Mahlepi

Mahlepi is ground from the kernel found inside the pit of a specific wild cherry species, not from the cherry flesh itself, which makes it one of the more unusual spices in regular use anywhere. Its flavour sits somewhere between almond and cherry blossom, faintly bitter if used too heavily, and it is essentially unknown outside Greek, Cypriot, Middle Eastern and Balkan baking.

Its single most important job is inside tsoureki, the Easter bread, and it works alongside mastic there rather than alone: mahlepi contributes the aroma, mastic the chew, and together with a longer than usual knead they produce tsoureki's signature texture, a loaf that pulls apart in long feathery strands rather than a dense, uniform crumb.

It is sold either as whole kernels needing to be ground fresh, which gives the strongest aroma, or already ground in small jars, which fades noticeably faster once opened. Buying it in small quantities rather than a large jar is worth doing, since old mahlepi contributes very little.