Setting the Record Straight! Over the last eight years, Australian cooks have become more knowledgeable about, and more comfortable with, all sorts of spices, and we’d like to think that these newsletters have had a hand in that. So we beg to set a common misconception straight – Middle Eastern food is not Moroccan! So often one hears or reads about “Moroccan” food and spices which
India Travels January 2005 saw us once again tripping through India and Sri Lanka with our Spice Discovery Tour, accompanied by 16 of the most amenable people we could have hoped to meet. Booking all accommodation with the excellent Taj Group ensured very comfortable rooms everywhere we went, and the itinerary ran without a hitch. Our group has returned home armed with lots of
Spices from Bhutan About a year ago, we met a group of representatives from the small kingdom of Bhutan and agreed to assist them with the marketing of their spice crops. It is a landlocked country, bordered on the northern side by Mongolia and on the other three sides by India. To help you place this tiny kingdom on your mental map, picture Nepal
The latest on Spice Appreciation Classes After more than six years of trading, our Spice Appreciation Classes continue to be in great demand, and we have been sorry to have to turn people away from fully booked classes. As our classes for 2003 have been fully booked for some months, we are pleased to tell you that the timetable for next year has now
Where did Spring go! It would seem that our Spring newsletter never made it out due to a technical hitch, sorry! We thought as spring is still not quite over you may still enjoy this update. All the best, Herbie. Spice Grinding Mills During a stay in India not long before we opened Herbie’s, we found a marvellous spice grinding mill. It is the
Thursday Night Meal Ideas Do you lack a true appreciation of Thursday? It’s on the run-down to the week’s end, it’s almost Friday, and it’s a handy evening to catch up with friends when the weekend calendar is just too busy. As a friend so rightly says: Thursday comes but once a week, so you must make the most of it! With this in
Most of Australia is sweltering under the humidity and still heat of February, and autumn has never seemed more welcome or more attractive. On these hot days, we’ve been making the most of the melons in season and making a juice of fresh ginger, watermelon and rockmelon, with lots of ice. Very refreshing! Shichimi Togarashi Your response to our newest blend, Shichimi Togarashi, as been
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” We’ve all heard it and said it since childhood, but most people probably never wonder about the origins of this alliterative tongue-twister. It is actually based on fact. The administrator of Ile de France (now known as Mauritius) in 1770 was a gentleman named Pierre Poivre. His first
Changes in Food Regulations In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis placed on food safety, which of course is of primary importance to consumers and food producers alike. However, achieving a sensible balance when it comes to the interpretation of regulations can be challenging – is it really realistic to expect a busy restaurant to check the internal temperature of each serving
As this summer of extremes draws to a close, we look forward to kinder weather and hopefully some much-needed rain. As the herb and spice business is firmly based in the world of agriculture, we have a vested interest in seeing production flourish in all parts of the globe. Fourth Spice Tour of India We recently did our fourth Spice Tour to India with
Our Latest Journey to Spain In spite of those who would have us live in fear, we have recently returned from a fascinating, stimulating trip to Spain, where we were royally looked after by our Spanish paprika supplier. Paprika grows in the very dry southern and south-west areas of Spain, and is picked twice in a season. After being harvested, the fresh paprikas, looking
Information on Dal Although we are not specifically an Indian spice shop, we sometimes find ourselves in conversation with our customers about the identities of the various dals. It can be confusing when your recipe calls for toor dal or channa dal … what exactly does it mean? So here’s a quick reference for identifying the most common ones: Channa dal gram lentils – matte yellow,
Herbie Visits Central Australia Herbie recently made a trip to Central Australia to research bush tomatoes, also known, in their crushed form, as akudjura. During his couple of days north-west of Alice Springs, he was priveleged to accompany three of the women of the Warlipri tribe as they foraged for the ripe “kudjura” berries and witchetty grubs. (Did you know that witchetty grubs are
