RawSpiceBar Cooking Subscription Review & Coupon – June 2015

RawSpiceBar is a monthly spice blend 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. They are launching the shop soon to buy more of your favorite spices.

I really don’t know why there are two cards – I think the information could be combined onto one!

You’ll get 3 kitchen-tested recipe cards, plus additional recipes online, along with the spices.  June’s theme was “The Spice Route:  Jamaica”

The history of Jamaican cuisine is as varied and eclectic as the people who created it. Indigenous people, combined with immigrants from China, England, Spain, India and West Africa have each played an influential role on both the culture and cuisine.

Spices are, of course, the very essence of this cuisine. Ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric and pimento (allspice) are used in nearly everything from jerk dishes to banana fritters. Chili peppers- thanks to Chinese influence- are widely used in Jamaican cuisine but almost nowhere else in the Caribbean.

The packaging describes the component spices, as well as giving some typical applications should you want to experiment with your own recipes. The spices this month are Jamaican Jerk, Mango Salsa Spices, and Jamaican Sweet Spices.These are fresh, not over-ground spices. They are very fragrant and fresh.

You also receive recipes in your box. June’s Jamaica theme included: Jamaican Jerk Fish Tacos, Jamaican Chili Banana Fritters, and Mango Corn Salsa With Paprika & Ginger.  You provide the fresh ingredients and staple items for the included recipes.  Each spice pack is usually sized to make one batch of the suggested recipe.

The jerk fish had the great warm flavor of allspice, though I probably was a little heavy on the fresh ginger.  The salsa was great, and I loved the contrast between the soft mango and still-plump corn kernels.  The seasoning brought this together and made it into an extremely crave-able topping.  The recipe made a bunch — I gladly scooped it on just about everything I ate for the next two days!

The banana fritters were yummy.  I was skeptical — since they had no leavening or eggs, I was expecting a gooey lump.  Instead, they crisped and remained quite tender.  I ate way too many of these… the gentle heat of the “sweet” blend was great for this.  My kindergartener loved them too, though she had to remain convinced that the black sesame seeds that lent a delightful savory quality were in fact blueberry bits.

You can see the finished products at RawSpiceBar too.

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.  You can always improvise with your own ingredients too, and at six bucks, its worth it even if you are just auditioning some new seasonings for your burgers, chicken, hushpuppies, whatever!

Visit RawSpiceBar to subscribe or find out more!  Get one extra box free when you sign up for a 6+-month subscription using coupon code ilovespices. You can see all our RawSpiceBar reviews or  all the food & cooking subscriptions in the directory.