On the Topic of: Seasoning Part 2

     Herbs and Spices have become such a major factor in my life that I can't help but come back for a second rant of their importance.  If you remember On the Topic of: Seasoning Part 1 you'll recall I left a few tips for you, and if you followed them your life has probably been a lot tastier lately. But to take it further you'll need to understand a little bit more about what you're actually working with, what magic it is that is contained in the mysterious powders you've been sprinkling over your food (Spices that is, if you are dosing your food with some other magic powders you're on your own with that, ya junkie.)
     First it's important to understand the differences between what determines if something is an Herb or a Spice .It all boils down to three things, location, location, location. The location specifically of the volatile oils that give Herbs and Spices their flavor packed punch. If you pull a Jed Clampett on the leaves it's an Herb, if you strike oil anywhere else on the plant it's a spice.
     Now that we know what Herbs and Spices are, let's discuss what makes the oils they contain 'volatile'. Are they poisonous or reactive with the skin, practically never, though a few examples like Mustard, Mace, and the Capsaicin located in Hot Peppers like Jalapenos can get a little rowdy when exposed to your more delicate tissues. So if that's not it, do they beat their spouses after a few too many Jager-Bombs? No, that's a stupid question and you should feel bad for thinking it. They are considered volatile oils because they evaporate so quickly, a pre-ground spice starts to rapidly lose flavor at about six months old (most of which may have already been spent in a warehouse, on a truck, or sitting on a shelf at the store before you ever get ahold of it. Whole Spices however, have a much longer shelf life, between one and four years if properly stored.
     "Whole spices, " you might ask in disbelief, "How am I supposed to use those?"
     There are two simple methods, the first has a very minor expense in the form of reusable cloth spice bags available at most spice retailers, such as North Market Spices. Just throw the spice in the bags and drop them into any liquid you happen to have on the boil. Of course, that doesn't help much with a fry, bake, broil, or sautee situation. The second method is a bit more costly but more useful in general terms. Buy something to grind spices with, from the old fashioned mortar and pestle to a cheap coffee grinder that will run even the toughest seeds and barks to powder in a few quick pulses.
     Remember what I said about using new spices carefully at first, the same can be said of using familiar spices when you first start grinding your own since their potency will be dramatically higher. Flavors you never knew existed might just come oozing out, having long since dissipated in the factory processed elderly saw dust they call Spices at the local mega mart.
     So, where do you get all these whole spices from, if not the grocery store? Well, Spices Ltd. at The North Market has a pretty tremendous selection at great prices, and their owner Ben is sort of a Spice Guru, so that is a definite option. But if you're a bit far from the market, feeling lazy, or just a shut in you can always buy from a reputable online spice vendor such as My Spice Sage who will deliver right to your mailbox, with no shipping charges if you are spending at least $20. They even have deals where they send you bonus spices with every order, even pricey stuff like Saffron or Madagascar Vanilla Beans.
     So, yeah, there is some stuff you may not have known about spices, and a few tips that might make things a little less bland in the mouthal regions of your life.
   

A Day at the Market: North Market Spices

     There nestled in the North-West corner of the North Market is probably the highest concentration of flavor in Downtown Columbus, a place where volatile essential oils rattle the seeds that bind them, where piles of gold(en Curry)  and Crystal(ized Ginger) abound, the very same wealth that lead (an admittedly bewildered) Christopher Columbus across the oceans to the shores of The New World, behold: North Market Spices!
     That's where I met Ben Walters, a man of above average height and jovial disposition, and the figurative Dragon to whom this treasure horde belongs. After a few quick greetings we retired to the upper deck of the Market where it was quiet enough to speak.

C-Bus D.- "So how long have you been in business, and was it always here at The North Market?"

B.W.- " 2 years, and yeah, this is our first and only store so far."

C-Bus D.-" Wow, I'd imagine the rent here is crazy, especially for a first business."

B.W.-" No, not really. The Market is actually built as a kind of small business incubator. They want to foster small local businesses, no big chains, they don't want anything like that here."

