RawSpiceBar Monthly Spice Subscription Review – March 2015

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RawSpiceBar is a new cooking subscription. Every month for $6 you’ll receive small batch, freshly ground spice blends by top chefs for home cooks, plus recipes to create authentic cuisine with the spices.

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We were thrilled to see this month’s theme was Iranian/Persian spices (“The Spice Route Tehran, Iran”).  Persian cuisine is underrepresented among the world cuisines readily available to most americans, so it is nice to get the opportunity to work with some authentic Persian spice blends.

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You’ll get 3 kitchen-tested recipe cards, plus additional recipes online.

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March’s theme was “The Spice Route:  Tehran, Iran.” It featured Advieh Khoresht, Mast-O-Khiar Herbs, and Saffron.

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Three recipes were provided.

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The packaging is nice, in that it describes the component spices, as well as giving some typical applications should you want to experiment with your own recipes.

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I received a good deal of the spice and herb blends, but saffron was probably a poor choice for this style packaging — it’s too expensive to give a whole lot of, and the creases in the interior of the envelope held on to some of it. Perhaps a cellophane envelope would have worked better for this one.
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These are fresh, not over-ground spices. They are very fragrant and are still at peak flavor (notice how green the herb blend is compared to typical dried herbs).

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I got adventurous with the spices and made my own dish based on the braised lamb recipe provided.  I used beef with some onion, garlic, cumin, cilantro, cinnamon, pepper-lime seasoning, flax, breadcrumbs, egg, and minced dried cranberries mixed in and formed into meatballs.

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I followed the recipe for the braised lamb shanks sauce.  I didn’t have rose water, so I pulled some of the rose petals from the Mast-O-Khiar to use in my sauce.   I also added a little tomato juice and beef base to add a little richness, having used beef instead of lamb.

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In the crock-pot after a quick browning in a pan.

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The sauce was great.  It reminded me of swiss steak my mother would make — the Advieh really drew the flavor out of the meat and created a wonderfully rich and complex sauce.  I served the extremely tender meatballs with Mast-O-Khiar yoghurt and saffron rice.  We ate the meatballs in lettuce leaves as well.

You’ll get a head’s up of the theme shortly before you receive it – and you’ll be able to visit their site to get a shopping list for that month’s recipes.

Visit RawSpiceBar to subscribe or find out more! You can also see all the food & cooking subscriptions in the directory.

The Subscription: RawSpiceBar
The Description: Fresh, Authentic Spice Blends. Created by Top Chefs For Globally Inspired Home Meals.
The Price: $6

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  • lynn m.
    04.04.15

    I subbed chicken thighs in for the lamb it was really tasty