Cooking

Cooks are discovering a culinary seed spice that believe it or not has been ubiquitous for many years. Those little black seeds we see on Turkish bread, are more often than not nigella seeds! The nigella of culinary use is an erect annual, a member of the buttercup family and close relative to the decorative plant that is known as ‘love-in-a-mist’ (N. damascena). Nigella

One of Herbie’s favourite places in India is Brunton’s Boatyard in Cochin In this video, he makes a Vegetarian Sambar.

In this video, following a short elephant ride, I have the audacity to show my Indian friends at Spice Village how I make my Saturday Curry!

Ian “Herbie” Hemphill visits South India, and makes Cochin Style Seafood at Brunton’s Boatyard Hotel in Cochin. Watch on YouTube.

Due to the current situation with many of you isolated, we felt it would be appropriate to break with tradition and send this to you ahead of the Winter Newsletter. It feels as though this year has been cursed in many ways, however we can’t go back and start again, so it seems the only way through it is to endure day by day,

We thought that in these unprecedented times, it would be appropriate to share some handy meal ideas to ease the stress of isolation and potentially limited food sources. Having to self-isolate creates an opportunity to brush up your cooking skills and have some fun experimenting with some flavours you may not have tried before. Let’s face it, everyone can cook. Have you ever grilled

Christmas is a great time to spend with friends and family. Celebrate the festive season with these fantastic recipes and truly wow your guests.

With Easter just around the corner, it’s time to think about the spices you’ll need for your Easter recipes. For all those sweet recipes such as cakes, biscuits and hot cross buns, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and cardamom are traditional, along with Mixed Spice. For extra fragrance and flavour, try using our Fragrant Sweet Spice Blend as an aromatic substitute. Easter is a great time

Thanks to Yotam Ottolenghi and his creative, tasty and easy to prepare recipes in his latest book SIMPLE, cooks are appreciating Middle Eastern Cuisine more than ever. And it is the spices that make these recipes so tantalising. Ottolenghi's Spice pantry essentials are: Barberies Cardamom Seed Ground Harissa Rose Harissa Nigella Seeds Pomegranate Molasses Sumac Urfa Chilli Flakes Za'atar Plus all the usual suspects

Curry What do you think of when you hear the word Curry?  Does the image of a big pot of a protein swimming in lots of delicious rich gravy, served with rice and pappadams, come to your mind?  When a curry powder is made, it is basically a spice mix, just as Baharat, Chermoula and barbecue blends are spice mixes.  Don’t let yourself be

Have You Started Planning Your Personal & Corporate Gifts for this Christmas? Christmas in July started us thinking about the real Christmas that's coming up in just 5 months Herbie's Spices spice kits make the ideal corporate gift, and now is the time to start planning what to give to friends, clients and customers. Each kit contains a selection of herbs and spices and

This time last year, we were considering another visit to India, after several years’ break from taking groups to that wonderful, ever-stimulating continent. Well, it happened, it was great fun, and we’re back. Highlights must include the hair-raising cycle-rickshaw ride through the old town of Varanasi; the vibrant, thrilling Holi day of colours; a visit to a small government school outside Deogarh, where one teacher

During Herbie & Liz’s recent visit to India, they were delighted to see many of the restaurants including a dish of Gunpowder Spice along with the chutneys and other condiments. Herbie wasted no time in talking to the chefs about this blend that seemed to be all the rage. Although most were a little cagey about revealing all the ingredients and their proportions, Herbie was obsessed