What spices go with orange

Yucatecan cooking pairs habanero with sour orange constantly, and the reason is that both are citric — the chilli is not being tamed by the fruit so much as amplified along an axis it already has. This is the pairing that shows why a hotter, blander chilli is not a substitute.

How: Chopped raw into a table salsa with onion and sour orange juice

Add alongside: Onion, Coriander leaf, Allspice

Mulled wine, poached fruit, Middle Eastern desserts and Christmas baking all reach for it. Orange is sharply aromatic and cassia is warm and slightly sweet, and the pair is old enough in European cooking to read as a season rather than a flavour.

Add alongside: Cloves, Star anise, Green cardamom

Coriander seed is citric in its own right, so it amplifies orange rather than contrasting with it. Useful in marinades and cures where the orange would otherwise fade during cooking.

Add alongside: Fennel seed, Black pepper, Cumin

Orange and anise recur through Mediterranean baking, poached fruit and the anise spirits themselves. Orange is sharply aromatic and aniseed is sweet without sugar, so the pair reads as richer than either alone while adding nothing to the sugar content.

Add alongside: Cassia, Fennel seed, Honey

Orange brings acidity and bright terpene aromatics; star anise brings sweet resinous depth underneath them. The combination appears in braises, syrups, mulled drinks and desserts, and works in both savoury and sweet directions because neither element is committed to one.

Add alongside: Cassia, Cloves, Fennel seed

• Both are assertive. Used at equal strength they compete rather than combine, and star anise is usually the one to hold back.

Citrus zest is a standing partner in the same doughs, and the two work because they occupy different registers — mahleb is nutty and bitter, orange zest bright and floral, and together they give an enriched bread more dimension than either alone.

How: Zest and ground mahleb together in a tsoureki dough; In festival biscuit fillings

Add alongside: Aniseed, Green cardamom, Sugar

Citrus is the standing partner for mastic across the Aegean and the Levant, and orange blossom in particular appears with it in the same breads and puddings. The pairing works because both are aromatic without being sweet: the resin supplies pine and a cooling edge, the citrus supplies brightness, and neither is competing for the sweetness the sugar is already providing.

How: With orange blossom water in milk puddings and spoon sweets; Zest and ground mastic together in an enriched bread

Add alongside: Mahleb, Sugar, Green cardamom