RawSpiceBar is a monthly subscription that sends freshly ground, small batch spice blends and recipes that utilize them.
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The Cost: $8 per month
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The Products: 3 freshly ground spice blends from one country or region, enough to create 3 dishes serving 6-10 people.
Ships to: US (with free shipping) and Canada (for an additional fee).
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Each month, RawSpiceBar sends spices from one region or geographical area. This is the “Argentine Spice Box.”
Every shipment contains recipes that incorporate the month’s spices.
Chipotle Smoked Salt - 0.3 oz.
This Chipotle Smoked Salt is really pretty. I love the light pink color, and the salt is nicely fragrant. The suggested recipe is for Chipotle Salt Grilled Summer Vegetables, but I think I’m going to use this salt to top butter at my next dinner party. (Kind of like this.) I think that’ll be a nice way to show off the color of the salt. I bet this would also be tasty on popcorn.
Dark Coffee & Chiles - 0.3 oz.
This is such an interesting spice blend! It’s a mix of darkly roasted coffee beans, ancho chiles, smoked paprika, and cumin, and it smells incredible (just like spicy coffee). RawSpiceBar recommends using it as a rub for steak, which I think sounds delicious. I also think this would work well with chocolate, maybe in chocolate cake or even in hot chocolate.
Sun Dried Tomato Pizza Spice - 0.3 oz.
I don’t really associate pizza with Argentina, but after doing some research I learned that Buenos Aires is the self-proclaimed pizza capital of South America. (Attention cheese lovers: click that link and scroll down to the “fugazzeta” if you want your stomach to start growling.) This spice blend is a mix of sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, New Mexico chiles, California chiles, cayenne chiles, black peppercorns, onion, oregano, rosemary, and thyme, and it’s designed to be used in sun-dried tomato pizza sauce.
To make the sauce, I sautéed minced onion and garlic with chopped sun-dried tomatoes and the provided spice blend. I then added white wine, followed by tomato paste, water, and salt & pepper. When everything was in the pot, I simmered the sauce for about 15 minutes, until it reduced and thickened.
The recipe for the sauce was pretty straightforward, but the pizza instructions were less so. The ingredient list only called for mozzarella and parmesan, but the recipe itself mentioned adding bacon, red onion, and cooked sausage. The online version of the recipe, on the other hand, called for red onion in the sauce (vs. white onion in the printed recipe), and toppings of artichoke and black & green olives.
Given this discrepancy, I decided to just go with my gut on the toppings. I topped my pizza with mozzarella, parmesan, slices of onion, green & black olives, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
I turned my oven all the way up, and I let the pizza bake until the crust browned and the cheese got nice and bubbly.
I’m really pleased with how my pizza turned out! The sauce was definitely more flavorful than the sauce I typically use, and I enjoyed the mix of toppings. I’ve never used sun-dried tomato in my pizza sauce before, but I’m a fan of how it affected the taste. Also, I should mention that the above recipe made a lot more sauce than I needed for one pizza. I’m debating how to use the remaining sauce. Perhaps Pizza Paninis or maybe a Pizza Pasta Bake?
Verdict: I got a lot of inspiration from RawSpiceBar’s spices this month, and I’m really happy with all of the spices I received. I enjoyed making the Sun-dried Tomato Pizza, and I had fun learning a little bit about Argentine food culture. I’m disappointed that the pizza recipe was a little off, but, frankly, it’s a problem that I’ve come to expect from RawSpiceBar. (RawSpiceBar recipes often contain typos and flaws.) If you like cooking with new spices and exploring different cuisines, RawSpiceBar might be the subscription for you; however, I can only recommend it for experienced cooks who are confident enough to spot mistakes and go “off recipe” when required.
What do you think about RawSpiceBar’s Argentine Spice Box?
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