Grind it out
A little story for you: last time we were in India, we searched high and low for a domestic spice grinder. Most Indian households now use electric grinders, however we finally found a cast iron one similar to a miniature industrial grinder. It screws on to the edge of a table or bench, like the old-fashioned meat mincers used to, and it takes the strength of Goliath to work the thing! Realizing that it was not terribly practical, we invested in an electric commercial grinder, which fills the bill nicely. However, the inspiration for a new all-Australian blend of spices, called Bushman’s Pepperpot, required a rough grind of Australian-grown black and white pepper, yellow mustard seeds, akudjura, salt and coriander seeds to give a cracked-pepper, kibbled effect (it’s used to crust meat in the ‘pepper steak’ tradition, with a crunchy, medium-pepper spicy flavour). The “domestic grinder” from India was called into service to grind the spices to the right consistency. We are thrilled to bits with the new product, however because of the work involved in producing it, we are almost hoping it doesn’t take off!