What wild and homegrown herbs can we substitute for our store-bought spice cabinet?

Thinking about how we might creatively replace spices and herbs, or how we might find similar but dissimilar plants that could evolve into more regional cuisines is one of my favorite Permie thought exercises!

I'm planting sweet flag around my pond, and just recently read on PFAF that the leaves apparently have a vanilla bean flavor and can be used in ways similar to vanilla. The same PFAF post also says that the root can be powdered and is "spicy" and can sub for ginger, cinnamon, or nutmeg. That's a wide variety, so I'm excited to see what the root actually tastes like (maybe an awesome combo of all three?). Sweet flag is supposed to be hardy down to zone 4, but I bet original poster could make it work with a good microclimate! Also, read up on sweet flag's supposed toxicity, and the potentially carcinogenic oil found in european varieties of sweet flag is apparently not present here in our American varieties (Oikos even sells a guaranteed "American" sweet flag.

Someone already mentioned spicebush (Lindera Benzoin), and this is a great suggestion for replacing allspice. I read somewhere, but can't find the source now, that the actual fruit of the spicebush carries more of the "allspice" flavor, while the seeds inside are more like black pepper. This makes sense since spicebush kind of tastes like a peppery allspice, but taking the time to separate them seems like it'd be maddening. Maybe there's some tricky sink/float way of separating them? Say, through them in a grinder and collect floating seeds? This is all totally conjecture, though.

Another one I'd like to bring up is "Carolina Allspice" or "Sweet Shrub" (Calycanthus floridus), which, like spicebush is a strongly scented native shrub. I've read some neat stuff about how the bark was dried and used by Colonists as a Cinnamon substitute after Native Americans introduced them to it. The rub is that the seeds and leaves are supposed to contain an oil called calycanthine, which is an alkaloid with a similar structure to strychnine, which is, well, bad. Of course, if Native Americans were using it traditionally for longer than we know, I doubt it could be out and out toxic. My hunch is that the concerns are probably another case of the dosage being way exaggerated, and you'd have to eat several tablespoons of cinnamon for an unreasonable number of days before you'd risk serious harm. But unforuntately the info I'd like (% composition of calycanthine by weight in the bark, leaves, and seed) just simply doesn't seem to be available. I've searched quite a bit, so if anyone has any leads, I'd be super appreciative!

Last, I don't know if you'd cocoa as a "spice", but apparently honey locust pods can be crushed up and made into a powder that's like carob, the go-to chocolate sub. I'm planning on trying that out with the honey locust pods beginning to fall here in NJ, so I'll let you know how this goes!

This is a great example of a thread that while it has been around for a while, it is so very valuable and timeless. . .

I am growing those things that I cannot do without (instead of growing suggested spices that I never use).  Some time back, I quit using black pepper in favor of the cayenne pepper that we grow and dry for our own use.  It has that peppery taste, it is red (much more attractive in foods since it doesn't look like bugs), and it actually tastes better than black pepper to me.  I like knowing that it was grown without chemicals, and I like being able to save my seeds from year to year.  We also enjoy the medicinal value of it and use it liberally in our dog food to keep fleas at bay.  Additionally, I have a strong belief that when we grow things locally, it really helps us in our environment.

Oregano is easy to grow (perennial here), tastes great, and has some great anti-bacterial properties so we use it in deodorant, as well as first aid spray for our animals (the same bottle.)  Of course, it is also a main feature in our spaghetti/pizza sauce.

We grow a couple of different kinds of mint (just because it fell into our laps).  We grow it around the foundation of our house to repel rodents, I make mint extract for food flavorings (ground mint with vodka), we make tea with it for upset stomachs, we love mixing it with chocolate dishes in the summer especially (mint chocolate milk shakes - yum), and I use solar distillations to make the essential oils to add to my soaps.

Fennel is also something we love to grow.  I love the flavor in Italian dishes, with sausage, and in tea for soothing and calming.  It grows so easily.  I think once you start growing it, it will continue on with self-sowing.

Basil is a staple around here.  Not only do I make pesto, but I dry it for sprinkling in egg and potato dishes in addition to Italian pastas.  

We grow our own garlic and put it in oil for many, many dishes.

We use green onions constantly as well as bulb onions.  We are quite successful with the green ones and are awaiting success with the bulb onions.  I think I use at least a half onion daily.  We are still buying them, though, as we can't keep up.

We grow lemon balm and have used it to attract bee swarms, but have yet to use it for lemon extract for foods.  I look forward to exploring this.

We are just now experimenting with saffron, turmeric, and ginger.  As we live in zone 7, turmeric and ginger are iffy.  However, I planted them in an old horse trough we got for free because the bottom was rusted out.  I put ginger in half and turmeric in the other half.  I had read that if I mulched them, them would hang around, and I surmised that the horse trough would be excellent for holding in the leaves.  Ask me later on this.  If they come back out in the Spring, it was a success. These were bought at an organic grocery store in the produce section. . . Our harvest from the saffron was quite miniscule especially after drying.  We shall see. . .

