If you are going to cook Indian food, then finding a good spice merchant is pretty important.
Not that there are a lot of exotic ingredients in these recipes, but good fresh spices will make a significant difference to the food you cook.
Herbies Spices is somewhat of an institution in Sydney. They are our favourite spice merchant.
Spices make such a difference to the way that you cook. In my grandmother’s notes, she talks about the cooks going to the market, not just for produce, but for the day’s spices. These were ground that day and used that evening. This is not an option for most of the people reading this cookbook
But you do have the option to get your spices fresh and at high quality from a good spice merchant, which is where Herbie’s comes in.
Herbies Spices are sold in many specialty grocers around Australia, but we tend to purchase online unless we have run out of something and need to go to one of their stockists.
The Herbies Spices website provides an easy online shopping experience.
We place an order on Herbies every month or so for our typical pantry or dabba items. These come in packets of about 100g which suits our dabba. More exotic spices are kept in air-tight containers until they need to be used.
The range of spices available is wide, and many of them are Indian products. They have a wide range of local products too. Australian saffron, particularly that from Tasmania is exceptional.
They have many spices with regional varieties, such as turmeric. In our description of turmeric, we explain the difference between Alleppy and Madras turmeric. Until you have cooked with Alleppy turmeric, you will not be aware of just how much of a difference it can make. Herbie’s is one of the few places that stock both types.
Note that we have not received any consideration for this article.
