Spice A - B

Allspice is the dried, unripened fruit of a small evergreen tree, the Pimenta Dioica. The fruit is a pea-sized berry which is sun dried to a reddish-brown colour. Pimento is called Allspice because its flavour suggests a blend of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Allspice is used in seasonings, sauces, sausages, ketchup, jams, pumpkin, gravies, roasts, hams, baked goods, and teas. Caribbean cooking relies on Allspice as the main ingredient in jerk seasoning. It is used in Caribbean, Mexican, Indian, English, and North American cooking and in seasoning blends such as jerk seasoning and curry. For centuries, the Mayan Indians used Allspice to embalm the bodies of important leaders. Allspice is also know as Pimiento (Spanish for pepper) because the berries resemble unripened peppercorns and was one of the spices Christopher Columbus discovered on the Caribbean Islands when he asked the native Indians if they harvested black pepper.

Arrowroot is used as a thickener, and often added to rice flour in Thai dessert dishes. It is also used in China to make a variety of clear noodle, slightly tinged with yellow, with a rectangular shape (as distinct from the fine round strands or flat ribbon shapes of bean starch noodles) and a unique texture. As a thickener, the starchfrom this spice is considered superior to corn flour in clarity and viscosity, and has no taste of its own, although overcooking will cause the starch to break down and the sauce to separate. Arrowroot is chiefly valuable as an easily digested, nourishing diet for convalescents, especially in bowel complaints, as it has demulcent properties. In the proportion of a tablespoonful to a pint of water or milk, it should be prepared by being first made into a smooth paste with a little cold milk or water, and then carefully stirred while the boiling milk is added. Lemon-juice, sugar, wine, or aromatics may be added. If thick, it will cool into a jelly that usually suits weaning infants better than other farinaceous foods.

This very aromatic curry blend is based on the rich and creamy balti style cooking. Key notes are black & green cardamoms, ginger, black and white cumin, coriander, mace, cassia and many more. A mildish blend. "Balti" are Indian dishes representatives of a style of cooking which some say is native to Baltistan. It’s ingredients usually assembled and cooked quickly in a manner reminiscent of a stir-fry. The heart of this style of cooking is a cast-iron pot, originally also called "Balti" and the correct blend of spices

Barbeque Spice can be used to add that familiar flavour to all kinds of meats and sauces. Simply use as a rub on your meat half an hour before it hits the BBQ. Sweet, savoury and spicy this gives a lovely crust and flavour to grilled or barbequed meats. Sprinkle over the flesh in place of salt, then leave to dry for a few minutes so some of the mix is absorbed onto the meat. Grill or barbeque over a moderate heat to avoid the flesh charring too quickly.

Birds Eye Chillies. These are only small but perfectly formed and hot. Birds eyes are a small chilli that is harvested when it is approximately an inch in length and matured from green to red. It is a popular ingredient in Asian, African, Spanish, and Portuguese cooking. Bird's eye chilli is a very hot pepper, adding significant heat to food recipes. It is commonly used to make marinades and sauces for meats, poultry, fish and seafood.