The spice catalogue.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 2/5

Bright citrus and resinous pine arrive first, then warm wood and a heat that builds slowly rather than stinging.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 2/5

Perfumed and almost floral, with a mineral edge and warm spice underneath. Lighter and more elegant than Tellicherry.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 2/5

Earthy and faintly fermented, with a heat that arrives late and stays. Invisible in pale sauces, which is exactly the point.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 1/5

Open the jar and it smells like grapefruit peel. People genuinely do not believe it is a peppercorn until they try it.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 1/5

Lemon peel and pine, then the famous tingling numbness that makes chilli heat feel wider and rounder.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 3/5

Sweeter and rounder than black pepper, with a slow-building heat. It looks like a tiny cone and grates beautifully over a braise.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 3/5

Straightforward, fresh and clean — the jar that lives next to the hob. Also available ground for the pepper pot.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 2/5

Colour first — deep lacquer red — then dried fruit and warmth. Use it generously; the heat stays polite.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 2/5

Soft, slightly oily flakes with a sun-dried fruit sweetness. The single best chilli to keep on the table.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 2/5

Almost black, faintly damp, smelling of raisins and wood smoke. It tastes more like dried fruit than fire.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 2/5

Dried poblano — raisin, cocoa and a soft, mild warmth. The backbone of a good chilli pot.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 3/5

Smoked and dried jalapeño — proper wood smoke, earth and a medium heat that lingers.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 2/5

Coarse, scarlet and surprisingly sweet — fruit and sunshine before any heat arrives.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 4/5

No decoration. Clean, sharp heat that arrives immediately and leaves cleanly.

Intensity 3/5

Paper-fine layered quills that crumble between the fingers, smelling of blossom and citrus rather than heat.

Intensity 3/5

The same delicate blossom character, milled fine for baking and morning coffee.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 1/5

Loud, sweet and hot — the cinnamon of childhood baking, with far more oil than supermarket cassia.

Intensity 4/5

Grate it and the room changes. Nothing pre-ground comes close — buy whole and take ten seconds.

Intensity 3/5

The lace that grows around the nutmeg seed, dried to a coral blade. Nutmeg's character, but lighter and more floral.

Intensity 5/5

Oily, dark and powerful. Two or three do the work of a spoonful of anything else.

Intensity 4/5

Split a pod and it is eucalyptus, lime blossom and cool sweetness — one of the most beautiful smells in any kitchen.

Intensity 5/5

Dried over open fires, so it arrives smoky and resinous. Nothing like green cardamom despite the name — this one belongs in savoury pots.

Intensity 4/5

Perfect eight-point stars, sweet and liquorice-deep. One star flavours an entire pot of broth.

Intensity 3/5

Crush one and it is unmistakably gin — pine resin, citrus and cold forest air.

Intensity 4/5

Toast for ninety seconds and the whole kitchen changes. Earthy, warm and faintly citrus.

Intensity 3/5

Crack a seed between your teeth: orange peel and blossom. Nothing like the dusty ground version.

Intensity 3/5

Sweet green anise with a cooling finish. Toast lightly for pork and sausage.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 1/5

Hit hot oil and they pop and turn nutty in seconds — the opening move of half of South Indian cooking.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 1/5

Matte black, faintly oniony and peppery. Scatter over flatbread before it goes in the oven.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 1/5

Tiny seeds that smell overwhelmingly of thyme. A pinch is plenty — and transforms flatbread.

Intensity 3/5

Deep crimson and sharply fruity — acidity you can sprinkle. It does what lemon does, without the liquid.

Intensity 5/5

Whole limes boiled in brine and dried until hollow and black. Pierce one, drop it in a stew, and it perfumes everything.

Intensity 3/5

Unripe mango, dried and milled — fruity sourness that seasons without wetting the pan.

Intensity 3/5

High-curcumin and genuinely aromatic — ginger and earth, not just colour.

Intensity 4/5

Whole leaf, dried on the branch, still grey-green. Rub it between your palms over the pan.

Intensity 3/5

Slow-dried so the leaf stays whole and the oil stays in. Woody, floral and immediately familiar.

Intensity 4/5

Pine and camphor, sharp enough to carry through a whole tray of roast potatoes.

Intensity 5/5

All-red stigmas in a small inner vessel inside a presentation carton. Honey, hay and dried flowers — a single pinch colours and perfumes a whole dish.

Intensity 5/5

Two supple, oily pods in a sealed tube. Split one and the seeds smell of cream, wood and dried flowers.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 3/5

A rotating slot: whichever exceptional wild or single-lot pepper we can genuinely source that season. When a lot ends, the next one is different by design.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 3/5

Oak smoke and cracked pepper over a savoury base. Built for anything that has seen fire.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 1/5

Lemon peel, dried herb and a mineral saltiness — the smell of a grill by the water.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 1/5

Rosemary, thyme and warm spice — the roast you remember, seasoned properly.

Intensity 4/5 · Heat 3/5

Chilli, Sichuan citrus and toasted aromatics — street-stall energy in a jar.

Intensity 5/5 · Heat 4/5

The hotter sibling of Ember: black pepper, chipotle smoke and real chilli heat.

Intensity 3/5 · Heat 1/5

The signature seasoning: savoury, warm and balanced enough to reach for without thinking.