Let's talk about 2 things today:
SPICES--what an important difference they make to our cooking and baking. And we have four tips for you:
1. Whole spices are better than ground. Ground spices often contain additives to prevent caking and to ensure they'll actually shake or pour out of their containers. When you use whole spices, you know exactly what you have!
2. Whole spices should be toasted for maximum flavor before grinding. Professional chefs say this brings out the earthy undertones of the spice. Who knew?
3. We should buy the best spices we can afford because there's a reason cheap spices are cheap. The American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) has very low standards for what they deem "acceptable," which means that up to 20% of a bottle of spices can contain mold, exctreta (yep, that’s poo), dead insects, rat hairs, wire, string and a list of other ‘foreign matter.’ The ASTA claims the percentage is usually lower, but still...GROSS and BARF!
4. We should buy our spices in small quantity. A no-brainer in a way, since quality spices are a bit expensive. But also because we always want the freshest spices in our cupboards. Ethnic markets are often a good source of quality whole spices. And there are four good online sources we can turn to:
Epices de Cru (Canada): Email: info@epicesdecru.com.
Mountain Rose Herbshttp://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ (USA): USA Toll-Free 800-879-3337, outside USA 541-741-7307, Email: customerservice@mountainroseherbs.com
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