where to find them and how to use them

Herbs and spices indicative of the Latin American kitchen such as cilantro, cumin, coriander and a variety of ground chiles are plentiful and easy to find in just about any market. A few others that will really give your Latin American cooking some complexity are epazote, achiote and Mexican oregano.

Finding and using ingredients that are less familiar only require a little sense of adventure and some willingness to explore. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where there is a Latin American or Mexican grocery nearby, you will find a wonderful array of spices used in Latin American cooking. If you are unable to find an ethnic grocer, Old Florida Spice Traders and Penzey’s Spices are wonderful resources for dried and ground herbs and spices.

If you have a few good basic recipes that just need more pizzazz, I suggest you start with what’s familiar and add some new flavors using the suggestions to follow. Most of the recipes you already have probably incorporate the more well known and easy to find cumin and a few varieties of chiles. For this article, I’d like to concentrate on introducing you to the less familiar epazote, achiote and Mexican oregano.

Epazote is an herb that is so abundant in its native southern Mexico that it grows wild, much like a weed. It’s flavor can seem pungently bitter at first, but when cooked with long-simmered dishes like beans, the flavor mellows and lends a mildly sweet flavor to the finished dish.Epazote does have a strong flavor, so I recommend using it sparingly as you first become acquainted with it.

Mexican oregano is one of my favorite herbs to use as it gives some of the characteristic brightness of many Latin American foods.  It is not related to European oregano and therefore shares no similarity in flavor. If a recipe calls for Mexican oregano and you do not have any on hand, it is better to leave it out or substitute with cilantro. Mexican oregano has a lime like flavor and heightens the overall flavor of the dishes in which it is used. It is a great complement to epazote and cumin.

Achiote or annatto has a pungently earthy flavor and has been used since the days of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. The deep red seeds are often used to impart flavor and color to oil which is then used for food preparation. Alternatively it can be finely ground and used as an ingredient just as other dried, ground spices would be used. It works very well with acidic foods such as meat stews with tomatoes, but can also lend vibrant color and flavor to seafood dishes.