We are growing Lindera Benzoin, as I was looking for a spice that could replace cinnamon.  I actually bought the trees/bushes? from a native plant nursery in our area.  I had read that you needed a male and female for the berries.  This last year, berries showed up but I only got 6 of them that are now dried and in the freezer.  Can't wait to try them, but it seemed like such a small amount. . . .I am thrilled to find out that I could get berries though.  Allspice seems a mixture of all the spices I like to combine with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  However, I am thrilled to find the bark of the Carolina Allspice or Sweet Shrub. I also can't wait to try the pods of the honey locust for chocolate.  In my experience - it seems that the roasting is what gives things their chocolate flavor - I have tried roasted dandelion roots as well as coffee beans for coffee.  The amount of roasting is key.

I found this article by looking for vanilla substitutes, as I currently buy vanilla beans and mix them with vodka.  I can't wait to try the sweet flag we already have planted around our pond, or our almond trees for almond extract, should they finally bring nuts  (probably 2 - 4 years old since one was replaced.)  

I read a book once that when someone was asked what they planted they said well, I looked at what I was eating, and if I liked it , I planted it.  That really resonated with me.  Thanks so much for all of this info.

I'm in zone 7 & previously gardened in zone 8. Have not noticed much difference in the spices & herbs that can be grown. Wild spices are somewhat different though. Basils, peppers, onions, garlic, & cilantro are my core group. Planting some mints this years. In TX rosemary was often used as hedges so I didn't bother to plant that. It was easy to find. Chili petin grew wild. It hasn't survived winters here but still trying. Seems to do good good as an annual most of the time. I grow borage for bee food but sometimes use it in stews. I don't especially like the flavor of yarrow or comfrey but I do grow them for their medicinal value.

Wild ginseng grows in certain parts of the mountains here. Trying to establish a few more patches of that. It is rather valuable. I was told early on that if I ever stumble across a still or a ginseng patch to turn around & immediately leave. They were serious. I think ginger would do well too. Chickory grows wild. It makes a decent coffee. Wild onions are common & I often use the greens this time of year. Sassafras trees are abundant here. The roots make a wonderful root beer. Real root beer. The ground leaves are a spice & thickener called file' that is used in gumbo. Yum.

Casie Becker wrote:
I think bay leaves are actually "bay laurel" leaves. It's the actual original spice. I have heard of people substituting several native plants for bay leaves, though. Myrtle and Umbellularia californica (which has a huge number of common names including California Laurel) are two of them. Myrtle apparently also has berries that can serve as a substitute for allspice.

Oh yes the California bay's leaves can replace bay laurel, but use half as much. They are strong. Smelling the fresh leaves too much can give you a sharp headache. The bay nuts produced by Umbellularia are very good, are very bitter so must be cooked. I hesitate to state what their taste resembles... I'll say that they go well with potatoes.

Unfortunately that tree grows only in California so until I get back there to do some more wild picking I'm bay-deprived.

The suggestions about sweet flag and nut extracts are exciting! I'm looking forward to exploring those further. I also love the rose water idea.

Just wanted to chime in that besides actual licorice root, the anise, tarragon, fennel flavors are reminiscent of licorice and while they all sort of impart a sweet vibe (as does vanilla) I do not think they are that sweet themselves. Plus, there are people who can't tolerate that strong licorice flavor, but might tolerate it in milder tones like fennel. Speaking from experience with two family members who have been turned off licorice.

(Also compelled to note that licorice root in high quantities, especially extract doses, can stress the heart or kidneys. This is not as widely known I think.)

We're zone 4 or 5 and now that we've made progress on improving our soils I've had success at overwintering the mainstay herbs we all love:  oregano, thyme, sage, chives, tarragon, marjoram, mint; and I hope the lovage survived my transplant efforts. Walking onions have done remarkably well here, too. We planted loads more last fall.

I'd love to try the black Alexander lovage!

I overwinter rosemary indoors (some survive my care, some don't) and have tried bringing lemongrass indoors as well. Last year's lemongrass didn't make it past fall indoors - oh well.

We were gifted wildcrafted, dried mountain sage - probably from more of a zone 3 here in Montana like Destiny's region. I tried to use it in a few soups and stews but either used too much or the earthy bite to it is not to my liking.

We have copious pineapple weed that volunteers everywhere and is wonderful as chamomile tea - almost an identical flavor.

Our cilantro/coriander has been self-sowing a bit more each year, though I haven't yet saved enough seeds for the kitchen.

We have loads of mustards and pennycress (also a mustard) - both wild and planted by us. Fred has made mustards out of harvested seeds that were just amazing. Adding the greens to sautes is fun, too. I hope to save more seeds for the kitchen going forward.

You started the thread with asking for a natural herb to replace vanilla. Here we have a wild herb, the English name is Meadowsweet, in Latin Filipendula ulmaria. It seems the root of that plant gives a vanilla-like taste when added to desserts. I did not yet try it, but I have the plant growing near my small pond.

I have a lot of herbs in my garden, perennials and self-seeding plants. Mint, thyme, rosemary, chives, verbena, borago, etc.
I like foraging in the wild. Some of the wild 'vegetables' I consider more like herbs, because they have such a strong taste. I add some dandelion leaves and wild chives (Allium vineale) to my salad, f.e.

That's two votes for meadowsweet now:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:You started the thread with asking for a natural herb to replace vanilla. Here we have a wild herb, the English name is Meadowsweet, in Latin Filipendula ulmaria. It seems the root of that plant gives a vanilla-like taste when added to desserts. I did not yet try it, but I have the plant growing near my small pond.

