Almost everything about our chosen profession is fantastic; the travel, the food and of course all the people who share their knowhow, their culture but mostly their friendship with us. Sharing our discoveries with our family and our friends however, is by far the part of the job that we relish the most.
In our continuing effort to ''share the wealth'', so to speak, we decided to compile some of our favourite recipes based on blends that over time have become staples in our kitchen at home. The spice blends in this ''Les Coups de coeurs des Chasseurs d'épices'' collection are versatile and enhance vegetables, meats, cheese and pulses. Some of the recipes that we created were often inspired by whatever was in our fridge or cupboard at the time. Others are traditional recipes which we have adapted to our lifestyle. As always, it is our pleasure to share some of our favourite traditional recipes along with some of our very own creations with you all.
Mr Dionysios is a lifelong resident of Mesta, a village on the Greek island of Chios. He spends a lot of his time picking wild herbs on the island’s arid mountains. It is because of the seemingly inhospitable growing conditions that Mr Dionysios’ wild herb blend is so aromatic and pungent.
During our catering days, we were determined to serve freshly cooked, flavourful food, despite the fact that often, we had no access to a real kitchen or pantry; simple, well prepared, tasty food became our signature. We created our Vegetable spices blend enhance almost any dish that requires that “little extra” to take from ordinary to “I’ll have another helping of that”.
Zaatar dates back to antiquity. It is an herb, as well as an spice blend. We have tasted zaatar from Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and know of variations from Iran and Iraq. Our version is made from zaatar and sumac from Turkey; and other herbs from Greece and Syria.
We have made it our mission to find something on which Berberé is not good; the undertaking so far has been a delightful failure. The various chillies and aromatic spices are a well balanced and harmonious combination created and perfected over the centuries by of Ethiopian cooks. Our greatest pleasure is to witness the fervent appreciation with which our friends and clients have embraced and adopted this jewel of African culinary culture for their everyday cooking.
What is there to say other than « it tastes like home ». There is the Indian influence; yet this curry also boasts spices that are indigenous to the West-Indies. To us, this blend is a symbol of the ingenuity of the Indians who arrived as indentured labourers on the island of Trinidad and who managed to retain their culture and still integrate local spices to create something entirely new and unique to the culinary culture of the island and to the world.
All-purpose spice blends such as Panch Phoran have been around for a very long time and have never fallen out of favour because of the perfect balance of the tastes and flavours created by the spices in the blend. We think that this blend really makes its mark once it has been slightly roasted in a dry pan or alternately browned with olive oil or ghee.
We cannot conceive of life without cumin. Whole, ground, roasted or toasted, we use cumin a lot! Indians, Mexicans and Moroccans have felt the same way for centuries.
Pasilla de Oaxaca has for years been Philippe’s fetish chilli. Probably because of his time as a chef in Mexico or more likely because of the endless promise that this exquisite chilli holds. It’s easy; just throw some flakes on anything that needs a boost, from soup to dessert. The smoky heat, the hint of fruit and caramel flavour may help in understanding Philippe’s little obsession.
How can a chilli that has been shreeded by hand, oxidized, fermented and then lightly coated with olive oil, not be absolutely amazing? Kurdish Isot pepper is the chilli that has all this for going it!
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