Boontaspice

Boontaspice was a type of cooking spice. It was edible to both Besalisks and Humans, but too much of it could cause an adverse taste reaction in the latter species. Boontaspice shared its name with Boonta, a planet located near Hutt Space in the Outer Rim Territories.

Boontaspice was the namesake additive of Boontaspiced mustard, a meal component served at the restaurant Dex's Diner on the planet Coruscant prior to the eatery's destruction within the first two years of the Galactic Empire's reign. The Besalisk chef Dexter Jettster, the restaurant's proprietor, used Boontaspiced mustard in two dishes on his menu, the Giju slider and the gartro egg salad sandwich.

Giju stew was a dish best made with a bit of Boontaspice, but even it could not mask the stew's foul odor. In the months following the Battle of Hoth, Rebel Alliance agent Lando Calrissian once tried to prepare Giju stew for himself and his friends Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and the Wookiee Chewbacca while aboard the starship Millennium Falcon. To his great distaste, Calrissian used too much Boontaspice in his recipe and decided to scrap the stew and eat something else.

Boontaspice first appeared in the 1996 novel Shadows of the Empire, written by Steve Perry. Its name references Boonta, a planet originating in the 1980s animated television series Star Wars: Droids. The 2009 StarWars.com Hyperspace article "Dining at Dex's," written by Gregory Walker as an in-universe menu, later created Boontaspiced mustard as a variation of Boontaspice.

• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I
• Dining at Dex's on Hyperspace