And from page one of the thread:

Skandi Rogers wrote:
Vanilla
Meadowsweet (Filipindula ulmaria)
Use in moderation,it contains asprin

You are both so clever to use both the common and botanical names.

Here in Montana, there is a version of a Spirea, Spiraea splendens, that is commonly called Rose Meadowsweet, and while both are in the rose family, I don't think the Spirea has the properties you have both mentioned.

I found Filipendula ulmaria on Wikipedia and also on PFAF. Here's what PFAF (citing Wikipedia, actually) says meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria looks like:



Hm, I thought this might be growing here, too, even though I see that it's native to Europe, with some rather different varieties of Filipendula native to North America. Though many of our herbs here that are 'wild' were introduced by European settlers...

I think that to determine if we have this, I need to properly differentiate between the Spireas (which I know we have) and the Filipendula. From reading about the species Filipendula on Wikipedia:

The species were in the past sometimes treated in a broad view of the genus Spiraea, but genetic research has shown that they are less closely related than previously considered.

(At first, I confused the name meadowsweet with meadow rue, which I know we also DO have, though TIL that is another genus, Thalictrum, in the Ranunculaceae family, NOT the Rosaceae family. So, note to self:  don't mix those up!)

Edited to add that I found another plant called meadowsweet in North America that IS (was?) a Spirea:  Spiraea alba. Also said to contain salicylic acid or aspirin and used medicinally according to this blog post.

I will admit to not having read the whole thread, but I have been intrigued by the variety of different flavours I have found in mint plants. I have one that tastes identical to a Chocolate Orange!

I haven’t found a way to cook with those flavours yet, but i’m Sure there are possibilities.

Also, I recently saw a peppercorn tree growing for the first time. I was astounded at the quantity of peppercorns it produced.

I love this thread. Thanks, all!

We forage our local wild mustard (Sisymbrium irio, London rocket) greens as a seasoning herb (quite zingy) as well as to eat raw and sautéed. I'm going to try fermenting some ala takanazuke (pickled mustard greens). We haven't used the seeds as seasoning yet because we've been broadcasting those instead, but I make a damn fine fermented mustard from store-bought seed that I'd like to try with foraged seed eventually. There are a number of wild sages around here. We love the Monarda that grows in the mountains near us -- not quite sure which species, quite spicy with a lot of thymol (seems to be called Mountain Mint locally) -- as an oregano or thyme substitute and for an antiseptic tea. It's not culinary, but we use Mormon tea (we think ours is Ephedra trifurca or possibly nevadensis) as an antiseptic tea as well, and sometimes we chew on it while out foraging. We've looked for wild onion, garlic, scallions, shallots, but haven't found yet. Same with spruce and pine tips: We looked for the first time this spring up in the mountains, but were a little late and also didn't see any Engelmann spruce where I thought we would. I've made spruce tip syrup a little north of here before and it was great to add to fermented sodas. I think I also added it to some mead I made. We've collected and dried juniper berries in several places. Each species is so different. We need to keep experimenting.

Has anyone used Netleaf Hackberry (Celtis reticulata or laevigata var. reticulata) as a seasoning? I haven't tried them yet, but my mate says the ones that grow near us are sweet and dry, unlike the juicier but less tasty variety that grows elsewhere in our area (I think maybe Celtis pallida), and I wondered if they might make a good seasoning for sweet things.

I really want to try doing something with Ponderosa pine bark as was suggested re: tasting like vanilla. Do you all think it could be tinctured like vanilla beans, maybe in bourbon? What other barks have others used as seasoning?

In our garden the mint has taken off on greywater under a mesquite, but strangely the lemon balm didn't. Thyme is also doing well there. I just transplanted some rosemary, lavender, and sage near the nurse mesquite but a little farther from the greywater drip line. Tried this last year, too, with a few herbs, but before we had the greywater properly worked out, and things didn't make it. We did manage to grow a few hot peppers, though. We've adopted some Sisymbrium irio to the garden as well. (EDITED TO ADD: It seems sesame may grow well here, and I grew a decent seed crop of it north of here two years ago.) I'd love to grow saffron crocuses somewhere as well, and maybe someday ginger and turmeric.

Many thanks to someone in this thread (1st page) who mentioned making yuzu kosho -- I need to try this! I'm thinking of making a south-of-the-border version with Mexican limes (the little round ones, sweeter than the big ones more widely available elsewhere) and a mix of Mexican hot peppers. Also re: dried papaya seed as black pepper, I can vouch for it being very similar to black pepper and have found good non-GMO papaya at the Mexican grocery we prefer for its produce. Fermented papaya paste with cinnamon is also pretty tasty fresh or dehydrated like fruit leather.

If it's vanilla you're after... some experimentation with sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) might prove fruitful. It is listed as a medicinal herb, so presumably safe to eat. I know it dried and used as incense (smudge).

It has a very noticeable vanilla flavor. Before flowering, it is impossible to distinguish from alfalfa (also in the Fabaceae family), but its yellow flowers are easy to identify, and the vanilla flavor is strong if you squeeze a leaf between your fingers.

I used to harvest it in New Mexico but haven't seen it yet here (Virginia). I'm on the lookout, though...

I'd be interested to find out if it works as a culinary vanilla substitute.

