Hints & Tips

Besides being a popular spice for Yotam Otolenghi, Aleppo Pepper is becoming the go-to chilli for many cooks and food lovers. Why would a style of chilli be called a pepper? After all it is not a peppercorn! Let’s start with a bit of background. You may recall that Christopher Columbus was sailing west to get to the Indonesian spice islands, because he guessed

Baharat, also known as Lebanese Seven Spice or Advieh, has become one of the many ‘go-to’ spice blends along with Ras el Hanout and Chermoula. Herbie, always up to date or ahead with spice trends, was asked to contribute this article to Australian Gourmet Traveller in 1999. Yes, 24 years ago! This is the article: Legendary spice merchant and blender, Ian (Herbie) Hemphill, has

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 have been cancelling or postponing planned Spice Appreciation events due to the current Coronavirus situation.

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.

Making your own bespoke gin can be fun and satisfying if you have the right botanicals. Herbie’s Spices Ginspiration Spice Kit, combined with a vodka of your choosing, is a great way to commence your gin journey. Juniper Berries are the main ingredient that must be used to call a product Gin. However there are a number of other botanicals, which when used in

We receive many questions about the world of spices, and in particular what makes a truly wonderful spice blend. The following article answers those questions, and we hope provides much more useful information. Spice Essentials In spices, we are fortunate enough to have a hobby that is also our passion, our business, and our livelihood … and it’s something that other people also find

WHAT IS ACHIOTE? Achiote is another name for annatto seeds, (Bixa orellana) and achiote paste is the Mexican condiment that gets its main flavour from annatto seeds. So what are annatto seeds? Annatto seeds are collected from a relatively small tropical evergreen tree that grows 5–10 m high. The leaves are heart-shaped, glossy and provide an attractive background to the large bright pink flowers, which have the

How to Make a Curry When it comes to spice blending, making a curry powder from scratch is one of the best ways to gain an understanding as to how the various flavour characteristics work to create a harmonious and interesting blend. The Main Types of Spices Spices can be grouped into five basic categories.  These are; sweet, pungent, tangy, hot, and amalgamating.  The

For many years Herbie has been frustrated with the inability to source a really good Vanilla Bean Paste. Why is this so? Most vanilla bean pastes are made up of: spent vanilla (that’s the organic material left over after the process of making vanilla extract) sugar syrup various thickeners vanilla extract in alcohol added back in for flavour. These products contain a very small

There are two spices commonly referred to as cinnamon. As many spice companies prefer not to name them correctly, confusion continues to prevail about what type of cinnamon consumers are actually purchasing. In this blog post we demystify the facts on cinnamon, so you can readily identify which one you have. May we start by saying these are both excellent spices when used appropriately,

At the beginning of 2015 we discussed shelf life and storage of spices. Our resealable zip-seal pouches are high barrier, and with the air squeezed out and resealed your spices will keep their flavour right up to the best before date on the label. Therefore, what is the best way to keep your Herbie’s Spices on the kitchen bench or in the pantry? Spice Storage