Once the basic spices and herbs are part of your home cooking its time to start expanding your kitchen’s palate with these spice suggestions:
Sriracha
The golden child of spices right now. Sriracha is everywhere these days. And for good reason. Its the perfect addition when you are looking to add a little “zip” to your recipe. And its versatile. Perfect in appetizers, entrees, desserts. Even beer!!
Whole Dried Chilies
Did you know that Spice Specialist carries over 30 different types of chilies. Both whole and ground. Among the different chilies we carry are Aji Amarillo, Aji Limo, Aji Panca, Ancho, Chipotle, De Arbol, Guajillo, Habanero, Jalapeno, Mulato, Pasilla, Rocoto, New Mexico Red Chili, Thai Long Chilies and Thai Red Chili. We also carry Cayenne Pepper in different heat indexes as well as chili blends.
Finishing Salts
Once you’ve added sea salt or kosher salt to your spice rack, how about a little something extra? Adding a finishing salt at the end of cooking or right before serving can add a burst of flavor as well as some texture and crunch. A finishing salt can enhance or even change the dish completely. We carry a wide range of smoked and flavored sea salts. Here are some of the fine salts we offer:
Smoked Salts: including Apple, Cherry, Hickory, Maple, Mesquite, and Pecan, and Large Rock
Hawaiian Salts: including White, Black, Blush Silver, Blush Grey, Bamboo Jade Green, Alaea (red), and Blush Balsamic.
Himalyan Salts: including Fine Pink, Granulated Pink, Coarse Pink, and Coarse Black
Sea Salts: including Chili Jalapeno, Lime Jalapeno, Lavender, Lime, Porchini, Black Indian, Fleur de Sel, French Grey, and Large Rock
While paprika is important in Spanish, Portuguese, Moroccan and Turkish dishes. It is perfect for any cuisine. Add a hint of smokey goodness to any dish with the smoked paprika available at Chef Cherie. Aside from our many paprikas we carry Spanish Smoked, Hot Spanish Smoked and Texas Style Smoked Spanish.
Za’atar
A Middle Eastern spice blend, Za’atar usually includes thyme, oregano, sesame seeds, salt, sumac and the possibility of other spices. Our Za’atar spice blend includes white sesame seeds, sumac berries and thyme.
Photos & inspiration: Tasting Table – Modern Pantry