I want to report back on the vanilla-like smell/taste of Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). Since my last post and inspired by this thread, I tinctured some amber-colored Ponderosa resin (not bark) in 80-proof bourbon based on various things I read online. I started it April 10th. It's pretty delicious now. I used some the other week along with:

Palmer's amaranth seeds we collected last year,

chia seeds (native here, but I haven't found enough to collect yet and haven't seeded that in the garden yet this year because of delayed monsoon, so these were store-bought),

mesquite syrup from last year's roasted velvet mesquite,

coconut oil, and

local wildflower honey

in a batch of alegria (Mexican amaranth and honey bars, like this -- https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/alegria-amaranth-candy -- but I modified a recipe from the Desert Harvesters' Eat Mesquite and More).

I'm not 100% sure of Ponderosa resin tincture's safety, so please don't consider this a full endorsement, but we've had small amounts of it (as you'd use vanilla extract) in several things and we're still here to talk about it.

Also, here's another thing to try for use in flavoring pastries and other sweets: I just started a batch of nocino (green walnut liqueur) after collecting some green Arizona walnuts (Juglans major). We collected a little late -- late June would probably have been about right -- because the shells had started to harden substantially, but I'm hoping it will still work. I've been wanting to try this for years!

We collected ~25-30 green walnuts (392g), which I used a cleaver to split in quarters, and because I had all this lying around I added:

10 pcs (1g) light-roast Ethiopian coffee beans,

2 pcs. (6g) cinnamon sticks,

10 pcs. (<1g) whole cloves,

10 pcs. (<1g) whole allspice berries,

1 pc. (1g) whole vanilla bean split lengthwise (this one had dried out too much -- not sure how much good is left in it), and

1 pc. (4g) whole nutmeg rasped a little with a microplane grater

to 750ml 190-proof Everclear (thanks, Arizona!).

I was going to do this with just green walnuts, and you certainly could. I just got a little carried away (I love spices and tend always to have too many around that I must use before they lose their goodness).

Anyway, I'm going to steep that for 40 days, then add sugar and water, then bottle. I used several different recipes and descriptions online, including this one -- https://delishably.com/beverages/nocino-recipe -- and this one -- https://www.davidlebovitz.com/liqueur-de-noix-green-walnut-liq/.

Has anyone used spicebush? I think it’s Lindera Benzoin. The berries,leaves, or bark? I’m sure the berries are used more often.

I don’t have berries yet, but the bushes are big enough to spare some bark. I  saw one reference to using it like cinnamon . I couldn’t find any details. The leaves  don’t smell like cinnamon but maybe the bark does? Or at least maybe it tastes good.

I was just watching a YouTube video and was reminded of this thread.  Apparently you can process the fruits of Chinese Sumac into a kind of sour-salty spice by just boiling them and reducing the liquid.  I don't know anything else about it and haven't tried it myself, but it's something to keep in mind.  

(Sorry, there was a video but the creator deleted it; I think she ground the berries in a mortar and pestle, added water, and boiled in a wok until it dried out and formed a crust)

Ken W Wilson wrote:Has anyone used spicebush? I think it’s Lindera Benzoin. The berries,leaves, or bark? I’m sure the berries are used more often.

I don’t have berries yet, but the bushes are big enough to spare some bark. I  saw one reference to using it like cinnamon . I couldn’t find any details. The leaves  don’t smell like cinnamon but maybe the bark does? Or at least maybe it tastes good.

'Use like cinnamon', to me, sounds like it's just the inner bark that's strong enough to be worthwhile.  On thin little twigs that may be pretty fiddly work. I wouldn't expect it to taste anything like cinnamon.

I use the berries pretty regularly (and actually went ahead and separated the fruit from the seed on some this year- partly to see how the fruit is apart from the seed, and partly just to clean some seed for stratification) and love them! Definitely at the top of my native spice list.

Did you know you can actually plant shop bought ginger/galangal so long as it's fresh and has little shoots starting to peak through? Of course it generally requires sub tropical conditions in order for it to thrive such as at least 4 hours of sunlight per day and preferably under glass?!

I grow peppers, and dehydrate some and grind up into hot pepper spice which I use in moderation to many dishs. Just a tiny amount (I'm a wuss when it comes to heat) adds a nice additional subtle nuance to the dishes.

I also use buttloads of smoked paprika. Imagine my surprise finding out paprika is just ground up sweet peppers, like bell peppers. This year I'd like to try that, if I get a decent haul of peppers.

Jamin Grey
Wow I didn't know that about Paprika? Thanks for imparting that wonderful little nugget of wisdom. 👍

I recently included this thread in the dailyish about making paprika from pepper:

/Smok-Hot-Peppers-information-making

Paprika like spice can also be made from Sumac:

The fruits (drupes) of Rhus coriaria are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a tart, lemony taste to salads or meat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumac#Spice_and_beverage_flavoring

Horseradish. A very spicy and tasty root that is popular in Germany and Scandinavia, and can also treat a runny/congested noise, among other.

Anne Miller wrote:Paprika like spice can also be made from Sumac:

The fruits (drupes) of Rhus coriaria are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a tart, lemony taste to salads or meat

Around here we have Lemonade berries, Rhus trilobata. My partner collected some yesterday in the hills near us. I'm going to finish drying them on a sheet in the shade, grind them up, and use them in teas and as a spice. I've read they're good with Ocotillo blossoms (Fouqueria splendens) in tea, and I bet they'd also be good with prickly pear (Opuntia) blossoms.



