Herbie’s Spices Newsletter Summer 2022 – 2023

November 21, 2022 posted in General

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 of a gathering.

Spiced Chocolate Mince Pies

Ginspiration Spice Kit

Our Ginspiration Kit has been around for a few years now, with growing popularity as people realise what fun it is, and how quickly (in three days) they can have their very own creation ready to enjoy.  As we strained the whole spices from our most recent batch, it seemed such a shame to throw the gin-infused spices away that we tried creating a recipe using them.  Now we can tell you – don’t bother.  The spices have given their all to the wonderful flavour in the gin, and are no longer useful for anything else.

In the English language, the word “spicy” conjures ideas of chilli heat, and there is not a useful word that encompasses all the wonderful flavours of spices that are not hot.  If we accept that chillies, horseradish, wasabi, ginger and pepper are hot, we are left with all those other spices such as paprika, vanilla, saffron, mastic, allspice and cinnamon, that bring such delicious flavour to our food without any heat at all.  There is an entire family of seed spices – coriander, cumin, caraway, fennel, dill, nigella, sesame and many more – that add great flavour to food without adding any heat at all.  In addition to that, there all the herbs, and herb blends such as Herbs de Provence, mixed herbs, Italian herbs, without which our meals would be so much the poorer.

Middle Eastern Chick Pea Fries

Mustard Make Your Own Blend

When we think of spices that are hot, mustard stands out as a spice with its own characteristics.  Whole mustard seeds are often fried and added at the last moment to an Indian dish, where they give a lovely nutty crunch.  As for prepared mustard pastes, we all know that English mustard is hot while wholegrain mustard is mild, and there’s a reason for that.  The heat of mustard is activated by moisture – water gives a sharp, hot flavour; vinegar gives a mild, tangy taste; wine a pungent, spicy taste, and beer an extremely hot flavour.  Whatever liquid is used, once the desired heat level has been achieved, an acidic liquid such as verjuice, vinegar or white wine needs to be added to inhibit or stop the enzyme reaction and hold the mustard heat exactly where you want it.  If you want to do your own playing around with mustard, try a pack of our Make Your Own Mustard, which has a recipe on the back of the pack to get you started.

Bearing in mind that not all people love chilli and pepper heat, we have made sure that our new Single Recipe Kits have plenty of delicious, flavoursome, mild options.  For example, the Saffron Risotto with Chicken Cacciatore is delicious and mild enough for the most sensitive palate.  The Energy Ball spice kit blurs the line of “single recipe”, with four different ingredient options and a uniform method for all four options … we think we can get away with calling that a single recipe!

Mexican Barbacoa Beef

Mexican Barbacoa Beef
Mexican Barbacoa Beef

Handling Spices With Great Care

Sometimes people are bemused when they first use Herbie’s Spices, and they wonder why it tastes so much better than what they’ve previously used.  Surely, a spice is a spice?  It all comes down to quality. Spices are an agricultural product, just like apples, and similarly even at the farm gate there are variations in quality. If we bought cheaper spices, they may be older, poorly stored, just not as fresh so the flavour would be partly lost even before we packed it.  The longer spices wait around after they’ve been ground, the more flavour they lose.  So if we were to make a spice blend with spices that were ground a long time ago, and not stored particularly well, and if we were then to add some starches to pad them out, you could expect that the result would be different to what we are proud to sell at Herbie’s Spices. Our factory is air conditioned 24/7 so that the spices stay at their best until we are ready to pack them for you.   As we’ve always said, if we are not proud to put our name on a spice or a blend, we won’t sell it.

As mentioned above, spices are agricultural products, and any gardeners know only too well that plants thrive when the conditions are right.  Our cinnamon trees, native to Sri Lanka, are happiest with glorious sunny, warm conditions, and, with our third La Nina upon us, the cinnamon trees are not happy.  We prefer to only use our own leaves (called tejpat, or Indian bay leaves, used in Indian cooking) as the imported leaves are such poor quality.  Sadly, we are only able to harvest a small amount at present, and, although they are not at their sparkling best, they are still better than an imported alternative.

