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Stories

Spices of Life

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A watercolour of ginger root.
Roots of ginger (Zingiber officinale) watercolour. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
Black pepper to fuel fiery fights and cure haemorrhoids

This common condiment was once very valuable and, until surprisingly recently, used as a versatile medicine.

Chillies and the trouble with Scoville

Measuring the heat of these peppers can leave you a little lukewarm.

Ginger’s role in cures and courtroom battles

Some people will use a dose of ginger to help with hangovers – but it hasn’t always been a friend to the thirsty.

Getting sexy with cinnamon

Add some flavour to your love life with this spice. It will warm up more than just your buns.

Cloves to mull, mask and numb

Sweet, pungent, warm, woody: cloves smell and taste like Christmas. But there’s much more to this spice than that.

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