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A Tip for Inexpensive, Good-Quality Spices
In many supermarkets you have two options for spices: bottles in the baking section ($3.59—on sale—for bay leaves, notes rworange), and little bags in the Mexican section (69 cents for a bag of fragrant bay leaves, says rworange). Surprise: The little baggies are good. “The Mexican spices are not in the same class as Penzy’s, but my experience is that they are the equal or better than the supermarket spices like Spice Island, Durkee, etc.,” says rworange. “The thing with the brand name spices is they have gotten so expensive that they don’t turn over quickly with the exception of often used spices like cinnamon.” In a market setting, turnover is essential to the freshness of spices.
jeanmarieok often buys the Mexican cinnamon sticks. “While the quality might not be as good as some other brands, at least where I shop, these spices are turning over FAST so they are fresh,” she says.
goodhealthgourmet notes that the baggie packaging isn’t ideal, though: “The spices–especially ground–deteriorate even more quickly in those flimsy plastic bags than they do in sealed glass jars.”
Board Link: Shout out to Ruth Lafler for inexpensive spice tip
Posted by | Monday, December 22, 2008 at 8:31am | 5 comments
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I started converting to the Mexican spices, ever-so-slowly when I was extremely put-off by the idea of spending $5 for some coriander seeds. In my supermarket, you can get most spices in plastic containers from a couple of companies -- Lisy and Badia. I've always found them to be perfectly good quality, and it's great to read the affirmation here!
http://foodjunta.wordpress.com/2008/1...
It's Penzeys or fresh for me, but I'm lucky to have a Penzey's shop nearby. As for bay leaves I buy them fresh once a year in the grocery store, wash and dry them and put them in a zip-top bag in the freezer to use for stocks, soups and gravies. It sure beats the dried, already yellowing ones on the supermarket shelves. http://cookingwithdee.net
Is Kalustyan's market on the same level? Is it as inexpensive? Haven't been in there in years but it used to be quite reasonable. I don't know about any Mexican markets in NY...where are they?
Is Kalustyan's market on the same level? Is it as inexpensive? Haven't been in there in years but it used to be quite reasonable. I don't know about any Mexican markets in NY...where are they?
I strongly suggest Turkish spices and herbs. Turkish oregano, bay leaves(laurel leaves), sage, rosemary, linden, sumac, sesame seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, anise seeds, fenugreek seeds. There're some good exporters in Turkey, one of them is GNA Foreign Trade, you can visit their page from : www.gnatrading.com