My PersonaliTea – Ottawa Valley

What is cardamom? It is a spice made from the seeds of pods from various plants in the ginger family.  There are two main types, black and green. There is also white but this is a bleached version of green. Green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is used mostly in Nordic and Middle Eastern cuisine.  It is […]

How is cinnamon made? The stems of the cinnamon tree are cut; the inner bark extracted and the woody part removed.  This is then dried; it curls and these are the cinnamon sticks. The distinct flavour and aroma of cinnamon is due to the oily part which is high in cinnamaldehyde. What are some of […]

Is saffron a spice? Yes. Saffron is one of the most precious and expensive spices.  It is a red and yellowish thread like spice originating from the crocus sativus flower. Today most of the saffron is cultivated in Iran, Greece, Morocco, and India and exported throughout the world. Saffron has a subtle fragrance and slightly […]

Salt, like pepper, is in almost every kitchen cupboard and used in almost every cuisine.  Whether it’s sprinkled on a dish or added to cooking, just about every dish has a pinch of salt in it.  Where does salt come from? Salt that is eaten either comes from seawater or is minded from deep within […]

There are many different types of pepper out here.   Black, green, white, pink and many others.  We’ll take a look at black pepper here.  It is probably the most commonly used pepper in North American cuisine.  Peppercorns are actually a fruit of a flowering vine in the piperaceae family.  The green, wide-leafed vines grown long […]