The Spice mix

Sometimes you don’t appreciate what you have till you need something.

Take me for instance who’s been going to a nice little shop in a mall near my office in Rijswijk for the last couple of years. All the times I’ve gone though, i’ve gone in search of specific things- lentils, gunpowder tea, some spices. So I’ve walked in to the shop which used to fork in two directions (they’ve recently redecorated).

Anyway, in the past I’ve gone down the right aisle, gone to precisely what I have on my list, obviously looking about a little bit to compare the prices of almonds and pecans with a shop down the road, bought what I needed and left.

Anyway, some time ago, things changed. And only because I was seriously seeking poppy seeds (maanzaad – meaning moon seeds, I guess because the seeds are somewhat crescent-shaped) and The Netherlands being what it is (simple food and fare), I couldn’t find them at any of the supermarkets. The only other option I had was to go to an Indian shop a little bit far from where I live, (somewhere in The Hague) and I didn’t feel up to doing that, yet I could hardly to have the seeds in hand. Somewhere in my subconsious, I dredged up the memory of this shop and at lunchtime wandered in.

It occured to me that I had never seen seeds anywhere in the shop, but then I hadn’t looked everywhere and so when I walked in, I took the left turn (and not the right as I have done in the past). What an absolute delight my eyes met.

Flavoured sesame seeds

It was shelf, after shelf, after shelf of spices – whole and ground, dried herbs too – some of which I’d never even heard of!

An array of sauces, chutnies, oils and more. They had them by region: Japanese to Indonesian, Middle eastern and African. Indian. Chinese. and more.

They had a vast amount of teas – boxed and loose, including some dried flower teas- Jasmine, Hibiscus, Rose, Lavender and still more. All freshly packed, well-priced and available to take home (same day )!

Not to mention all sorts of sugars from exotic locations

This treasure trove is full of uncommon spices. Yes, you’ll be able to find a lot of the stuff in shops elsewhere, but you’ll probably have to go to 3 or 4 different ones to get the range and assortment you find here. And at reasonable prices too.

What I absolutely love is the ‘spice mountain’ – layers and layers of 18 diferent spices arranged in a bowl till they tower at the top. Gorgeous colours, and you can imagine the smells too. Truly a spice lover’s heaven. I asked what spices where in the mix and the gentleman said….. ‘its a secret’. I could recognise some obviously but I ended up buying a pack which smelt heavenly. I used some in a stew recently and was amazed – All I can say is that it is a well-balanced melange.

There were a few ‘leaves’ which I didn’t recognise, plus their names were in dutch – Senna and Foelie blad. This of course had me looking at my online Van Dale dictionary (Dutch to English) plus Google (which never fails) for answers, and I wasn’t disappointed. Senna blad is dutch for Senna leaf which can be made brewed and drunk as an infusion. Apparently, it is bitter but, in polite words is a good colon cleanser! As for the orange Foelie blad, I was intrigued to find out that it is actually Mace – the outer covering of the nutmeg. Apparently, the best quality Mace retains its orange colour when dried. This only confirms what I’ve said already, the ‘Spice mix’ know their herbs! The Mace leaves i’ll be buying soon. As for the Senna……not in the near future, thank you very much.

I bought the poppy seeds which I went there for, a bottle of Lemon-ginger sauce which I will try in my Chinese Lemon fish and some dried lemon powder (the stuff from WW2 K-rations!).

I also bought some fresh baker’s yeast, I”ll have to find a nice recipe for bread.

The shop is run by very friendly guys from Afghanistan, one of whom happily posed for a photo, not to mention the hand of friendship they offered in allowing me wander the aisles with my G10! If you ever come to the Netherlands, come visit this shop (with me).

Shop details