I mentioned in my first post in this thread the SAVORY SPICE company (
Spices, Herbs and Seasonings - Savory Spice Shop, Inc.), new in Santa Rosa, CA. Well, an hour later I was in their shop buying spices for homemade linguica and a "Chamarita Beef" recipe. I needed some paprika, coriander, pickling spices and a few other things so I figured I'd give them a shot.
INCREDIBLE selection of things, neatly organized, each spice with a tasting bottle you can taste from and a water cooler to wash the palate.
I needed to have paprika for the linguica, and the recipe called for smoking the sausage, but when I arrived there I saw that they had a Smoked Hot Paprika! I thought, "Perfect!" When I told the woman behind the counter (one of three working in the small shop) what I needed and how the smoked paprika might be the ticket, she showed me a Hickory Smoke Flavoring which is a maltodextrin base with a smoky flavor that is so intense that 4 oz. of it will flavor 80-100 pounds of meat! For $1.30 I got enough smoke flavoring (1/2 oz.) to last me three years!
They had everything I could imagine needing, including a Bhut Jolokia hot sauce as well as the chiles themselves.
The people were extremely knowledgeable and friendly and the prices can't be beat! Shopping for spices can be very expensive when forced to buy full bottles, especially if you don't usually use the spice in your daily cooking. Buying a 1/2 oz. bag of something can be very handy!
It was a pleasure shopping there and I look forward to their expertise helping me become a better cook. I highly recommend this place...