Cardamom

A cardamom- and orange-scented syrup is spooned over warm pears and scoops of vanilla ice cream in this lovely dessert. Refrigerate leftover poaching syrup to serve over ice cream later in the week.

The White Horse tavern accompanies this with lightly sautéed swiss chard.

Roasted pork loin, which is commonly served on special occasions in Denmark, is here richly flavored with cardamom, juniper berries and currant jelly. Ask the butcher to cut into the chine bone of the rib roast to make it easier to carve. Note that the pork needs to marinate at least 12 hours before roasting, so plan accordingly. Uncork a fruity Merlot to go with it.

"My grandmother, who emigrated from Sweden to the United States when she was a little girl, passed on to our family a taste for cardamom," writes Lisa Tracy of Marion, Iowa.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 45 min

A quick almond crust gets filled with ice cream and topped with cardamom-scented whipped cream and berries.

Chill the flans overnight before serving.

A quick and easy breakfast treat.

There are a number of variations of this traditional Scandinavian Yuletide drink. Dry red wine, muscatel and sweet vermouth, with aquavit in place of the brandy, may be used. In another version, 2 bottles of dry red wine, preferably Bordeaux, are used with the quantity of aquavit increased to a whole bottle, which is poured over the flaming sugar.

Perfect with a cup of tea, especially a nicely spiced Indian chai.

Indian Spice Mix This recipe makes more garam masala than you'll need for the baked rice. You can use what's left over for other Indian dishes or to give everyday meals a flavor boost. It's great stirred into ground beef for burgers or rubbed onto skinless boneless chicken breasts. Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 10 min

The best fruit pie, complete with a brown sugar streusel topping.

This one-pot South Asian dish is simple and celebratory.

A snickerdoodle-like exterior with a surprise filling of honey-sweetened, gently spiced pistachios.

This easy rice pilaf recipe boasts aromatic spice inspired by garam masala. It’s a blank canvas you can amend to complement any meal.

Aromatic and flavorful, this tender butter cake features both coconut and cardamom for a floral, tropical take on classic yellow cake.