Herbie's Blog

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

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

In this short video, Ian 'Herbie' Hemphill gives some handy hints and tips about spice storage, and explains the difference between a Use By date and a Best Before date on a label. Buying good quality herbs and spices is the first step, then you must store them correctly to get the best out of these wonderful flavours. Herbie's Spice Storage Tray is a

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,

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.

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

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!

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

Gentlemen, start your spices!  Father’s Day gift ideas from Herbie’s Spices Dads are often hard to buy for, so at Herbie’s Spices we have put together three spice kits that will have Dad inspired this Father’s Day. Barbecue Kit Barbecue Kit: A kit of 7 Herbie's spices (Sydney Spice, Chermoula, Smokey BBQ, American Spicy BBQ Rub, Bill's Steak Spice, Aussie BBQ Spice, Creole Spice

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

The way popularity can start a race to the bottom! Let me begin by sharing my thoughts on Pot-Pourri, a now devalued and bastardised item. Some history: When I was growing up in my parent’s herb & spice business in the 1960’s, I would earn pocket money helping my father harvest scented plants to make his classic Pot-Pourri. Pot-Pourri was a traditional blend of

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