The Finish
Ají Criollo and Colombian Ají Picado: The Everyday Table Finishes
Two closely related raw finishes from Ecuador and Colombia. What is in each, how they differ from a Mexican salsa, and why they are made fresh rather than bought.
Every deep dive
Bases, finishes, dry blends, and the single ingredients underneath them.
The Finish
Peruvian Ají Verde and Salsa Criolla: Two Finishes, One Table
The green sauce and the onion relish that appear together at Peruvian meals. What is in each, why ají amarillo sits inside a green sauce, and how to judge a jarred one.
The Dry Blend
Chilean Aliño Completo and Adobo Seco: The Two Everyday Dry Blends
The all-purpose Chilean blend and the garlic-led dry rub used across the region. What is in each, how they differ, and what to check on the jar.
The Base
Annatto Oil: The Fat That Colours a Base
Achiote steeped in warm oil is the step that makes a refrito orange. How to make it, how long it keeps, and why the colour is doing more than decoration.
The Finish
Chimichurri: What Separates the Argentine From the Uruguayan
Two national versions of one finish, and the differences are specific rather than vague. What goes in each, what never does, and how to tell a good jarred one from a bad one.
The Base
Shelf Life by Format: Fresh, Jarred and Dry
How long each of the three families actually keeps, why a base outlasts a finish by weeks, and what the failure signs are for each.
The Base
How to Build a Base From Scratch
The method behind hogao, aderezo, refrito and sofrito. What order things go in, how long it actually takes, and the four mistakes that produce a fried mixture instead of a base.
The Dry Blend
Merkén: What It Is, and Why It Is Not a Chile
A smoked, ground Mapuche seasoning from southern Chile. What goes into it, how it is made, and why reading it through Mexican vocabulary gets it wrong.
The Base
Hogao, Aderezo, Refrito and Sofrito Are One Preparation
Four names across four countries for the same cooked aromatic base. What actually changes between them, what does not, and why the differences are smaller than the names suggest.
The Finish
Chilean Pebre: What It Is and When It Is Used
The Chilean table finish that appears at almost every meal. What goes in it, the versions that carry ají and the versions that do not, and how it differs from chimichurri.
The Dry Blend
An Honest Sazón: MSG, Colouring, and What to Read on the Packet
Most sazón packets are salt, MSG and dye. What the blend is supposed to contain, which versions leave the additives out, and how to read the label.
The Base
The Seasoning Preparation, and the Three Families
Bases, finishes and dry blends across South and Central America. What separates the three, why country is an attribute rather than the organising idea, and where to start.
The Base
Where to Buy a Base in the United States, and How to Judge a Jarred One
Jarred hogao, sofrito and aderezo are a real shelf-stable category. Where to find them, what the label should say, and when making it is the better call.
The Dry Blend
Mexican Oregano and Mediterranean Oregano Are Different Plants
Not a regional variety of the same herb. Different botanical families, different flavour, and the substitution most recipes make without saying so.
The Base
Ají Amarillo: The Pod Peruvian Cooking Is Built On
Fruity rather than merely hot, and orange despite the name. What it tastes of, the forms it is sold in, and why nothing substitutes cleanly.
The Base
Colombian Hogao: The Two-Ingredient Base Everything Sits On
Tomato and long onion cooked down in oil. What makes it Colombian rather than generic, how long it actually takes, and how to judge a jarred one.
The Base
Achiote Seed: The Colour That Has to Go Through Fat
Annatto in its raw form. What the seed does, why water will not extract it, and how to buy and store it.
The Base
Ají Panca: The Dark Peruvian Pod That Is Barely Hot
Deep red, smoky and sweet rather than fiery. What it does that ají amarillo cannot, and why it is the pod for anything slow-cooked.
The Base
Ecuadorian Refrito: The Base That Starts With Coloured Oil
Achiote-tinted oil, onion and tomato with cumin. What the annatto step does, and why it is the one base defined by its fat.
The Finish
Huacatay: Black Mint, Which Is Not Mint
The pungent Peruvian herb behind ocopa and many an ají verde. What it tastes of, why the English name misleads, and how to buy it in the United States.
The Base
Peruvian Aderezo: The Base Cooked Down Hardest
Red onion, garlic and ají paste reduced until dark and thick. Why it is the densest of the four mainland bases, and how far to take it.
