Buy Whole Spices for Longer-Lasting Flavor

Published on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, by Joyce Slaton / Edit Post

A pinch of just the right spice can send a dull dish into the stratosphere, but it's so hard to keep spices around the house, because they tend to go stale before you get to use them. FoodDabbler has a great tip: Buy whole spices, nutmeg pods, coriander seeds, and the like; store in your freezer; grind as needed.

The two best local sources for whole spices, FoodDabbler continues, are Penzeys, which sells packages in multiple sizes for the home or professional chef, and Formaggio Kitchen, which sells small packs only.

Penzeys Spices [North of Boston]
1293 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington
781-646-7707

Formaggio Kitchen [Cambridge]
244 Huron Avenue, Cambridge
617-354-4750

Discuss: Where do you buy your whole spices?

ALLBoston Digest
POST A COMMENT |2 Comments

COMMENT

  • Harvest Food Coop in Central Square sells bulk spices (so you can buy as much or as little as you like). I know they have some whole spices, though I can't tell you exactly which.

  • I've heard that Christina's is where a lot of chefs purchase spices. The storefront is small, but I've heard you can order whatever you want. Has anyone else tried their spices? I think Formaggio is too expensive for what you get. And, unfortunately, I've found the women who work in the Arlington Penzey's to be uninterested in answering questions and less than friendly on the 4-5 times I've been...+READ

    I've heard that Christina's is where a lot of chefs purchase spices. The storefront is small, but I've heard you can order whatever you want. Has anyone else tried their spices? I think Formaggio is too expensive for what you get. And, unfortunately, I've found the women who work in the Arlington Penzey's to be uninterested in answering questions and less than friendly on the 4-5 times I've been there since moving to Boston. There are some stellar online retailers on par with or better than Penzeys. Coffee grinders are perfect for spices! (Just make sure to have one coffee grinder only for spices unless you want everything to taste like coffee!) I'm curious about why you would freeze the spices. If they're in a proper container (such as the bags that Penzeys uses), they will keep just fine away from heat and light. I keep mine in a large bin inside a cabinet. Keep in mind that many spices are only harvested (and imported) once or twice a year. That means that what the store has is not necessarily any fresher than what you have at home (unless you haven't been storing yours properly!). The ideal thing to do is to start your spice collection from scratch once a year at the same time. I cull and re-stock every January.-COLLAPSE