Carolyn Niethammer's American Indian Cooking gives Apache recipes for "Rhus Juice," jam, bread, and pudding using lemonade berries, as well as a "desert punch" that combines the Rhus juice with an "Ocotillo flower punch," a bit of honey, and some mint. Sounds delicious, right?

As a spice, sumac (Rhus coriaria as you note, Anne -- commonly called Tanner's sumac) is traditionally used in the Levantine salad fattoush, which is a big green salad often served on stale flatbread. My Lebanese friend taught me to make it years ago. Hers had a base of torn Romaine lettuce with raw purslane (we brought her some after a session of weeding) and tomatoes, and the olive oil dressing had both lemon and ground sumac as well as the main feature: a LOT of raw garlic. She brought a special wooden mortar and pestle back from a visit to her family, put a bunch of whole garlic cloves in there, and mashed and smeared the heck out of them. She said the pulverization lessened the sharper notes of the garlic, and sure enough, the garlic was never overpowering. The salad was wonderful on a hot day.

Wow no end to variety on this planet, simply wonderful! I always thought Rhus were poisonous, I guess I never really enquired just, went on the colour of the flower heads which look very alarming with their deep and bright velvety red heads!
This is Sumach Japonica or the Staghorn Sumach

The dried red sumac berries can be ground and used as a delightful spice for savory foods. Also the mature seed from Smartweed, which could be used as a pepper substitute.  Grandparents generation sometimes used spicebush buds, dried and ground, as a substitute for Allspice.  

Victor Skaggs wrote:If it's vanilla you're after... some experimentation with sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) might prove fruitful. It is listed as a medicinal herb, so presumably safe to eat. I know it dried and used as incense (smudge).

It has a very noticeable vanilla flavor. Before flowering, it is impossible to distinguish from alfalfa (also in the Fabaceae family), but its yellow flowers are easy to identify, and the vanilla flavor is strong if you squeeze a leaf between your fingers.

I used to harvest it in New Mexico but haven't seen it yet here (Virginia). I'm on the lookout, though...

I'd be interested to find out if it works as a culinary vanilla substitute.

in virginia, you're probably more likely to find white sweetclover/honey clover, melilotus albus. i can report that that one definitely works as a vanilla substitute. i had seen paul baudar recommend sweet clover in one of his foraged food books, and then a couple weeks ago noticed a white-flowered clover relative that had popped up alone in my orchard. it was already flowering and clearly had been for a while, but the tips of the flowering 'branches' had some unopened flowerbuds on them, and when i picked one tip off to check it out, it was intensely sweet and vanilla-y in scent. i put a 4 or 5 tips in a big pot of soup i was making and there was a nice vanilla background to flavors, really nice. (i like to play with aromatic spices in places you might not always find them).

i've been making alcohol extracts of a bunch of things recently (including spicebush berries and black walnut kernels [which also, since we're in the this thread, have a bit of that floral aromatic vanilla-esque vibe to them)...and now i want to do a sweet clover extract to see how close to vanilla it can be, but i doubt my one plant is big enough to use (especially since 75% of it is just spent blooms now), and i'd rather let it seed and have more next year to play with.

also, i just found a large area of spicebush up the hill from my house. if people want samples to play with this fall, i'll probably have a fair bit to spare. i use it a lot, and will probably be ramping up my collection of it this year.

I live in rural Louisiana. I often find small sassafras trees from which I harvest a handful of leave. I crack the windows of the car on a hot, sunny day and put the leaves by the back window (south-facing). In an hour or two I can powder the leaves into filé which is traditionally used in gumbos, but I also use in other stews.

If it's vanilla you're after... some experimentation with sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) might prove fruitful. It is listed as a medicinal herb, so presumably safe to eat.

Please be careful with Melilotus species ("sweetclover," but not a clover, and looks more like alfalfa) as it contains coumarin, an anticoagulant, and can be toxic in large doses. It can be fatal to livestock. Though of course we are not going to eat a whole meal of it so maybe it's fine as a flavouring. Green Dean says it can make some people vomit.

good to know! we didn't notice any kind of ill effect from using it sparingly as a flavorant.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/vanilla-substitutes/

The big one as a replacement is maple syrup.. so you could tap some trees.

Many want to find a sub for pepper.  The perfect black pepper sub is the papaya seed.  No need to wash it but you can just to remove the fleshy strings.  Let it dry thoroughly in a wire mesh colander then grind to fine powder in a small mill such as a coffee grinder.  The one I have I use for things like grinding or chopping flax, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, grinding chia or nuts.  It looks and tastes very very close to black pepper especially on food.  

filé powder is simply the dried, de-veined, & powdered leaves of Sassafras albidum (sassafras). The leaves are NOT included in the Federal (USA) safrole ban due to low concentrations. I use the younger leaves as they're easier to powder.

- Your region/hardiness zone

See a rangemap for the tree here:
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SAAL5

- what it tastes like

Not sure I can answer that. It doesn't taste like anything else I can think of.

