the spice specialist

all content © james ransome 2006

storage

spice tins - the spice tins are imported from India and are made of stainless steel with an inner lid that fits tightly over the top of the 7 inner tins and an outer steel or clear plastic lid that fits over the top of the whole tin to protect the contents from light and moisture. Each tin is circular (approx. 18.5cm diameter) and contains 7 small inner tins that can easily hold 30g or so of spices which is more than enough for most kitchens. They are fantastic for keeping your ingredients close to hand and seeing what you have rather than discovering half-used bags at the back of a cupboard that are well out of date, simply lift the lid and take a spoonful of whatever you need in your cooking!

B grade tins have either a slight scratch or tiny dent. Not perhaps suited as presents but wonderful value if you're buying for yourself.

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Our spices (all those in the weight range 10g-30g) are packed in lovely clear resealable bags that stand up on a shelf as they're very convenient and allow us to keep costs as low as possible (we haven't yet been able to source a bio-degradable bag but they are recyclable).

While the bags are fine to store the spices for a reasonable period of time kitchens are not in general, ideal environments to store dried herbs and spices as they really need to be kept cool, dry and away from light and contact with the air. Ground spice in particular will not keep well if unprotected as it will dry out and lose all the essential oils so crucial for that intense aroma and flavour. To get the best from your ingredients, it is best to buy small amounts, use it quickly and keep it as dry, dark and cool as possible. If you're not sure how long you have kept spices in your cupboard or if they are still any good, the easy way to check is to shake the contents, let them settle and simply have a good sniff. If you can detect a reasonable aroma then the chances are that the spice is still of some use. Be ruthless about throwing out old stale spices as they will not contribute anything to a dish apart from a floury texture and the savings made by not using freshly ground ingredients will be in the fractions of a pence per dish. As a rule whole spices should keep for a year or so and ground spices for up to 6-12 months.