We use spices on a daily basis for cooking and flavoring our foods, often forgetting how difficult it was for explorers to bring it to our continent. If you’re a gourmand or a cook and want to search the world for new flavors, we’ve found a few exciting destinations where you’re bound to find some new spices.

Several centuries ago, spices were more valuable than gold or silver, being used for medicines, perfumes or added to food or drinks. It was said that “No man should die who can afford cinnamon.”

The most ancient quests – the Egyptians‘ expeditions for spices were recorded as early as 2000 B.C. Documents mention several spices such as anise, caraway, cassia, cardamon, mustard, sesame, fenugreek or saffron used by Egyptians as medicine and later on for flavoring their food. Today, you can find almost every speak you can think of in the Cairo Spice Bazaar. There are literally hundreds of kilograms of spices at affordable prices all for the taking.

Mexico was also a popular destination for colonists looking for new flavors to take back home. In Mexico, you can now find probably the hottest foods in the world and some of the most unique spices. Apart from the usual spices such as garlic powder, Mexican oregano or cumin, there are a few ones you can’t find anywhere else. Epazote or “Mexican tea” is a rare herb used to flavor beans, that soothes digestive pains. Chili powder is another popular Mexican spice, made of various chilies. Also try the allspice, a dried, unripe berry also known as Jamaican Pepper; all these spices can be found in the many spice markets across Mexico.

Apart from the superb beaches, Malaysian cuisine with its exotic flavors is a destination in itself. You will often find lemongrass, turmeric, Kaffir Lime leaves, Wild Ginger Flower Buds, Ginger or Cinnamon Sticks in spice shops or typical Malaysian foods. Traditional spices are used in conjunction with Indian and Chinese spices such as cardamon, pepper, star anise and fenugreek.

While in Asia, don’t hesitate to taste or buy saffron, a spice with a honey and grassy aroma original to Southeast Asia. It takes 75,000 blossoms or 225,000 hand-picked stigmas to make a single pound of saffron, making this the most expensive spice in the world.

Another popular cuisine famous for its use of spices is India. Historically, Indian spices are some of the most sought after trade commodities. The country produces a great variety of spices, many of which are native to this part of Asia. Typical Indian spices include chili pepper, black mustard seed, jeera, turmeric, coriander, ginger and garlic.

Istanbul, Turkey’s capital, is what some may call “the spice capital of the world”. Istanbul’s exotic spice markets sells tens of spices, dried fruits, sweets, teas and nuts. Try to buy spices that are wrapped beforehand because many of them lose their flavor in time. Other spices are not what they appear to be; for example, Turkish saffron is not actually saffron, but dried safflower. Bargaining is part of the Turkish way of thinking so always try to get a better price for what you buy in these bazaars.

There are probably tens or hundreds more spice markets all over the world, apart from the ones listed here. Which one would you add?

Photo sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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