The spice merchant
Monday, June 22, 2009 | 12:40 PM ET
by Kevin Yarr, CBCNews.ca
Fresh, fresh, fresh is the mantra for many chefs, and this is as true for spices as for anything else, so I was pretty excited when I saw the new spice merchant at the Charlottetown Farmers Market.
Looking at rows and rows of spice jars at the supermarket I have to wonder how long they've been sitting there (the disappointment that sets in when I add them to my food is my answer: too long). The spices from the local bulk store seem fresher, but coming from those big buckets you have to think you can do better.
There had been an Indian woman selling spices at the Farmers Market six or seven years ago. A little packet she put together for me was the key to the best curried soup I ever made. Sadly, her business did not last long there.
So I was thrilled to see Katharine Lee's display laid out in a tiny little stall on Saturday. My shopping plans had included a trip to the local bulk store for spices, but I made a quick detour.
Dinner plans included grilled Tandoori chicken, cucumber raita, and palak paneer (curried spinach).
"Do you have garam masala?" I asked.
It turns out Lee does several varieties of masala. She grabbed at the first one that came to hand, a moghul masala, and stuck it under my nose. Even through the plastic bag it set my brain tingling.
I left with some cumin and fennel seeds for the raita as well.
I will confess I cheated, with bottled Tandoori for the chicken and bottled "curry paste" for the palak paneer. I put in more onion than the web recipe called for, the whole of a small onion, which I sautéed with the bottled curry. The spinach was fresh, I substituted plain cottage cheese for the paneer, and I added a couple of teaspoons of the moghul masala when the cooking was done.
The result, everyone agreed, was spectacular. Like candy.
The raita benefited from the fresh seeds as well. Best of all, Lee sold me the spices in tablespoon-sized packets, so they won't go stale simply sitting in my cupboard.
I told Lee about the fate of the last spice merchant at the market, and she told me not to worry. She has contracts with many local chefs, who had been ordering off-Island for spices that could be weeks old before they got them.
"This is just fun," she said of her market stall.
Next time, maybe I'll see what she can do for my curried carrot-cashew soup.
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Amber Hildebrandt writes for CBCNews.ca in Toronto. Growing up on a farm in Manitoba, she acquired an insatiable appetite, but it was during a stint in Japan that she developed her discerning tastebuds and "foodie" ways.
Andrea Chiu is an associate producer at CBC Radio Digital. Though she loves to eat, cook and discuss food,
don't ask her to bake. It never turns out well. She tweets as @TOfoodie on Twitter and organizes food and wine events in Toronto called FoodieMeet.
Tara Kimura is the consumer life reporter for CBCNews.ca, covering a wide range of issues that range from rising food costs and the growing organic movement, to new trends in the marketplace.
Andree Lau is a CBC web reporter in Calgary. Her journalism career includes seven years as a CBC-TV reporter. Her own blog called "are you gonna eat that?" chronicles her eating adventures (including sampling snake and camel hoof tendon).
Jessica Wong is a CBCNews.ca writer who loves to eat and cook, as well as discuss, read and watch programming about food, sometimes all at once.
Kevin Yarr, CBCNews.ca's writer in Prince Edward Island, wrote about food and beer for national and regional magazines before joining the CBC. He acquired a desire for new tastes on his first trip to Europe, and an appreciation of eating locally and in season when he finally settled down on P.E.I.
Elizabeth Bridge is a writer with the CBC Digital Archives in Toronto. She first ventured into the kitchen as a child to indulge a sweet tooth by baking cookies and making fudge. A student budget compelled her to be a vegetarian (for a while) and instilled in her an ongoing curiosity about food and cooking.
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