Funny that you consider these to be fancy; I’ve always thought of them as cheap and common. They were commonly included as the “dessert” in British military rations, and for all I know they still are.
It was so good I ate it straight out of the can. I’m sure it’d be great in tuna salad or other tuna dishes, but I wanted the “pure” experience, at least for my first time.
Kala Namak. It’s a sulfury salt that makes vegan french toast taste eggy. Also used for finishing a lot of Indian snacks.
Everything else is Penzeys and grocery-acquired Bob’s Red Mill.
There’s also other Ortiz preserves in Amazon. Through amazon.com it seems to be mostly tuna, with some mackerel thrown in (caballa). Some vocabulary:
bonito del norte: a type of tuna, in Spain it’s considered the best kind
ventresca: the belly of a fish (from vientre, belly)
en escabeche: in a white-vinegar sauce (less vinegary than for pickles)
al natural: in somewhat-salty water
Sadly the amazon.com algorithm doesn’t seem to differentiate between Ortiz as a brand and as a lastname, so it shows a ton of other stuff that’s very much inedible.
Ha. I’ve never seen them for sale in the U.S., not even at Cost Plus World Market. They addicted me instantly because the filling wasn’t exactly like our marshmallow filling in our chocolate cookie equivalents; it’s soft and kind of gooey.
They certainly look fancy, with their pretty striped foil wrapping. I still have a wrapper here at my desk to remind me to eventually order some more.
:eek: What kind of culinary wasteland do you live in that doesn’t have Slap Ya Mama at the grocery store!? I thought you could find everything in New York City! (Many stores around here have it, including the hot and white pepper blends.) It is pretty essential for me to have around, and actually quite simple: salt, red pepper, black pepper, and garlic. I think Tony Chachere’s has a few more herbs and spices in it (the ingredients are the same as the above, plus “chili powder,” which includes the nebulous “spices” in the ingredient sublist.)
Marie Sharp’s hot sauce is also easy to find around here.
It’s been awhile, but I’ve been missing White Lily flour being available around here. The local Meijers used to carry it years ago, but I haven’t seen it there in at least half a decade now.
I swear by Zatarain’s creole seasoning… and this is from a Louisiana boy (raised in New Orleans)! Zatarain’s, then Tony Chachere’s, then nothing, IMO, as far as creole/cajun seasoning blends.
Penzeys has free shipping if you order enough – I think it’s about $40 now, which is not too hard to reach given that spices in general are kind of pricy. Plus they often run specials, like free products, if you order over a modest amount. At the holiday season they usually have gift boxes of 2 or 4 spice mixes at a really good price.
All in all, I find Penzeys to be a good value.
Do you have Aldi’s near you? Because this looks like a product they’ve been promoting in store recently.
Thank you for this! I also love Penzey’s but I’ve been looking for some specific Indian spices that Penzey’s doesn’t carry but this place does. I think I learned about Penzey’s from this board.
I’ve gotten some really nice tea assortments from Amazon. For some reason many of the stores in my neck of the woods think people only want chamomile or peppermint tea.
They often drop that down to free shipping on $25. Join their mailing list to find out when.
I’ve never seen it at a store round these parts. Would be nice if I could pick it up at the grocery store.
Jardine’s hot sauce is very good and can be hit or miss in the grocery store. Also, Lucky Dog hot sauces are great, I like the one with the purple label, it’s like a spicy A-1 sauce. Both are on Amazon.