Allspice, Annatto, Culantro

Posted by Jacqueline Church Aug 12, 2008

I've been really lucky to connect with some great blogs lately. Burnt Lumpia brings us Chicken Inasal which uses both Annatto oil and Lemongrass.

101 Cookbooks ran this Grilled Lemon-Achiote Tofu recipe, just when I was researching a reader's question about Chadon Beni.

So it got me thinking, how many herbs, spices do we share with a diverse array of cultures? For example, culantro which is the chief ingredient in the Chadon Beni sauce I was locating for my reader, is also used in Puerto Rican Sofrito, as well as Vietnamese and Cambodian foods.

Annatto seeds, which color Filipino Chicken Inasal, also lends color to Red Leicester cheese and Spanish yellow rice.

Allspice is used in Jamaican jerk seasonings, is a key ingredient in chili and in my poaching and soup recipes.

Some of the most beloved cuisines and food cultures are those that combine influences from so many traditions. Like Floribbean cuisine, New Orleans cuisine and Jamaican all share that in common. Coming together around the table, does it get any better than that?