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Allspice: No, this isn't a mixture of everything in your spice rack, but rather a dried berry of the pimenta tree. If that's a surprise to you, imagine how Columbus felt -- he thought it was pepper (thus the name pimenta, which is Spanish for pepper). The berries look a little like plump peppercorns and the flavor is pungent, but it is not pepper. The best allspice comes from Jamaica.
For the freshest flavor, you should buy allspice in berry form and grind or crush it as needed. The taste is a pleasant mix of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Used in jerks and for pickling, it goes great with meat and gives a nice kick to soups and stews.
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Recipe

Mixed-Nut Spiced Toffee

serves
prep time: 10
cook time: 171

ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon mild-flavored (light) molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups coarsely chopped toasted mixed nuts (such as cashews, almonds, and pistachios)
2/3 cup bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

directions

Butter small rimmed baking sheet. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat. Add next 6 ingredients, stir until sugars dissolve. Attach clip-on candy thermometer to pan. Increase heat to medium, boil until thermometer registers 290 degrees, stirring slowly but constantly and scraping bottom of pan with wooden spatula, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Mix in 1 1/2 cups nuts. Immediately pour candy onto sheet. Spread toffee to 0.25 inch thickness. Immediately sprinkle chocolate atop toffee. Let stand 1 minute. Using back of spoon, spread chocolate over toffee. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup nuts. Chill 1 hour. Break toffee into pieces. (Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Chill in airtight container. Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving.)