Newsletters

Have you discovered our Black Garlic Powder?  In our house it adds a delicious umami to so many things … like sprinkled over buttered toast, topped with scrambled eggs.  If you already have this delicious product in your pantry, you will have noticed that it tends to go into a hard lump after a few months.  This is because it’s simply black garlic, ground,

When we started our operations on the Central Coast of NSW, it was a sleepy area in many ways.  How things have changed in 20 years!  We are pleased to announce that we have joined the vibrant Central Coast Maker’s Trail. Whether you have a few hours or an entire weekend to explore the Central Coast, the Makers Trail is the perfect adventure. This

Like all Australians, we have been shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the terrible earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.  We source some of our best and most popular products (sumac, Aleppo pepper) from these areas, and over the years we have formed a strong bond with the hospitable people in the Gaziantep region.  Our thoughts are with them at this terrible and

Isn’t it surprising how quickly the seasons revolve?  Our hearts go out to those who have suffered immensely from the floods and wild weather in so many states.  For those more fortunate, we continue to eat and enjoy each other’s company.  Whether we’re celebrating Christmas, or just being together with loved ones on any other day of summer, food is always an important part

What are the things that make you know what it is to be Australian?  To us it’s the feeling you have when you see a boomerang fashioned from flimsy balsawood, made in some cheap-labour offshore country, for tourists to buy for a pittance and take home as a “genuine” Australian article.  The same feeling of outrage and violation is felt by Koreans when their

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us …..  on 7th July this year we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of Herbie’s Spices.  When we opened the doors of our little shop in the chilli-red terrace in Rozelle, little did we know that it would become a destination for local, interstate and international cooks and foodies.  Our business plan all those years

We took a break over the Christmas/New Year period, and arrived home, tired and jet-lagged, to a mostly empty fridge.  It was definitely a moment to appreciate our hero spice mix, Lentil and Dhal Spice, which pulled together a delicious, easy meal using pantry staples and surviving silverbeet in the pot outside our kitchen door.  What did we eat? This: SPICED RED LENTIL AND

This time last year, we thought the worst of COVID-19 was behind us.  We know now that it was just the beginning of another annus horribilis thanks to the Delta strain, but our changed conditions seemed to bring kindness and humanity to the fore.  As always, food has been a comfort and a blessing.  We’re coming to you a little earlier than the new

Home Made Pizza Like so many Australians, we have had plenty of lock-down time during winter.  Our fabulous local pizzeria closed for a time, and we had to make our own pizza – not so difficult, really.  Here’s a simple dough recipe: mix 400g white bread flour with 1½ teaspoons of dry yeast and 1 teaspoon Italian Herbs.  Dissolve ½ teaspoon of salt in

A world-wide annus horribilis is drawing to a close, and all we want for Christmas is a better year ahead. For many, time spent in confinement has been a time for reflection, communicating with loved ones, and cooking up a storm.

Rose Harrisa Mackerel Spring is a time always associated with flowers.  Cauliflowers, broccoli and broccolini, even cabbage and kale, are all flowers, and it occurred to us that one could make a culinary bouquet by adding rose harissa to these flowers.  We started the experiment with rose harissa sprinkled on cauliflower cheese, then progressed to rose harissa stir-fried with broccolini, and broccoli florets tossed with rose

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,

Our Best Wishes The start of this New Year and new decade has been memorable for all the wrong reasons, and our hearts go out to all those who have been directly and indirectly affected by the extreme weather and terrible fires.  A fire that started in the same road as our factory mercifully went in the other direction and left us with just ash