5 Global Spice Blends to Transform Your Everyday Cooking

Nothing expands your cooking vocabulary faster than mastering a handful of spice blends. Each blend is essentially a flavour shorthand for an entire culinary tradition, and knowing how to use them confidently makes you a more versatile, instinctive cook.

The first blend to master is Ras el Hanout, the North African blend whose name translates to "top of the shop" -- the spice merchant's finest. A good Ras el Hanout contains up to 30 spices, but a home version with cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, paprika, turmeric, and a whisper of rose petals captures the spirit perfectly. Use it to transform roasted vegetables, lamb tagines, and couscous. The second blend is Za'atar, the Middle Eastern mixture of dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds, and salt that can be stirred into olive oil for dipping, rubbed on flatbreads before baking, or dusted over roasted cauliflower or chicken.

The third is Chinese Five Spice -- star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and fennel seeds -- which is extraordinary on roasted pork belly or duck. The fourth is Herbes de Provence, the sun-drenched French blend of thyme, rosemary, oregano, savory, and sometimes lavender, which belongs on any Mediterranean fish, lamb, or vegetable. The fifth is the Indian Chaat Masala, a tangy, complex blend of dried mango, black salt, cumin, and asafoetida, that adds a magical savoury-sour dimension to everything from fruit salad to grilled corn. Full profiles, recipes, and sourcing guides for all five are in the Zesty Flowers member recipe library.