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THE CHEF ENCYCLOPEDIA:
Culinary Herb & Spice Reference Guide
Annatto
[also Achiote]
(Pimpinella anisum)
(Syn Bixa orellana)
Family: Bixaceae
Native to both the Caribbean and Central and South America, the annatto
plant is as popular for its glossy leaves and striking pink flowers
as for its colorful seeds. Annatto is used primarily as a brilliant
yellowish red culinary dye for everything from sauces to butter, margarine,
cheese and other foods. The spice also has a light, peppery flavor and
rich spicy aroma and is used for many native Latin American and Spanish
dishes, and in Southeast Asia, for ukoy, shrimp and potato cakes. It
was traditionally used by South American Indians to paint their bodies
red. Annatto is widely used in the Philippines.
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