The Finish
Rocoto: The Andean Pod With Black Seeds and Real Heat
Hotter than anything else in the Peruvian kitchen, juicy like an apple, and a different species from every other pod on this site.
The Base
Ají Mirasol: Dried Ají Amarillo, Which Is a Different Ingredient
What drying does to the pod, why the two are not interchangeable, and how to rehydrate it properly.
The Finish
Llajua: The Bolivian Table Sauce Made Fresh Every Day
Tomato, locoto and quilquiña, ground rather than blended. What goes in it, what never does, and why it is not a salsa.
The Finish
Salsa Criolla: Red Onion, Lime, and Nothing Else Required
The Peruvian onion relish that resets the palate. Why the slicing and the rinse decide it, and how it differs from a pico de gallo.
The Finish
Colombian Ají Picado: The Chopped Sauce on Every Table
Chopped rather than blended, loosened with water and vinegar. What separates it from ají criollo, and why nobody sells it.
The Finish
Chirmol: The Guatemalan and Salvadoran Charred Tomato Relish
Roasted tomato chopped with onion, coriander and lime. The one finish on this site with a cooked component, and why that does not make it a base.
The Finish
Culantro: The Long-Leafed Herb That Is Not Cilantro
Stronger, tougher and a different plant from coriander. Where it belongs, how to buy it, and why the names confuse everyone.
The Dry Blend
Adobo Seco: The Garlic-Led Dry Rub, and What Separates It From Sazón
Garlic, oregano and turmeric rather than annatto. Where the two blends diverge, how to read a jar, and why the word adobo means three things.
The Finish
Ají Limo: The Ceviche Pepper, and the One Where Habanero Actually Works
Small, floral and genuinely hot, sold in half a dozen colours. Why it belongs in leche de tigre, how it differs from amarillo, and the one honest substitute.
The Finish
Ají Charapita: The Pea-Sized Amazon Pod, and Why It Costs What It Costs
Tiny, yellow, intensely citric and very hot, from the Peruvian Amazon. What it tastes of, what the expensive-chile claim actually rests on, and why growing it is the sensible route.
The Base
Ají Dulce: The Pod That Smells Hot and Is Not
A habanero relative bred out of its heat, carrying the aroma without the burn. Why it anchors Venezuelan and Caribbean-coast cooking, and what actually substitutes.
The Finish
Chincho: The Peruvian Herb Almost Nobody Outside Peru Has Heard Of
A pungent Andean herb used in ají sauces and stews across southern Peru. What it is, what it tastes of, and why it is nearly impossible to buy fresh in the United States.
The Finish
Muña: The Andean Mint That Is Actually a Mint
The high-altitude Peruvian and Bolivian herb used in teas, stews and potato dishes. What it is, how it differs from huacatay, and why the altitude claim follows it everywhere.
The Dry Blend
Palillo: The Peruvian Yellow, and the Jar That Is Usually Turmeric
The powder that makes Peruvian stews yellow. What the name actually covers, why turmeric is sold under it, and what that means when you buy a jar.
The Dry Blend
Aliño Chileno: The Chilean All-Purpose Blend, and What Is Actually In It
The dry mix that seasons most Chilean home cooking. What the standard four are, what gets added, and why the supermarket jar is not the same thing as the one made at home.
The Base
How to Make Hogao
Tomato, onion and fat, cooked down slowly until it stops being two vegetables. The method, the timing, and the four mistakes that produce a sauce instead of a base.
Vocabulary
Achiote vs Annatto: One Seed, Two Names, Three Forms
The same seed under a Spanish name and an English one, sold as whole seed, ground powder, oil and a Yucatecan paste. Which form does what, and where the paste stops being the seed.
Vocabulary
Ají vs Chile: Two Words, Two Traditions, One Genus
Both words mean pepper and neither is a translation of the other. Where each belongs, why English collapses them, and what gets lost when a recipe swaps one for the other.
Vocabulary
Sazón vs Adobo: Two Jars That Are Not the Same Thing
One is a coloured seasoning salt, the other a garlic and oregano blend, and both names mean something different depending on which country you are standing in.
Vocabulary
Paico and Epazote: One Plant, Two Names, Two Traditions
The same herb, Dysphania ambrosioides, called paico in the Andes and epazote in Mexico. What each tradition does with it, and why English treats them as two ingredients.
