Spice Blends

The world has a dizzying array of spice blends for savoury cookery, from tangy Indian chaat masala to fragrant Persian advieh. When it comes to designated sweet spice mixes, most have European origins and there is striking consensus across regions and history.

All the blends call on spices with sweet and warming flavour profiles, so cinnamon dominates with an almost inevitable backing chorus of nutmeg and clove. Both British mixed spice and American pumpkin pie spice add ground ginger and sometimes a heady hit of allspice. In the French cake pain d’épices, aniseed joins the trio, whereas in the Italian baking blend pisto, coriander seed lends a pretty, lemony note. For a more complex mix, look to Dutch speculaas, where you can find all of the above along with a thwack of black pepper.