Even the most avid cooks who grind their own spices will sometimes want the convenience of ready-made blends.
Recently I enjoyed some Middle Eastern blends from Sami's Kitchen in Christchurch.
Sami and Sonia Bejjani have run Sami's Kitchen cafe in Riccarton, Christchurch, for a decade and are now selling their own Middle Eastern spice blends.
The first four are shish tarwook (garlic, paprika, pimento, nutmeg, thyme, cinnamon) for use with chicken or fish; shawarma (pimento, black pepper, mustard, cumin, ginger, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves) for beef or lamb; falafel blend (coriander, cumin, pimento, pepper, cinnamon, cloves) for falafels and other vegetable dishes; and zaatar rub (thyme, sumac, sesame, salt, coriander, cumin).
They are available online at www.samiskitchen.co.nz
The good oils
Good flavoured oils are rare but they are useful for a simple flavouring on salads, cooked fish or vegetables and in various dressings - and good olive and avocado oils, being low in in saturated fats, are relatively healthy, in moderation.
For the past year I've enjoyed using Seresin's extra virgin olive oils flavoured with lemon, lime or orange, ($25-$30 for 250ml from www.seresin.co.nz) but I've recently tried the more affordable Grove lime avocado oil at about $11 for 250ml, available in supermarkets and delis.
A bright avocado green, it has a light hint of lime in the background.
It can also be used for cooking.
