Festive flavours...minced pies

Marks & Spencer expects to sell 40 million mince pies this year - thats a very popular Christmas food. Love 'em or hate 'em they are a festive tradition, one which goes back quite some time.

It is thought that 'spicy meat pies' were brought back by the Crusaders from the Middle East in the 12th century. The early mince pie was known by several names, including mutton pie, shrid pie and Christmas pie and contained meats, fruits and spices including cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

The mince pie began to get sweeter in the 18th century when cheap sugar arrived from the West Indies. It wasn't until the 19th century, the mince pie we recognise today had arrived - when many recipes dropped the meat entirely.

Festive flavours ... mulled wine

This festive tipple has been around in some form for centuries. A early version appears in 'The Forme of Cury' from the 14th century. It is thought that mulling wine was a way to save wine that was about to spoil.Whoever was drinking it must have been outrageously wealthy as it calls for '..cinnamon, ginger, galangal, cloves, long pepper, nutmeg, marjoram, cardamom ' - ingredients that would have been carried for thousands of miles on the Silk Road.

Mulled wine was very popular in Victorian England and appeared in several of Charles Dickens books. However its appearance in 'A Christmas Carol' that sealed its place as a Christmas tradition.
The Spice Almighty 'Merry Mulled Wine' kit includes all the warming spices cinnamon, cloves and cardamon, to give you plenty of festive cheer.

Spices for the Common Cold...

Its that time of year again when the body will succumb to the common cold with sneezes and sniffles a plenty. And for centuries spices have been used as natural 'folk' remedies to help ward off some of the effects of cold & flu.

Ayurveda recommends taking cardamom, ginger, black pepper and cinnamon in equal parts as a tea.

Cloves can help respiratory problems associated with coughs and throat infections 

Cardamom tea can be taken as a bed time drink to clear nasal congestion & induces sleep.

Ginger helps fight throat and chest infections with its anti-inflammatory properties.

Fennel is a natural expectorant, and can help clear chest congestion and soothe a persistent cough. 

Turmeric is a natural antibiotic. A pinch of turmeric added to a teaspoon of honey or a cup of hot milk helps to relieve headache, cold and throat infections.

I'm not sure if the above have been scientifically proven to work but its definitely worth a go - mainly as a  warming tea with a dash of honey to sooth the aches.

PS the above images are my own and have not been dragged off an image library or Google

Jamie Heart Curry

 This was the October issue of Jamie Magazine. It was almost entirely devoted to the humble curry- now a British staple. There with some wonderful recipes which really appealed to me...Keralan Seafood Curry, and Tamarind and coconut rice, along with Indian chopped salad

I also have to add there were great photos by David Loftus as always. I might have to find more of his photos to share with you.

Crisps and Chocolate -Duke of Delhi choc chunk delhi mix...

You would not expect crunchy savoury and choc chips to work together but the combination in the Duke of Delhi mix is simply wonderful. Someone who understands flavour combinations has certainly put a lot of thought and skill into this. It has just been launched at Fortnum & Mason.

I also love the packaging design on this product - very classy in trendy pink.

Black pepper & and the Age of Discovery

Last week I caught half of 'Michael Wood -The Story of India -Spice Routes and Silk Roads' He made it sound so romantic about the discovery of the western monsoon opening a sea route for Greeks and Romans with southern India. Most people may have forgotten one of the reasons for the early voyages of discovery...BLACK PEPPER. They were crazy for this simple vine...which became known as 'black gold'

The race for the coveted spices from Indian sub continent, and the Spice Islands of Indonesia was fought by the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and the English. And its also really a history of colonialism...sad but true.

However this did lead to some quite fantastic new flavours being passed around these trade routes. Most notable being the chilli pepper. Finding its way from South America to India and even as far away as Korea and the Cook Islands. I adore this subject and have numerous books on the subject, amongst all my cook books.  I simple can't imagine life without my spices...

So simple...range

These are the other 'So Simple...' packs that I'm introducing. Again I'm hoping they are very easy to cook, even for the novice chef. All the spices, whole and ground are included in each pack, so very little measuring out apart from rice or lentils.

Depending on how well they are received, I will be adding more to this range.

WOW a brilliant book on BURMESE FOOD

I have been waiting for ' Burma - Rivers of Flavour' by Naomi Duguid to be published for ages. Heck I'd even pre-ordered it from Amazon. I have not been disappointed. Its a mix between a cookbook and travel log, with brilliant photography. Soooo much information about little daily rituals and personal observations.

She has traveled extensively and  gone to some of the more remote regions to gain further understanding of the diverse Burmese cuisine. There are chapters on a myriad rice, noodle, and salad dishes. An absolute delight.

Easy peasy Onion Bhaji's or pakoras

I had lots of fun researching recipes for ONION BHAJI's. Gram flour is making an appearance on supermarket shelves but its difficult to find good quality versions.I wanted a Spice Almighty kit to be really super easy to make as they are part of my 'So Simple...' range ( more on that later) Each pack contains premixed gram flour and spices so there is very little measuring.  Simply empty the bhaji mix into a large bowl add water, add two sliced onions, salt to taste and fry.

