Spice Blends: Baharat, Herbes de Provence and more

Today was spice blend refresh day in my kitchen.  From Matt's first experiments with tagines, I have been intrigued by baharat - there are apparently two predominant types of this spice blend: Turkish vs Northern African/Tunisian. The difference is that Turkish baharat recipes are all over the internet and feature cumin and a lot of other spices while Tunisian is basically black pepper, rose petals & cinnamon.  I found a great article on Chow with recipes for both: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10562-baharat

Here's a link to the Turkish version I made: whole black peppercorn, whole coriander seed, cassia or cinnamon bark, whole cloves, cumin seed, cardamom seeds, whole nutmeg, ground paprika.

I also put together my favorite version of Herbes de Provence - I love lavender in this blend, though it is not typically something that appears on Southern French cooking - great history on the herb blend on Wiki.

Last but not least, I made up my favorite Za'atar blend - usually sumac, thyme, sesame seeds and salt, but you might include oregano and marjoram.  Wiki offers a great history of za'atar and there are tons of recipes out there - figure out what you like best and enjoy!

Getting SPICY!

COOKING & SHOPPING: As you probably know, you should always use organic herbs and spices, and you should ditch anything older than 6 months. In refreshing my pantry, I came across two amazing websites.

One site only offers 1#, and on the other, it was nearly as cheap to get 8oz as 4 oz.

It's all pretty cheap, and I have a scale at home and am happy to split off part of my order – here is the list of what I bought and the cost per pound (or half pound):


From SF Herb & Natural Food Company (http://www.herbspicetea.com/)

• 1# Cinnamon Sticks (5" Ceylon) $8.00
• 1# organic coriander seeds $7.25
• 1# organic cloves $11.00
• 1# organic sweet paprika $8.35
• 1# organic super blue lavender flowers $11.00
• 1# organic cut/sifted spearmint $7.00
• 1# organic cut/sifted peppermint $5.90
• 1# organic garlic powder $8.25
• 1# organic white pepper, whole $7.80

TOTAL: $74.55
w/Shipping: 86.24


From Mountain Rose Herbs (http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/)

• 8oz Anise Star Pods organic $5.25
• 1# Cinnamon Sticks (cassia cinnamon) organic $5.00
• 8oz Cardamom Pods organic $9.50
• 8oz Fenugreek Seed organic $3.50
• 1# Black Peppercorn whole organic $7.50

TOTAL: $30.75
w/Shipping: $39.22