- common kitchen spices it might replace

Similar to my answer above, not so much a replacement as an addition

Some of the wild flavors growing near me (native plants):
wild ginger (re possible concerns mentioned upthread, just don't use alcohol extraction)
wild sarsaparilla
sweet-fern
sweet-gale
maple sugar/syrup
ramps (also supposedly wild garlic, prairie onion, nodding onion, but I never find these)
wild mint
wild bergamot aka bee balm, oswego tea
anise hyssop
wintergreen (insanely abundant, I made wintergreen liqueur this year and it is amazing)
sumac
spruce and other conifer tips
basswood - this might be a good vanilla substitute, steeping the dried flowers in vodka, as they smell incredible
sweetgrass - another possible vanilla substitute
wild tarragon and other artemisia species
prickly ash, though I have not come across it
fragrant bedstraw
cow parsnip (seeds dried and ground as a spice)
juniper berry (I use common juniper, a shrub, not the tree)
cress/mustard (some native, some introduced/invasive which I am more inclined to use since they need to be picked anyway, but this is a list for native flavors)
wood sorrel

Many of our wild fruits are pretty sour, which can be used as a seasoning/flavoring of sorts, but also makes me think of vinegar as a flavor enhancement. Vinegar can be made from local/wild ingredients. I also make a sauce from high-bush cranberries that is like a sweet-and-sour barbecue sauce. It can be made with strictly local ingredients: honey or maple syrup/sugar, wild ginger, vinegar. It's very good. The berries themselves, eaten raw, taste like pickle juice to me, and the sauce does not smell good while cooking! But it is great with meat and potatoes.

I"m in planting zone 9a in the USA, Southwest desert.

I also have some wacky allergies, including to a lot of drying agents and preservatives. This has made it so I very seldom can eat any spices/herbs sold at the store, so most of them, if I don't grow it, I can't eat it.

So, for things I've grown and eaten, or found in the wild...

All the typical 'garden' herbs (I know some grow wild where a lot of ya'll are, but most of them don't grow wild here - too little water)

anise hyssop (often for tea, but can eat raw as well, like in salads, or even put into cookies)

oregano - greek oregano can sustain itself here if it's in just the right spot - I had a patch I thought had died, hidden underneath some dead plants, and it lasted an entire year with not watering. Since then, it will sometimes go months before I water it, and it had a patch a couple feet wide for a while there.

marjoram

coriander/cilantro

parsley

thyme

savory

shiso (this used to be used to wrap japanese rice balls, in place of the nori seaweed that is often used today -also good rice seasoning when dried)
mint (there IS a local mint in AZ, but hard to find with so few sources of year round running water)

lemon balm

lemon verbena

rosemary - the trailing rosemary is one that I have seen reseed on its own here a few times.

lavender

tarragon

sage

dill

chervil

fennel

chamomile

nasturtium - I've seen a pepper oil made using nasturtium that looks quite nice, so far.

lovage - I have read before that lovage, if it is cooked a looong time until quite browned, and then cooked more in water, and then the liquid strained and used, might be a valid soy sauce substitute of a sort, but I have literally never been successful in growing lovage, so it's more...something to explore yourself, if you like.

Then there are some plants that are not so commonly used here, or are native/desert adapated.
thai red roselle (sour - used for tea)
mare's tail - grows wild, young leaves used as herb (I've used older ones, too, no problem), slightly spicy flavor without much else - native here and many other places
Agastache spp. - horsemint - good for tea, nice mild mint scent, native
Lycium spp - wolfberry (goji berries are also a type of wolfberry - small and sweet, native
Morus microphylla - native western mulberry, sweet, but not cultivated at all, so the berries are super tiny. like maybe 1/6 the size of my pinky nail, if that.
mesquite - the pods can be ground into a sweet meal, or can be used to make a syrup. Native

Poliomentha madrensis - mexican oregano or lavender spice - perennial small bush, use as herb,  tastes like oregano, little stronger, IMO, pretty lavender flowers, native to Mexico

poliomentha incana - rosemary mint, perennial small bush, pale gray-green foliage, use as tea that smells kind of like a cross between rosemary and mint, AZ native.

There is an AZ native rose (the smell tips you off, as the flowers are not large and look nothing like typical roses, of coruse), a AZ native blackberry (Rubus arizonensis ), and an elderberry that is native as well (Sambucus mexicana ). The rosehips are edible for the rose, and the blackberry, and the elderberry can be used like the typical elderberry further east, medicinally and all.

Tagetes lucida, also called mexican tarragon, sometimes I've seen it having wild seeded here, and tastes like tarragon

Porophyllum ruderale ssp. macrocephalum, papalo or Bolivian coriander (NOT the only herb given this name) - strong,, hard to describe - probably work well in place of marjoram, oregano, or very strong cilantro. For seeds, find folks who sell them NOT in a seed packet but a small box - the seeds are listed as having poor germination rates, but I've found a source before who said that they have found that the seeds are quite fragile (like dandelion seeds but thinner and longer) and putting them in seed packets seems to break more and leads to the poor germination rates - I have planted some that were sold instead in tiny boxes and had great germination rate (compared to the poor rates of a previous buy in a seed packet) so I tend to believe these claims.

Porophyllum ruderale ssp. ruderale, quilquiña, - also strong, also hard to describe, similar use as the herb above. Both this and the one above are sometimes interchangeably called by the other name, even among people selling seeds, so you have to make sure and get the scientific name to get he right one.