C-Bus D.-" So, when did you find food? I mean, when did it become more a part of your life than just sustenance?"

B.W.-" It kind of started early in high school with my hate for leftovers. I'd come home late from Hockey practice and not want to reheat something. But it really blossomed more, you know, when I was in college and I was the only person who knew how to cook. If you wanted a home cooked meal I was the guy to go to for it."

C-Bus D.-" So, what got you into spices specifically?"

B.W.- " I've always liked to add flair to my food, you travel via your palate to different areas of the world. But really what got me into the store was sort of a lack of access to decent spices. There are a few other stores in town, but the one I was mostly going to in college, I could never really get there when they were open 'cause I lived and worked in the down town area. It was really just impossible to get there when they were open. Then one day I was sitting here having lunch with my Father and something had closed in the market and I said 'God, I hope they put in a spice store!' And he said, 'Ben, that's a great idea.' So I filled out an application, went through the whole process and here I am."

C-Bus D.- "So you just sort of threw it together on a whim?"

B.W.-" Yeah, I'd never done any sort of business before and it's my life now."

C-Bus D.-" So, what's your process when you make your house blend spice mixes?"

B.W.-" Sometimes it's just me playing around with different flavor combinations. Sometimes it will be a customer who brings me a blend from somewhere else that they just can't get anymore and I'll either get very close or exactly reconstruct it for them. Sometimes restaurants will come to me and they want something blended specifically for them and I'll come up with a few bases and whichever one they like I'll refine. For example, yesterday I came up with a new blend for a new taco truck, well a food truck, called 'That Food Truck,' opening this Saturday(July 14th 2012). They wanted something custom for them and I threw together a few things till they found the one they liked. It ended up really good, they were really impressed, I was really happy with it, and it was really different from anything else I've come up with before."

(Short break in the interview while we nerded out talking about how amazing Columbus food culture is...)

 C-Bus D.- "Before I found North Market Spices I had to do most of my spice shopping online, which is nice when you already know what the spices are but it feels like a gamble buying things you're not familiar with, unlike here where you can see and smell the spices first. The rest of my spice shopping was split up between about 8 specialty ethnic grocers. And honestly, after shopping around so much I can say your prices are really reasonable."

B.W.-" That's kind of the point of being here. I don't want to feel like I'm gouging people. I want a high quality product at an accessible price, and like you mentioned about going so many places, I try to buy as much of that hard to find specialized stuff and centralize it because I know there is a demand for it. "

C-Bus D.- "So, while on vacation you're on a boat, and an errant wave washes you into the briny deep. Struggling to survive you latch onto a piece of floating debris and pass out. When you come to you're on the shore of a beautiful but entirely deserted island. It turns out that the 'debris' you latched onto happens to be a solar powered temporal stasis chamber containing a lifetime supply of one spice, what do you hope is inside?"

B.W.- (Obviously struggling) "Ooooooooh, always soo hard to answer....Oh man, my tastes always change so much.. If I HAVE to choose I'm going to have to go with our new 'Gunslinger Rub'. It's a really spicy Habenero rub. It's got a great flavor and a great heat, and its spicy enough I could probably use it to preserve some stuff. My favorite thing to do with that is just rub it on some chicken wings and grill them, so simple. And it's not a traditional Southern Style Rub, we left the Sugar out of that one. We sweetened it with Sweet Smoked Spanish Paprika and Sun Dried Tomato Powder, plus Habenero has that sort of fruity sweetness along with the heat. "

C-Bus D.-"What do you hope is not in the chamber?"

B.W.-" Hmm... What do I not use? Man, I guess, and it's not that I dislike Orange Zest, 'cause I do like it. But I guess it'd be Orange Zest, I enjoy it, but I think I could make it without it."

     And with a few minutes of discussion about spices, this column, The North Market, and Columbus food our interview wound down. (I ended up trying the Gunslinger Rub, it was pretty bitchin' but I wouldn't recommend it for people who can't handle heat.)

The North Market
Trigger Fingers Made with North Market Spices 'Gunslinger Rub'