Annatto (achiote) is the brick-red, triangular seed of Bixa orellana, a tropical American shrub whose spiny crimson pods hide a clutch of seeds coated in a waxy, pigment-laden aril. Less a flavouring than a dye, it is the world's leading natural orange-to-red food colour — the carotenoid bixin — yet it also lends a mild, earthy, peppery-nutty taste. A spoonful of seeds steeped in warm oil turns the fat a glowing amber that stains rice, achiote-rubbed cochinita pibil and Filipino kare-kare; in industry the same pigment, sold as the additive E160b, gives cheddar, Red Leicester, butter, smoked fish and snack foods their familiar golden-orange.