriveled berries, knobbly roots, dead buds, crumpled membranes, sticky gums and old fruit stones, none of them exactly indispensable and most of them quite irrelevant to the generality of mankind" (Keay 2006, pp. 5-6)

But they do make us happy.

Personally, I'm kind of intrigued by Anardana, Kinh Giới, and Njangsa. I actually did buy Mahlab, but I haven't done anything with it yet. But I will. It smells nice.

As for the others? Well, I guess we'll see.

I don't intend to commit atrocities or start any wars to get them. But we'll see.