Where you'll find it: Indian cuisine

What it is: A gum resin obtained from a large plant resembling fennel. Once dried it's sold either whole or in powdered form. Its flavor and aroma are unpleasantly pungent, but once briefly fried in oil it turns pleasantly onionlike.

How it's used: Asafetida appears in curries alongside other spices, sometimes as a component of curry powder. Asafetida can be strong, so less is more.

Where you'll find it: Middle Eastern cuisine

What it is: Baharat means "spice" in Arabic. Its makeup can vary from household to household, but it's basically a ground blend of paprika, black peppercorns, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg.

How it's used: In soups, mixed with fresh herbs as a condiment and as a rub on meats.

Where you'll find it: Chinese cuisine

What it is: A blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and Sichuan peppercorns, it's typically rubbed on Peking duck or roast pork.

How it's used: Five-spice powder is rubbed onto meats before roasting, grilling, barbecuing or stir-frying.

Where you'll find it: Mexican, Puerto Rican and West Indian cuisines

What it is: A variety of coriander with a more concentrated flavor, culantro has long, saw-toothed leaves. In fact, it's sometimes referred to as "saw-tooth leaf." In Puerto Rican cuisine it's called recao and is used in sofrito.

How it's used: Used like cilantro, culantro is often added to soups, stews, rice and noodle dishes.