Guides · The Spice Cabinet
The spice cabinet
For thousands of years, the spices in your kitchen were the pharmacy. Warming, cooling, digestive, calming, each one was chosen with intention. Here's how to cook with them, and the traditional and modern thinking behind each.
Turmeric
The golden root at the heart of Ayurvedic cooking, warming, bittersweet, and one of the most-studied anti-inflammatory foods in the spice drawer.
Warming · pungent & bitter · kindles digestion
Read the guide →Ginger
The universal remedy of both Ayurveda and TCM, warming, settling to the stomach, and the friend you want through cold and damp seasons.
Warming · pungent · moves & settles
Read the guide →Cinnamon
Sweet, warming bark that comforts the body through cold months, and may help keep blood sugar on an even keel.
Warming · sweet & pungent · grounding
Read the guide →Cardamom
The fragrant "queen of spices", brightening to the mind, freshening to the breath, and a gentle aid to digestion after rich meals.
Warming · pungent & sweet · lightening
Read the guide →Cumin
A cornerstone of the Indian spice box, gently warming and one of the great everyday digestive spices.
Warming · pungent · kindles digestion
Read the guide →Black Pepper
The "king of spices", sharply warming, and the key that unlocks the goodness of turmeric.
Warming · pungent · stimulating
Read the guide →Fennel
Sweet, cooling seeds that settle the stomach, the reason a little bowl of them is offered at the end of a meal.
Cooling · sweet · settling
Read the guide →Mustard
Pungent and warming in every form, from the tiny seeds to the golden oil to the winter greens, mustard runs deep through India's regional kitchens.
Warming · pungent · stimulating
Read the guide →Bay Leaves
A quiet backbone of the pot, aromatic leaves that infuse rice, dals and stews with a gentle, sweet warmth.
Warming · aromatic · aids digestion
Read the guide →Curry Leaves
The soul of South Indian tempering, glossy fresh leaves that crackle in hot oil and perfume everything they touch.
Aromatic · digestive · nourishing
Read the guide →A note on doses: these guides celebrate spices as food, the amounts you'd cook with. Concentrated extracts and supplements are a different matter and can interact with medications, so check with your practitioner before taking them.
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