SpiceNice – An open source spice database (opens in new tab)

(tderflinger.com)

66 pointstderflinger1y ago24 comments

24 comments

This is a just a small list with very few information, smaller than what Wikipedia lists[1], and even include error in capitalization (SIchuan pepper). This is a bit underwhelming for a "visionary entrepreneur".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_culinary_herbs_and_spi...

mlinksva1y ago

I agree. "The source of this data is the English edition of Wikipedia." I have to wonder how they ingested the data; manually? For slightly more vision, a culinary window on Wikidata would be nice, whether Wikidata is very exposed in a flexible but complex UI like https://scholia.toolforge.org/ or is hidden and simplified.

tderflingerOP1y ago

Thanks for your candid feedback. I copied the data manually into the CMS. I am looking at alternatives to that in the future, there are some projects that try to automate querying Wikipedia data. Have not tried them out, though. Any experience with that?

ferbass1y ago

Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate the project but this is not an open source database for spices. I was expecting to see a GitHub project with a collection of spices, maybe pictures also a way that I could collaborate with it. A good example is the free-exercise-db https://github.com/yuhonas/free-exercise-db

rabunite1y ago

Am I the only one who thought “circuit simulation”?

neutrinobro1y ago

No, that's exactly why I clicked on it too.

NikkiA1y ago

Yeah, I thought 'cool, finding model definitions can be a real chore and spread between dozens of sites...'

nope, actual cooking spices :eyeroll:

michaelmior1y ago

I would suggest listing this as a Show HN post. It looks interesting, but I'm not sure what I gain from this over just using Wikipedia.

tderflingerOP1y ago

All right, thanks for your feedback. Correct, currently this is only content from Wikipedia, although in a more structured form. I hope to expand and improve content over time (maybe even with help of a community). One idea is also linking from recipes to the SpiceNice database and getting more information about spices in that way.

freen1y ago

Seems like a perfect job for Datasette: SQLite plus web api and UI

“Datasette is a tool for exploring and publishing data. It helps people take data of any shape, analyze and explore it, and publish it as an interactive website and accompanying API.”

https://datasette.io/

The “Baked Data” style of deploying the data with the app is powerful.

Crier10021y ago

i second this! datasette is amazing and i've been using it to publish data that i collect and find interesting

billfruit1y ago

Guardian has a frequently appearing column called "my secret ingredient" where someone writes about one particular spice that they use and like.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/series/my-secret-ingredient

wrboyce1y ago

Also worth a mention is their “how to cook the perfect…” series. While I don’t always agree with the conclusions drawn (taste being subjective, after all), I can usually divine a reasonable starting place for my own perfect version based on the research.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/series/how-to-cook-the-perf...

philipodonnell1y ago

I often wonder if you can create databases like this using the data in the training datasets of LLMs. Generate the list of spices by asking for categories, countries of origin, etc and then asking about a list of properties for each. You could use these kinds of Wikipedia lists as a validation mechanic.

35mm1y ago

You can but you will likely end up with some invented spices.

lbotos1y ago

Is anyone aware of a spice that is actually known by 1 name in two different places but is actually two different spices? My mind is blanking

I thought of cilantro/coriander, but that's the opposite case.

hansottowirtz1y ago

Pink pepper can refer to three different species, from the Euonymus and Schinus families. One is from Madagascar and the other one is from South America. As another example, Sichuan pepper can come from 6 different species of the Zanthoxylum family.

GlenTheMachine1y ago

There are two very distinct types of cinnamon…

pcthrowaway1y ago

Well that's sort of a good example. The word "coriander" is used all over the world, but in some places refers to the leaf (in other word, what some places call "cilantro") and in other places refers to the ground seed.

sahmeepee1y ago

Za'atar is the name of a herb and also a spice mix

knodi1231y ago

asking for pepper in a dish might result in different results based on your region....

hantusk1y ago

cumin and persian cumin (caraway) is one such example

selimthegrim1y ago

Also long pepper/black pepper (piper in Latin)

sitkack1y ago

Cool site, but the AI generated image makes me nauseous.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

24 comments

tokinonagare1y ago

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_culinary_herbs_and_spi...

mlinksva1y ago

tderflingerOP1y ago

ferbass1y ago

rabunite1y ago

Am I the only one who thought “circuit simulation”?

neutrinobro1y ago

No, that's exactly why I clicked on it too.

NikkiA1y ago

Yeah, I thought 'cool, finding model definitions can be a real chore and spread between dozens of sites...'

nope, actual cooking spices :eyeroll:

michaelmior1y ago

I would suggest listing this as a Show HN post. It looks interesting, but I'm not sure what I gain from this over just using Wikipedia.

tderflingerOP1y ago

freen1y ago

Seems like a perfect job for Datasette: SQLite plus web api and UI

“Datasette is a tool for exploring and publishing data. It helps people take data of any shape, analyze and explore it, and publish it as an interactive website and accompanying API.”

https://datasette.io/

The “Baked Data” style of deploying the data with the app is powerful.

Crier10021y ago

i second this! datasette is amazing and i've been using it to publish data that i collect and find interesting

billfruit1y ago

Guardian has a frequently appearing column called "my secret ingredient" where someone writes about one particular spice that they use and like.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/series/my-secret-ingredient

wrboyce1y ago

https://www.theguardian.com/food/series/how-to-cook-the-perf...

philipodonnell1y ago

35mm1y ago

You can but you will likely end up with some invented spices.