Spices are a great way to enhance the flavor of your meals. They deliver a savory kick to any dish, easily transforming them into extraordinary culinary creations. In addition, a lot of spices also have medicinal purposes and are widely used in alternative medicine.

We asked Avanish Kumar Jain, Chef of The Peninsula Manila’s Escolta Restaurant, to share with us his expert knowledge about the savory world of spices, and he gladly shared with us a few tips about their storage and health benefits. He also gave us nine spices every household kitchen should have and can be used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. What's best about his recommendations is that they're readily available here in our country. Scroll through his gallery to check out his pointers!

(Photo by Mike Dee)