Where do you buy herbs and spices ?

LondonDreamer

I get mine from eBay now. As an example, I just got 20g of bay leaves for £1.25 including postage. The larger packs are even cheaper, but 20g is how much fits in my jar. But a small jar (only 3g) is nearly that much in the supermarket, so it's still a good saving. They are lovely and fresh too, much better quality than the SM!

chesky369

If you live near a big town, look out for North African, Thai, Chinese or Indian shops - they're usually half the price of the supermarkets and have much better choice.

You could turn this into a kind of hobby - walking round local towns, keeping your eyes peeled for the right kind of shop.

freyasmum

Edwardia wrote: »

So what do you buy and where ? Do you buy refill packs ? Dry your own ? Can anyone beat dried parsley with a use-by date of October 2009 ?

My mum has jars in her cupboards that are older than me, I kid you not. I'm 26.


I don't have a specific place to purchase, some things I get in the ethnic sections, others the speciality area. We don't have any asian supermarkets around here

PenguinOfDeath

U

jessnjimmy wrote: »

I've just had a big delivery of spices and herbs from healthysupplies.co.uk
Another good site is asiancookshop.com


Couldn't find black onion seeds (kalonji) in any supermarket

I found some of these in sainsburys the other day . I tend to buy own brand for the common herbs and use an Oriental shop for other bits including dried bay leaves 70p for 100g, gonna last me for ages! The only 'branded' spice I use is the La Chinata smoked paprika from sainsburys too!

jessnjimmy

Sorry, should have said couldn't find them in any of the supermarkets near me, not any s/m.

I only have Tesco, Asda, and Lidl near me

Still much cheaper to buy online though and much better quality too I've found.



Linda

lmp0507

B&M have a large range of herbs and spices, OH bought a four in one pack, basically four different spices in one container for about 80p, asda also have a decent range

Edwardia

Wow thanks for all the posts !

Don't have a B&M near me lucymelissa unfortunately. I buy from ASDA too.

I've been thinking of doing more online shopping (OK I admit I love getting parcels !) jessnjimmy so I will check the websites out thanks.

Penguin of Death (note to self do NOT upset this poster, obviously not related to Happy Feet) my local Sainsbury's doesn't carry anything that "exotic".

freyasmum wins the oldest herbs & spices or rather freyasmum's mum does.. the most ethnic shops get around here is Polish. When ASDA opened, a shop assistant asked me what taramasalata was !

chesky369 there just aren't any ethnic shops other than Polish around here. I'd have to travel so far I might as well go to London.

The dried parsley definitely looked like minced long dead grass, I have to say.

My local Waitrose doesn't carry any of them Haffiana. I was able to order some Zaytoun Palestinian za'atar from Oxfam this week though. My favourite deli is the Green Valley supermarket off Edgware Road and I need to go up there soon because I have run out of Al Wadi Al Akhdar tahina. I'ved tried loads of brands of tahini and that one is miles better - I use it to make hummus. Next best one I tried was Cypressa.

AFAIK ras el hanout originates in Morocco - there are loads of variations and the one I'm using includes rose petals. Zaa'tar uses many of the same herbs as Herbes de Provence albeit ground up and has sesame seeds in plus other stuff. Sumac is often included in zaa'tar and it has a rusty look like dark paprika and is on the sweet side. I'm a complete beginner at Middle Eastern food but OH really loves it in Summer.

pineapple

Asda and Sainsburys in my area have an ethnic section where you might find bigger, cheaper packs of things like chilli (Natco). Better value than the section where you get those silly little jars. Sometimes you can also find decent value packs of cashew nuts cheaper than elsewhere in the store!

It probably helps that we have an Asian community nearby. Come to think of it the range of Polish foods is getting bigger too!

TravellingAbuela

Reading through this thread has prompted me to sort out my baking/cooking ingredients cupboard!! I dread to think what I might find lurking at the back!!

I used to buy a lot of my herbs and spices in small packets from the WeighHouse. In fact I bought a lot of ingredients from there - rice, pasta, dried peas, broth mix, flour etc. I was heartbroken when it closed down! Anyone know if they closed down nationwide or was it just my local store? I can't say I have seen one anywhere else.

Tamsin_Temrin

This has really prompted me to look through my herbs/spices. I may even cook!