Farm to Table: Game Changing Single Origin Spices

Steve Fiore
Sep 7
4 min read

Updated: Sep 16

Author holding Burlap & Barrel Smoked Chipotle spice jar, his favorite recommended product from the blog post — One of my favorite Burlap & Barrel Spices, Smoked Chipotle

I decided to rewrite this entire post based on my original version. The first draft was more like an advertisement vs. a personal story of my journey. So here is the new and hopefully improved version of the story.

My Early Spice Memories

Years ago, when I first started working, I was commuting into New York City by train from Stamford, CT. As with most commuters in and out of NYC, you have one goal… get to your destination as fast as possible.

For this commute, I used the Grand Central Terminal, which is as magnificent as it sounds. The architecture and history are remarkable and probably one for another post, but I will leave that to someone else. One of the things that I remember vividly was a spice vendor who was connected to the train station. I recall walking through the store a few different times as I was waiting to board my train.

Multiple shelves of Burlap & Barrel spice jars organized in a spice cabinet, featuring dozens of single origin spices including Purple Shallot, Wild Ramps, Caramelized Onion, Savory, Green Garlic Scapes, Tandoori spice blend, and many others from various international farming regions. — Our spice drawer continues to bust out at the seams as we add more and more spices.

I also remember that I thought buying expensive spices was crazy. First, everything in New York is more expensive and second, I already had my store-bought spices like pepper, table salt, and probably just a few others like dried basil, oregano and parsley. There were probably a few others but not many more. Our spice cabinet was also not too far from the basics of what you would expect two young married 24-year-olds to be using.

Needless to say, I never bought them.

Discovering Better Spices

About 15 years later, I was talking to a few people at work, and they had recommended a popular online and retail store brand. We started to experiment with their spices, and it was a major upgrade to what we were using from the store brand. Within a short period of time, our cabinet was full of their spices and honestly, they are pretty good. We still use a few of them today based on what the kids got used to for some of their foods as well as they have a few spices we just can’t get from our new vendor.

Enter Burlap & Barrel. It was a few years ago when I wanted to uplevel our spice cabinet. Similar to the single origin dark chocolate I was buying, I thought that single origin spices could have the same impact. As with all the other stories I am sharing, I did my research and Burlap & Barrel continued to come up in the searches. Every review I read raved about the flavor that was bursting out of every bite. I decided to make an initial purchase with their Royal Cinnamon. Not doing anything different to the French Toast I would make, I tried it with their Cinnamon, and it was impressive. That taste test got us hooked and our cabinet started to quickly change over to Burlap & Barrel spices.

Two rows of Burlap & Barrel spice jars displaying various single origin spices including Smoked Pimentón Paprika, Purple Stripe Garlic, Red Jalapeño, Limestone Rosemary, Black Urfa Chili, Noble Sweet Paprika, Buffalo Ginger, and others, showcasing the colorful variety from different global origins. — As you can see, I keep buying more of the spices in these 16 oz bulk containers.

My Burlap & Barrel Favorites

I then started experimenting with peppercorns and purchased all of them, using a combination of the Robusta and Zanzibar for my everyday use. For specialty items that have limited ingredients like eggs, I use the Purple Peppercorns to taste the subtly of the flavor of this limited-edition spice. Of course, eggs also taste better when they are local.

The last one I will highlight is my new favorite spice, Smoked Chipotle Chili Flakes. I had ordered a small jar and loved it. I started to put it on everything from corn on the cob to meats to nachos only to run out pretty quickly. I then had to wait for a few months as it was on back order. As soon as it was back in stock, I ordered two large 16 oz containers just to make sure I wouldn’t run out. The flavor of this spice and so many others just make a huge difference in the food you are cooking.

I could go on and on about the specific spices. I would encourage you to try a few and then go from there.

I am confident it will bring your meals to a whole new level.

What is your favorite spice or recipe you absolutely love?

Three large glass containers of Burlap & Barrel black peppercorns showcased side by side: Wild Timur Pepper from Nepal, Robusta Black Peppercorns from Vietnam, and Zanzibar Black Peppercorns from Tanzania, demonstrating the variety in single origin pepper options. — Burlap & Barrel's peppercorn lineup. The Wild Timur Pepper gives a nice tingle to your tongue. I mix the Robusta Black Peppercorns and Zanzibar Black Peppercorns together in my pepper grinder for everyday use.

2 Comments

Liza

Sep 08

One of my favorites is a nut and spice blend called dukkah. While there are recipes to create the blend, it's handy to have a jar. I've made dukkah swirl bread from King Arthur Flour's bread book, which is nice to dip in olive oil or just toast with butter. It's hard to find the blend in spice shops, but once in a while I can find it.

Steve Fiore

Sep 09

Replying to

Liza, that is an interesting one. I never heard of dukkah and just had to look it up. I guess it is one of those things you will want to stock up on when you find it.