Blog - Understanding Spices

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Throughout history, herbs and spices have been used not just to flavour dishes, but also for their medicinal properties. Even small doses of herbs and spices can pack a punch...

Understanding Spices

“The Spice Islands” - the name given to the Moluccas or Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. This archipelago consists of over 1,000 islands with a total land mass of 75,000...

Understanding Spices

The healing power of herbs and spices has been known for thousands of years and, to this day, a large proportion of the world's population still benefits from their medicinal...

Featured, Understanding Spices

If you take a walk along the world famous waterfront of Liverpool, you cannot escape the past. For mile after mile, along the shores of the River Mersey, a vast...

Understanding Spices

We all love the familiar, floral scent of vanilla. From the delicate fragrance drifting from your reed diffuser in the living room to the sweet tasting ice-cream that you bought...

Understanding Spices

Indian Bay leaves are also known as Tej Patta which translates as 'pungent leaf' or Malabar leaf. They are not to be confused with the European Laurel Bay leaves more...

Understanding Spices

On 11th July 2016, Kate Quilton, presenter of Channel 4’s ‘Superfoods – The Real Story’ extolled the health benefits of saffron, the world’s most expensive spice. Apparently it is proven...

Understanding Spices

Summertime and the salads are easy! It is wonderful that whether dining in or out, tasty and exciting salads feature on our menus. Long ago are the days of lettuce...

Understanding Spices

Shrimp Paste explained For truly authentic Southeast Asian cuisine, you really should incorporate Shrimp paste as a seasoning substitute for salt. Shrimp paste is integral not only to the cooking...

Understanding Spices

Diagnoses of Coeliac disease have been steadily increasing in the UK in all age groups of people. To suddenly discover that you cannot tolerate gluten in your diet presents a...

Understanding Spices

Dried Barberries, most widely known in Middle Eastern cuisine, especially in Iranian dishes (where they are known as Zereshk) have a host of other uses too. These mild, slightly sweet,...

Understanding Spices

What is Beetroot Powder? Beetroot powder is a powdered form of beetroot, which is derived from the root vegetable known as beet or beetroot (scientifically known as Beta vulgaris). Beetroot...

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Some months ago we visited a major UK high street supermarket.  We bought a glass jar of Cardamom pods off the shelf with a best before date that was the...

Understanding Spices

We have been honoured with a mention in Rick Stein’s new book ‘India’ as one of his recommended spice suppliers. Accompanying his book is the current television series of the...

Understanding Spices

The unmistakable aromas of summertime have to be freshly mown grass and mouth-watering wafts of delicious food sizzling over hot charcoals. Happily it’s barbecue season again, when we take every...

Understanding Spices

The latest addition to our book collection is the stunning cookbook from Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi – Jerusalem. Embracing a multi-cultural population, the book celebrates the astonishing diversity of...

Understanding Spices

Originally native to Africa, but used for centuries across all continents, the tamarind tree yields long seed pods with a hard, brown shell. Contained within these pods are up to...