Whole and ground seeds and aromatic spices: cumin, coriander, fennel, caraway, mustard, fenugreek, nigella, ajwain and celery seed, alongside cardamom, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, mace, allspice and juniper.
Coriander smells like a fresh lemon cut open in a pine forest, though most grocery-store bottles are too stale to tell you so. Whole spices keep up to two years, ground ones six to twelve months, so buy whole when you can.
Toast whole seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, then grind them just before cooking. Our guide on spices to toast shows which ones benefit most, and a mortar and pestle does the rest.