Solanum melanocerasum, chichiquelite or garden huckleberry- originates from West Africa, but common in Mexican gardens and grows well here. The leaves are actually edible (cooked only, not raw, but I can't recall the flavor) and the berries are small and only edible when ripe (have some toxins present when they are unripe and green). There is a trick to these ones, though - the berries turn purple and dark and look ripe, but the taste is just kinda meh - vaguely sweet, but mild. BUT, if you wait for a while, I've had to wait a week or more, the glossy shine will start to go away, and then the berries are REALLY ripe and when you bite into them, there is more sweetness plus a very lovely, intense vanilla/floral aftertaste - they might actually do well to add to something when vanilla is not available.

cumin can be grown here, but I haven't managed enough to really be of much use for more than a couple dishes.

fenugreek can be grown here as well - the leaves can be used as herbs, or the seeds used as spices - common ingredient in Indian cooking.

holy basil grows well here (ocimum sanctum ), used as a tea, but the scent when you even brush against it is amazing and I love to have it along paths I'm walking on.

Atriplex hymenolytra, hollyleaf saltbush - this plant takes in extra salts from the ground around it, and the leaves can be eaten and have a salty taste. I just got this bush (even though it also grows wild) so I know about it in abstract, but haven't tried it myself. From what I understand, it is one of the plants that can be used to make culinary ash (leaves burned to ash and added to food).

Also, I know the Hopi, and possibly others, burn juniper leaves to make a culinary ash (green juniper ash) that adds nutrients and a particular flavor to a corn-based bread. (video on it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5OJZoLOPP8 ).

I literally had no idea what my climate zone was until I looked up this post. apparently I'm in 9B. This is going to be super helpful to know! I just started growing things in my backyard and now I have an idea of what works and what doesn't. Outside of trial and error. We have plans to install a greenhouse, hopefully that can offset some plants and give them a better chance.

Before going on our challenge to not eat from the grocery store or restaurants for a year, I wanted to make sure my spices were in order.  We already grew many of them.  So much more flavorful than the dried ones in the store. . .

Walking onions serve my needs in the onion department.  I just cut and use the tops.  I am looking for one I have heard of called potato onions though.

Garlic chives - when I want that mild garlic/onion flavor - good texture for things like eggs, quiches, etc.

Oregano - a must have for canning spaghetti sauce

Basil - spaghetti sauce, pesto, and whatever I feel like putting it in.  Yum!

Borage - growing this year.  Leaves taste a little like cucumber.  Flowers are sweet and will want those in some tea mixes as well as decorating baked goods and salads.

Cayenne pepper is what we grow and dry and use instead of black pepper.  It has so much more nuances.

Fennel - I mostly harvest the seeds to use in italian sausage, teas, or whatever I want to have a slight licorice flavor.

Spicebush - for an allspice type spice when dried and ground.

Lemon balm - for pesto, tea, and whatever I need a lemony flavor in (but I plan to experiment also with our winged sumac for a lemony flavor.)

Dill - mostly for dips, sauces, canning, and seeds for a cornbread I like to make.

I am growing autumn crocuses for saffron - but it is very labor intensive to pick the stamens.

Garlic - we are growing both classic and elephant.

Mint - I make my own mint extract with distilled alcohol and mint.  We make tea out of it in the summer (very refreshing).  Dry mint for winter use.  Medicinal for stomach issues. And of course in cooking.

Tulsi basil - tea and cooking.  The smell is heavenly.

Bay laurel - It is so much better when fresh.  I have some friends with a bay laurel tree.  I have tried to root it with no success so far.

Chamomile for tea - I am harvesting flowers now.

Thyme - I am growing again for dishes/spaghetti sauce.

Lovage - I am trying to grow this with little success in getting the seeds to germinate.  I would love that celery taste.

This year I will also be growing some mustard seed to make our own mustard.  I love adding it to cheese sauce to make it taste even cheesier as well as use it in pickling and as regular mustard and to season mayonnaise.

Vanilla is a good question.  I still have some vanilla beans, but when it runs out. . .In the past when I was out of vanilla, I just didn't use any.  It is nice to explore other flavors (but I do love vanilla.)

One item I don’t see mentioned yet is madrone. Madrone bark sheds every year and those curls can either be made into a tea and used as a flavoring agent or ground for use as a spice. The flavor profile is rather like a fruity, woodsy cinnamon. There’s definitely a tannin element there, so don’t overdo it! Hand Shaw has a great article on exploring the culinary uses of madrone.

Some of my favorite special flavors that grow wild here are:

Sweet Cicely Osmorhiza berteroi  Looks like parsley, has a kind of sweet anise-like flavor.  Grows in big patches and all over the forest.
Daisy Bellis perennis   this is a non-native but grows abundantly in the garden and meadows.  The leaves in spring have a very nice sweet flavor, and moisten the mouth.  Great in salad.  I also make powder of the leaves to add to oatmeal and other things - it goes well with fruit.
Yerba Buena  Clinopodium douglasii   has a very strong spicy flavor kind of like thyme, and grows abundantly in the woods here.

Douglas fir tips are tasty - and I'll dry them to add to almost anything throughout the year for a sour / lemony kind of flavor.