Cinnamon Tree with New Leaf Growth

Christmas Feast Spice Kit

With Christmas fast approaching, no doubt you’ll be cruising our range of Spice Kits to find the perfect gifts for friends and family.  We have just had our first post-Covid Christmas party, using several of the recipes in our Christmas Feast Kit, and it seemed a good opportunity to remind you all that this is NOT the kit to be unwrapped on Christmas morning!  This kit is full of fabulous, make-ahead food for your Christmas entertaining … handy any other time of year too!

Maybe the perfect kit for you might be our new Summer Box of IdeasIn our summer-sky blue box, the contents are: our tasty and mild Portuguese spice, ever-popular Rib Spice, summery Raita mix, family favourite Tandoori spice mix, and rose petals.  As always, we’ve had great fun and lots of pleasure in dreaming up the recipes, which we know you’ll enjoy sharing with friends and family.

Would you like to have access to even more recipes to brighten your family repertoire?  When you subscribed to this Newsletter, did you also opt to receive the monthly recipe update from Herbie’s Kitchen? Simply go to the bottom of the Homepage and enter your name and e-mail.

Have a happy, spicy, festive season!              Herbie, Liz & Kate

Explore All
post

The Mystique of Baharat Spice Blend

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

post

Herbie’s Spices Newsletter Winter 2023

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
post

Herbie’s Spices Newsletter Summer 2022 – 2023

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
post

Meal Ideas for Isolation

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
post

Spices and Spice Blends for Vegetarian and Vegan Cooking

In this short video, Ian "Herbie" Hemphill talks about how Herbie's Spices, herbs and spice blends are all suitable for vegetarian and vegan cooking. A great spice blend for vegan meals is Aloo Gobi Masala. All ingredients are listed on the labels, so you know exactly what you are getting. For a wealth of information on spices, herbs and making your own spice blends,
post

Herbie’s Newsletter Summer 2019 – 2020

We’re all in accord about single-use plastics. Having seen huge drifts of plastic in the pristine seas off the Indonesian islands, we know just how important it is to get rid of those shopping bags, plastic wraps and sandwich bags. When one gets emotional about bad plastics, it’s easy to begin to demonize all plastics, and perhaps it’s timely to repeat this message from our Newsletter of some years ago.

post

Spices & More in South India Jan-Feb 2020

We invite you to join us, Herbie and Liz, as we return to our beloved India to take you to some places where many tourists don’t go! And some amazing places that you just can’t miss. This is designed as a holiday, not an endurance test, and we have made the itinerary a little more leisurely than some earlier tours, so that you arrive home refreshed and well. Be a part of our small group and join the fun!

post

Herbie’s Newsletter Spring 2019

What kind of meal do you think of when you hear the word “curry”?  The origin of our English word is Kari, meaning a spiced sauce.  The English took the idea back home from the colonies, and the classic Madras curry – well-balanced and flavoursome - became a staple in the English household.  The French, meanwhile, had colonized the Pondicherry area on the south-eastern
post

Newsletter Winter 2019

What is Single Origin? We see it emblazoned on tea, coffee, spices and other foodstuffs.  It’s pretty simple really.  If all your potatoes have been grown in the Hunter Valley, they are single origin from that region – they don’t all have to come from the same farm. If, say, a coffee blender buys beans from Africa and South America, and mixes them all
post

Easter Spice Essentials

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
post

Herbie’s Kitchen April News

Welcome to the April Recipe Newsletter.  This month we are cooking with a wonderful selection of Australian Native Spices, Herbs & Blends.  It's great to see First Nations ingredients becoming part of the every day in Australian households and I hope you enjoy the recipes below. If you are new to cooking with Native Spices, try our TRUE BLUE kit, with 5 packs of
post

What is Mastic?

