Style guide

The short version¶

Useful before comprehensive. Put the answer early, give real quantities, explain why, and never state anything as fact that the evidence does not support. Write in British English, metric first, with a dry sense of humour used sparingly. No marketing language.

Spelling and language¶

British English throughout: flavour, colour, aluminium, yoghurt, chilli, aubergine, courgette, coriander. Where an American term differs, give it once in brackets on first use — coriander (cilantro in the US), aubergine (eggplant) — and then carry on in British English.

No first person singular. "We" is acceptable, sparingly, for the editors.

Banned words and habits. No "elevate", "unlock", "journey", "culinary adventure", "burst of flavour" or "take it to the next level". No filler introductions. No rhetorical questions in headings. If a sentence could appear on a jar label, rewrite it.

Measurements and temperatures¶

• Metric first: grams, millilitres, centimetres. Spices, which are rarely weighed at home, are given in teaspoons (tsp) and tablespoons (tbsp). A pinch is a pinch.
• Temperatures in °C, with gas mark for oven settings (200°C (gas 6)) and °F where an American reader is likely, such as barbecue and deep-frying.
• Times are real times. "Toast for 2–3 minutes until the cumin darkens a shade", not "toast until fragrant" alone.
• Heat is given as a Scoville range with the unit written out or abbreviated as SHU: "2,500–8,000 SHU". Never a single precise number for a chilli variety, because heat varies with cultivar, growing conditions and ripeness. See the scoville scale.

Names and naming conventions¶

Herbs and spices have a habit of sharing names. The site's conventions:

Foreign-language names keep their accents where the language uses them (piment d'Espelette, chile de árbol, za'atar), are italicised only when they are not in common English use, and are explained on first use.

Botanical names are italic with the genus capitalised and the species lower case: Piper nigrum, Capsicum annuum. After the first mention the genus may be abbreviated: C. chinense. Family names are roman: Lamiaceae, Apiaceae.

Page structures¶

Herbs, chillies and single spices¶

Every ingredient page follows the same order so that any two can be compared:

1. What it is — the plant, the part used, and how it is sold.
2. Origins and history — where it comes from and how it travelled, with folklore flagged.
3. Flavour and aroma — what it tastes like and, where known, which compounds are responsible.
4. In the kitchen — when to add it, how much, what goes wrong, named dishes.
5. Buying and storing — what good looks like and how long it lasts.
6. Substitutes — honest ones, with ratios.
7. Pairs well with — ingredients and other herbs and spices.
8. Growing your own — nearly always present for herbs and chillies.
9. Health and safety — only where there is an established safety fact to state.
10. See also.

The infobox takes these rows where they apply, in this order: Botanical name, Family, Life cycle (every herb), Part used, Native to, Main producers, Flavour, Heat, Key compounds, Forms sold, Substitutes.

Life cycle is written for a UK garden: hardy annual, hardy perennial, biennial, usually grown as an annual, tender perennial, or for woody plants evergreen shrub with a rough hardiness limit. Each herb also carries exactly one matching tag: annual, biennial, perennial or tender perennial.

Blends, rubs, pastes and sauces¶

1. What it is.
2. Origins.
3. What goes in it — usually a table of components and the job each does.
4. Flavour.
5. How to use it — quantities per dish, and when in the cooking.
6. Making it at home — a full recipe with yield, time, ingredients and numbered steps.
7. Variations — regional and household versions.
8. Buying and storing.
9. See also.

Everything else¶

Technique, history, science, cuisine and reference pages are free-form, but still open with a lead summary that answers the title, use ## sections, and carry an infobox where it helps: a cuisine's key spices, a technique's time and kit, a molecule's formula.

Recipes¶

Every recipe gives a yield or number of servings, a total time, a full ingredient list with quantities, and numbered steps. Steps say why when the why matters: toast the seeds because heat drives off moisture and develops aroma; add garam masala late because its top notes do not survive an hour's simmering.

Evidence and uncertainty¶

Accuracy matters more than anything. Do not invent statistics, records, quotations, studies, people or events. Where figures vary between sources, give a range or say "roughly". Where a story is folklore or disputed — pepper as Roman army pay, nutmeg and the plague, the origins of a named blend — say so, and say what the evidence does show.

Health. Describe traditional uses as traditional uses, and state established safety facts plainly. Make no medical claims. "Used in Ayurvedic practice for…" is a statement about history; "helps with…" is a claim, and the site does not make it.

Links and callouts¶

Link generously with double brackets — <a class="wikilink" href="/wiki/black-pepper">black pepper</a>, or <a class="wikilink" href="/wiki/coriander-leaf">coriander</a> to change the visible text — usually on the first mention in each section. Never link a page to itself, and never link to a page that does not exist.

Callouts are used once or twice a page where they genuinely help: :::tip, :::warning, :::science, :::history, :::swap, :::fix and :::note, each closed with :::.

See also¶

• about spicypedia · glossary · contact the editors