Vocabulary
What Is Recado? The Yucatecan Seasoning Pastes, Explained
Not a spice blend and not a marinade exactly. The family of ground pastes from the Yucatán, what the main colours are, and why recado rojo is the only one most people meet.
The Base
Mole Paste: What You Are Actually Buying in the Jar
The concentrated base sold in jars and by weight, what separates the main colours, how to thin it, and why a jarred mole is a starting point rather than a finished sauce.
The Base
Recado Rojo: The Yucatecan Red Paste Behind Cochinita Pibil
Ground achiote with oregano, cumin, garlic and sour orange. What is in a block, how to use it, and why it is not the same as ground achiote seed.
The Base
Mexican Adobo: The Wet Chile Paste, Not the Jar of Salt
A marinade of rehydrated dried chiles with vinegar, garlic and spices. What separates it from the dry Caribbean blend sold under the same name, and how to make it.
The Base
Chipotles in Adobo: What Is In the Tin and How to Use It
Smoked jalapeños stewed in a vinegar and chile sauce. The two chipotle types, why the sauce matters as much as the chiles, and how to store an opened tin.
Ingredient
Ancho Chile: The Dried Poblano, and the Backbone of Mole
Sweet, raisin-like and barely hot. What ancho is, how it differs from mulato and pasilla, and how to tell a good one in the bag.
Ingredient
Guajillo Chile: The Most Used Dried Chile in Mexico
Bright, tangy and mildly hot, with a tough skin that has to be dealt with. What guajillo is, what it does that ancho cannot, and how to get a smooth sauce from it.
Ingredient
Mulato Chile: The Dark One in the Mole Trinity
Chocolate, liquorice and smoke, and almost always mistaken for ancho. What mulato is, how to tell the two apart, and why mole poblano needs all three.
Ingredient
Pasilla Chile: The Dried Chilaca, and the Name That Causes Trouble
Herbaceous, cocoa-like and moderately bitter. What pasilla actually is, why California grocers call something else by the same name, and where it belongs.
Ingredient
Cascabel Chile: The Round One That Rattles
A small round dried chile named for the sound its seeds make. Nutty, woody and moderately hot, and easy to identify because nothing else looks like it.
Ingredient
Chilhuacle: The Rare Oaxacan Chile Behind Mole Negro
Nearly extinct commercially, grown in one Oaxacan valley, and the chile mole negro is named for. What it is, why it costs what it does, and what to do without it.
Ingredient
Costeño Chile: The Coastal Chile in Two Colours
A thin-skinned Oaxacan and Guerrero chile sold as red or yellow, brighter and hotter than guajillo. What each colour does and where to find them.
Ingredient
Chile de Árbol: The Thin Red One That Brings the Heat
Clean, sharp heat with little sweetness. What chile de árbol is, how hot it actually is, and why it is the standard heat chile in a Mexican kitchen.
Ingredient
Morita Chile: The Smaller, Fruitier Chipotle
A smoked red jalapeño smoked for less time than a meco. What separates the two chipotles, and why morita is the one in the tin.
Ingredient
Avocado Leaf: The Anise Note in Oaxacan Black Beans
Toasted avocado leaves season beans, barbacoa and tamales across southern Mexico. What they taste of, which variety is used, and why the safety question turns on species.
Ingredient
Canela Mexicana: True Cinnamon, and Why It Crumbles
The soft, layered Ceylon cinnamon used across Mexico, and how it differs from the hard cassia sold as cinnamon in the United States.
Ingredient
Chile Piquín: The Tiny Wild One
A pea-sized chile that grows wild across northern Mexico and Texas, hot, fruity and fast-fading. What it is, why it is expensive, and how to use it.
Ingredient
Epazote: The Herb That Goes in the Bean Pot
Pungent, resinous and unlike anything European. What epazote tastes of, why it is paired with beans, and what the safety discussion is actually about.
Ingredient
Hoja Santa: The Big Leaf That Tastes of Anise
A large heart-shaped leaf used as a wrapper and a seasoning in southern Mexico. What it tastes of, how it is used, and the safrole question stated honestly.
Ingredient
Puya Chile: Guajillo With Heat
Smaller and hotter than guajillo, with the same bright fruit. What puya is, when to reach for it instead, and why the two are sold side by side.