I was at a school pamper evening where I had little samples for the ladies to try - I think it was a thumbs up from almost everyone. And they where so surprised at how easy it sounded. I didn't really know how well the Bhaji mix would be received...but I SOLD OUT!!

Also I mentioned to a few people the mix could also be used for pakora, using spinach, cauliflower, even potato or chilli (!) I shall try out a few of these in future.

Goodies from the Oriental cash & carry...

OK its been a while - the Hoo Hing in Enfield is like an Alladins cave for me. All the rows of weird and wonderful ingredients from Asia that I would have no idea what to do with.

I did find these which I'm going to try out over the next week. The soups (tom yum & tom ka ) seems pretty quick to make but do contain some ingredients that don't sound very Thai lets say...

And I've never ever tried a Yellow curry so looking forward to that. There might even be a new spice kit in the making.

SUMMER IS SURELY COMING...get the barbie out

I have just come up with some Bar-B-Q marinades... they where tested out on Jubilee weekend. All of got positive feedback so...they're good to go. We have Tandoori which will be mixed with yogurt. Chines 5 Spice which is sweet and tangy, and can be used on chicken or pork. And Satay which has optional peanut butter for a authentic taste. I'll post some photos of the finished packs asap.

I'm selling on EBAY...

OK its been a long time coming but I have finally put my curry kits on eBAY. I'm just using their basic layout so its a bit limited but at least they are out there. I have cunning ways of getting them higher up in the listings so Spice Almighty is up there with the big boys.

I've included a photo of the sachets so buyers realise my curry kits are not standard bags of 'curry powder'

My actual day job...

My day job ( as opposed to my night job - packing curry kits) is as a illustrator. Well as much illustrating as I can do with limited childcare. I just uploaded these 'doodles' onto a well know image library. 'Food and Drink' is a limitless subject that I could keep drawing and drawing...good thing I adore eating really.

NEW 2012 packaging...

My lovely husband has photographed the new spice / curry kits for his portfolio and for Spice Almighty's online presence. Thankfully I haven't had to pay him a penny for either the packaging design or the amazing set to photos he's just taken....lucky lucky lucky me.

Soon I'll be able to sell them on some well know websites...watch this space.

Marks & Spencer curry kits & curry paste

Last month when browsing for a birthday cake in M&S I found these. There were a few standard curry kits . And a vast array of spice pastes in jars. I really love the retro packaging theme they've got going. But I still feel Spice Almighty's packaging is far more visually captivating and emotive.

The recipes seem easy to follow but I'm not sure about the depth of flavour that could be achieved from the pastes.

I found a Burmese cookbook at last....

Whilst researching ideas for new curry kits I found a Burmese cookbook written in perfect English with wonderful pictures...I got rather giddy with the excitement. Trust me there are very few books on Burmese cooking.

The author is Burmese, who moved to England when she was small like me. WOW there were recipes in here that I hadn't eaten in ages - even my mum was suitably impressed. SOOOO many new ideas for me to try out...noodles, curries, soups. There will be a Burmese curry kit soon- just got to choose a good one.

Lemon grass for SE Asian curry kits

After deciding which new dishes add to the Spice Almighty range I have tracked down several reputable wholesalers. Last year I was soooo pushed for time I was paying through the nose ( not literally...) Cardamom and cloves are damn expensive even though they're tiny.

I was lucky to chance upon the Asian Cookshop who can supply the bulk of my needs. However there was one new ingredient that was proving to be elusive....FREEZE DRIED LEMON GRASS. It took me ages but this week it finally arrived - 1kg of it...thats a lot to Rendang, Laksa and Massaman curry kits !!!

Potential Spice Almighty Inspiration...

It was actually my birthday last month and apart from the usual girly gifts ( smellies/ Cath Kidston) my in-laws gave me something rather good. Its the newly published 'Masterchef everyday' cookbook. It has a great section featuring past contestants and whats they've been up to since. The 130 recipes are all the contestants own - including Celebrity Masterchef like Phil Vickery. And I think one of the best features is Gregg & John's reworking of 20 recipes for everyday folks who can't get hold of monkfish liver.

Linda Lusardi's Malaysian Beef and Potato curry sounds lush- and rather close to the new spice kit 'Magnificent Malaysian Rendang' with star anise and cinnamon. Might have to give her recipe a go...see how it compares.

Spice Almighty NEW flavours NEW packs

I have finally got round to developing the next FAB FOUR 'flavours' in the Spice Almighty spice kit  range.

There was much deliberation as they had to fit within the 'whole and ground spice in lil packs' format. Quite a feat if you know what goes into SE Asian currie. It was a bit of a conundru, and I wasted several little trees worth of paper in the process of writing out methods and recipes.

They will be called

MAGNIFICENT MALAYSIAN RENDANG
BETTER THAN A BIRYANI
TANTALISING THAI MASSAMAN
LOVELY SINGAPORE LAKSA

From the beginning I always imagined a broad mix of curries from all over Asia, not just the Indian continent. And I feel these are much closer to the beloved Burmese curries I grew up with.

Just got to make sure the other half has time to design them.