Mastic is the name given to the resinous gum that exudes from the scored bark of the Gum Mastic Tree. There are many varieties of mastic trees (Pistacia lentiscus) in the Mediterranean and Middle East, yet most of the world’s production of gum mastic comes from the “Protected Designation of Origin” trees (P. lentiscus var. Chia) that grow on the Greek island of Chios. The name
post

Herbie’s Kitchen Monthly Update March 2024

LATEST RECIPES FROM KATE AT HERBIE'S KITCHEN   Welcome to the March recipe newsletter, with our favourite recipes for a spice-filled Easter.  For those off on a camping or self-catering adventure, check out our Happy Campers Spice Kit for some spicy shortcuts and holiday recipes and ideas.  You can see all the Easter category recipes HERE.     EASTER BREAKFAST PUDDING This take on
post

Herbie’s Spices Newsletter Autumn 2024

Isn’t it wonderful that our Australian eateries, even in country towns, offer a wide and diverse range of cuisines?  It’s taken for granted that we have a choice of Italian, Turkish, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Indian, and so many more, thanks to the migrants who have chosen to live here and share their fabulous food with us. Mexican is becoming popular, but seems to be
post

Herbie’s Kitchen Monthly Update February 2024

LATEST RECIPES FROM KATE AT HERBIE'S KITCHEN   We've been inspired by the recent Lunar New Year to revisit our favourite Chinese-inspired dishes. Spices are an essential part of Chinese cuisine.. the unmistakeable aroma of Star Anise, or the numbing effect of Sichuan Pepper and the bite of hot dried Chilli. We have a variety of blends to make your favourite dishes with ease.  For younger
post

Herbie’s Kitchen Monthly Update January 2024

LATEST RECIPES FROM KATE AT HERBIE'S KITCHEN   HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope everyone had a wonderful festive season and that you are enjoying the Australian summer.  This month we have some spicy salads for you - whether it's to pack and take to work, have as a side to a bbq, or to have as a simple dinner on a warm evening. Spices
post

Pepper and Salt

In India, Pepper is the King of Spices and Cardamom the Queen! Recipes say "Season to taste" and people ask "With what?" Answer: to season always means with salt. We were visited by a lovely customer, David. David wanted to know what are the best peppercorns, and all the food shops he visited told him that they had all kinds of salt, but "Yeah,
post

What’s so Special About Aleppo Pepper?

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

post

Herbie’s Spices Newsletter Summer 2023 – 2024

It’s about this time of year that we wonder where the year has gone.  It seems only last week that we packed away the Christmas decorations, and now – already!! – it’s time to be decking the halls, jingling the bells, and spicing all sorts of Christmas foods from pudding and cake to mulled wine and ham.  If you’ve not yet done your cake
post

Herbie’s Kitchen Monthly Update November 2023

LATEST RECIPES FROM KATE AT HERBIE'S KITCHEN The countdown is on!  This month we're giving you some delicious recipes that you can make now to get ahead for entertaining or gifting. If you are starting to plan Christmas Day, our Christmas Feast Spice Kit has 8 packs of premium Herbie's Spices and 12 festive recipes.  From spiced cocktail biscuits, to ham, to mulled wine
post

Herbie’s Kitchen Monthly Update October 2003

LATEST RECIPES FROM KATE AT HERBIE’S KITCHEN For people with intolerances or special diets, spices are an excellent way of adding flavour when avoiding a variety of other ingredients Our Recipe Page has a handy check box for vegetarian, vegan, nut free, dairy free, gluten free, keto, paleo, low-fodmap and healthy eating categories (please bear in mind we are not trained in nutrition, and

post

Herbie’s Kitchen Monthly Update September 2003

LATEST RECIPES FROM KATE HEMPHILL AT HERBIE’S KITCHEN Longer evenings are just beginning, and depending on where you are, perhaps you’re eating dinner outside already.  It’s also a time that we look to lighter fare (although to us curry is definitely a year-round meal); with crunchy salads, fresh seasonal veg, and grills on the menu. Check out our Al Fresco Dining Spice Kit, which

Join the inner circle

Herbie’s Spices Inner Circle fills a need in the community of cooks and food lovers for early-access & upcoming events to all those hard-to-find herbs and spices.

Please enter valid email.
Subscribe