Then there are mushrooms.  I dry and powder a lot of mushrooms.

Chanterelle has a fruity flavor that's good in sweet or fruity dishes.
Lactarius deliciosus (milk cap) grows abundantly and can be added to sweet things like oatmeal and cakes - I mainly use it because it's free protein and nutrients, not so much because I love the flavor - but it's not bad.

Queen bolete (similar to porcini) has an MSG-like flavor, good in any savory dish, in soup, sauces, on meat, etc.  
Black trumpet has a strong flavor I don't know how to describe, also good in savory dishes.
Amanita coccora is abundant -  it's best fried and eaten as is, but I use the powder to thicken tomato sauce - the flavor pairs well with marinara.

Fat jack - doesn't taste good, but grows abundantly and can be used to make a soup last longer.  (I have a lot dried that I haven't used much.. will have to wait for me to be alone and experimenting on myself.)

Those are a few that I use most frequently in cooking.  I love sneaking crushed/powdered greens and mushrooms into anything.

I've been getting into wild spices. What I've found in my area is Pepperweed, Sumac, and Horseweed. Pepperweed and Horseweed grow everywhere here. For pepperweed I like to collect and grind up the seeds into a powder. I mostly use it on cold foods as it loses its heat when used on hot foods. Sumac is a substitute for lemon. Horseweed when eaten fresh tastes peppery and a bit like parsley or tarragon. When dried the peppery taste is gone and it tastes more like parsley or tarragon.

Starting with the vanilla flavoured things, my favorite is probably Nocino!! You make it by fermenting unripe black walnuts in a high proof, neutral spirit for 1-3 months then adding (optional) simple syrup after straining. I use it in my baking all the time, and it tastes similar to vanilla just with nuttiness and more depth if that makes sense? You can also add other herbs and spices to it to deepen the flavour, like cinnamon or clove. Another one is dried white clover, but the flavour isn't super strong. I've thought about trying to make a concentrate woth it for a stronger vanilla flavour, but haven't tried that yet. I've heard similar things about dried sweet clover, which does smell a lot like vanilla but haven't tried it myself.

Dried staghorn sumac berries can replace lemon juice or zest, as it creates a tangy and sour powder! You can also make a lemonade substitute with the berries.

My absolute favorite wild growing plant is Linden! The fruit, when roasted and ground, make a lovely cocoa powder substitute! I've heard the chocolatey flavor can be a bit volatile and disappear after a few days, but in my experience it stayed chocolatey for the whole week or so my brownies lasted! Be careful with it though, as it has been used medicinally to treat anxiety and insomnia and may make you very relaxed!

Wild endive, or Chicory, root can be roasted and ground to make a nutty, toasty, burnt-sugary tasting powder that smells very strongly of coffee! It can make a nice caffeine free coffee sub, or can be used to flavour teas or baked goods!

And of course we can't forget magnolia! I love using it in place of ginger for cookies and cakes! You fan also pickle them

I'm sure there's tons I'm forgetting but these are some of my favorites!

I'm in southwestern mi, which i believe is either zone 5 or 6 depending on the map you look at lol

Ever heard of the Forager Chef? He uses woodruff in place of vanilla:

https://foragerchef.com/wild-vanilla-extract/

Not native, but it grows here in the US, even naturalized in many places. Sweet woodruff (galium odorata) is hardy down to zone 4 and its cousin galium triflorum is hardy down to zone 3.

So says the Internet.

I haven't seen anyone post about growing this one in this thread so I'll mention it and the back story. I bought a combo pack of 20 different types of culinary herbs from amazon, one of them was labeled anise and had a picture of a star anise. Once I seen it grow I had to research it and find out about anise-seed which is what it truly was. It's different to anise hysop and star anise and grows the same as dill and fennel. It's seeds are delicious for cooking, there's depth of different flavor notes and it also makes some good tea that's naturally sweetened by the seeds. I highly suggest growing this one that's highly regarded in ancient cultures.

As far as someone saying all papayas from HI are GMO, surely they must be talking about exported papayas. Birds have been spreading papaya seeds around the islands for many generations, the trees grow wild here and there's basically natures own landrace cross breeding going on for many generations in the wild ones. Sure they may have crossed with some of the GMO varieties people grow from purchased seeds but there is a ton of genetic variance going on in local HI papayas.

And for people who struggle growing ginger in there zones. I'm in Hawaii where one would think ginger grows effortlessly but I can confirm that it's so-so and usually can't out fight the weeds that want to take it over. That being said I tried it in black weed mesh last year and it grew like crazy, I was even doing some work on the house located on a commercial ginger farm that ships out young ginger for juicing at the time so I got to compare and ask questions. 100% my ginger was growing faster and bigger than theirs and they had an entire team of weeders that were way in over there head vs the savage weeds, I told her my way and she excitedly said she was gonna give that a try.  Other things show the same difference in growth rates in the black plastic mesh, particularly rosemary grows to be much bushier with fuller/oilier leaves, and many other little garden fruits and vegetables too seem to love the heat it soaks in during the day as well as the lack of weed competition.

now for my list of Anise seed, ginger, rosemary, thyme, lemon grass, marjoram, basil, green onions, chives, tumeric, curry leaf tree, and hawaiian chili peppers. Those are all the ones I can think of that I currently grow for flavoring.