One week on from Dickensian Evening

Dickensian Evening was a great event, I can't remember not going since i moved to Ware. I was lucky that my mum was at hand to help since there were a lot of people trying out the sauce samples. Most were very impressed. I think the tikka was the winner that night. Next year I shall be investing in an electric hot plate as the sauces did solidify in the low temperatures, and thus does not give off wafts of curry flavours. Theres some photos of that eventful evening.

...the run up to Dickensian Evening

I did discuss Dickensian Evening with the ladies from Magika's Kitchen. The main advice was wrap up as warm as possible and have a money belt for security.

AND I rather underestimated the amount of packs I would have to make perhaps 80-100 rather than 50. So I'm burning the midnight oil once again in the effort to make the sales.

Lets hope the weather holds up and most of the expected 6,000 -10,000 people walk pass my stall!!

Selling Spice Almighty on Ware High Street

It was not a promising start, a rather overcast and blustery 9.30am start. Thank goodness the ladies from Magika's Kitchen where there to lend a helping hand. They are veterans of this 'selling to the public' business. They were able to give me loads of tips and had some very funny stories.

Its been a while since I've had to sell anything ( it used to be a portfolio of illustrations many moons ago) but I was soon getting into the swing of things. And before I knew it I had my first sale, and many more soon followed. I was thoroughly enjoyed myself. Many people were keen to try the sauces and most seemed to go away being pleasantly surprised.

And just as I'd almost finished packing up at the end I had one of my biggest sales- so they are making a small impact in Ware.

Getting Ready for the Tap Bar

Yesterday evening and this morning I put together another set of Spice Kits for my Tap Bar courtyard pitch. (Saturday 26th 10 -1 pm) The house is smelling wonderful. I'm cooking the 'coconutty KERALAN' tonight - as my son requested it specially.

Another pitch in WARE

I'm going to be keeping all of you updated on what & where Spice Almighty is up to :

SATURDAY 26th-TAP BAR Ware High St 10-1pm. I'll be in the courtyard with lots of tasty curry sauce to try out. Including the most popular so far 'not just a Jalfrezi'

PACKING THE SPICES

So the spices had been ground and measured Now the time consuming matter of packing began. I had to find help pronto - thankfully my neighbour stepped & did a wonderful job. The room smelt amazing as we began our task. Three of the packs ( Keralan, Jalfrezi & tikka masala) contained 3 little clip seal bags of ground & whole spices, the Korma contained two. So in total that was 360 tiny bags we had to label and fill. Two evenings was spent on this task. But the end result was well worth it.

Work in Progress

It was a long difficult process exploring the brand direction and name for this spice kit 'business' I wanted to establish a 'personality' that stood out from the competition. Along with all sorts of considerations and USP...these were all things I had never had to think about as a freelance illustrator. You can see just a portion of the pages and pages of ideas I went through.

Is this the start of something wonderful...?

I have always ground and blended my own spices as my mum always did. I'm from Burma in the heart of Asia, and very much influenced by her two big neighbours India and China.

After inviting neighbours over for dinner, they became rather obsessed with my cooking. Eventually they wanted me to teach them how to cook...a Thai curry.

A while later, after grinding up some Garam Masala, I  gave a little jar of spare garam to the neighbour. So I thought '...I'll have to grind up my own spices and put them in little jars for everyone...' The seed of an idea was born.

I toyed with this idea then looked at what was already out there. I realised there were very few people who were grinding fresh spices. This is essential as you just can't get the same freshness from commercial ground spices or 'curry powder' The aroma and intensity is just not there. The vast majority of people just didn't know what they were missing, which was such a shame. I wanted to share with everyone how amazing it is to cook with freshly roasted & ground spices.