What is the quality of a spice?
A spice is a perfume that we use in cooking. It will play music, alone or with several other spices in your culinary creations. It is a flavor enhancer. Only a few will add spice ( spicy or spicy? )
We easily conclude that the quality of a spice is therefore defined by its organoleptic qualities. Those that affect the senses: taste, flavor, smell. A quality spice is a spice that brings taste, power with an aromatic complexity similar to a perfume with its top, heart and base notes.
So how do you know if the spice you are going to buy is the one that will really give you flavor?
We must ban powdered spices stored in jars (or worse in transparent plastic bags). Indeed, the air present in the jar, the light (if the jar is transparent), the humidity, the successive openings will only alter your spices. They will tend towards a unique taste, tasteless and of poor quality. We will end up overdosing on them or even wasting them by throwing them away.
A jar of spice can sometimes be kept in your cupboard for several years; Could you imagine getting good coffee if you store it in powder form for a year in a glass jar? No. Surprisingly we do it for our spices. A spice will give all its power if it is ground at the last moment.
You can choose powdered spices, only if it is fully protected in a container called a total barrier (doing not allow air or humidity to pass through). Our cartons are thus made. In addition, the grinding is carried out just before packaging, so you have a spice as if you had just ground it.
Otherwise, only take raw spices which you will grind each time you use them. You will have all the original scents of it, taste, power, real aromatic complexity.
How to buy quality spices on the internet?
On the internet it is difficult to choose your spices without being able to see them, smell them, touch them.
A fundamental point providing you with proof of its quality is its sourcing, how it is selected.
Where does she come from ? Is traceability complete? Do we offer you the geographical origin of the producer's region?
Only choose a site that offers you spices whose sourcing is ensured directly by the site in question. Where each of the producers, their location, their work is clearly explained. This is an undeniable guarantee of quality.
For spice blends (curry, allspice, etc.) also check who makes it. Does the seller make his own mixtures? Or is it supplied directly from a third party? This is another indicator of a job well done or not.
The containers are also a good indicator, check that they protect the spice as best as possible.
Finally, a good proverb is also valid for spices: cheap is always too expensive. Cheap, you will use more for lack of taste.
How to buy quality spices in stores?
You will only find quality spices in specialized distribution in the world of fine spices. (Delicatessen, cheese shop, butcher, wine merchants, high-end vegetables). Spices in large and medium-sized stores, conventional or organic, offer spices of medium or even low quality.
How to buy quality spices when traveling?
Don't buy powdered spices on your travels! Spices, it’s undeniable, are often part of travel souvenirs. They are present in exotic markets where their colors make the sellers' stalls shine. Absolutely avoid these shops! I understand the dream and the memories you will have afterwards, but these spices most of the time are of poor quality. Look for these spices in raw, whole and unground format.
Exoticism is sometimes enough to justify the presence of spices on the markets which do not even grow in the country you are visiting.
Check carefully if the spice you are offered grows in the region or country you are visiting!
Good day,
Max Daumin
Max Daumin Spices
Gold 2017-2018 Silver 2020 - 2021 Bronze 2019 | National delicatessen trophy
Artisanal producer of the Culinary College of France 2021