Since we are in Mexico, I thought it only proper that I dedicate at least one blog post to the venerable chili pepper. Here in Mexico you often hear the refrain “si no pica, no es comida,” which roughly translates to “if it’s not spicy, it’s not food.” Suffice it to say that folks here absolutely love their peppers! Chilis are considered “traditional” ingredients in Chinese, Thai, Indian, Korean, and many European cuisines, but in reality all forms of chili peppers originated in this part of the world. Columbus brought them back to Spain five centuries ago, from there they were the disseminated throughout the world and integrated into local tastes.

Today there are literally hundreds of types of chilis grown in a vast array of size, shapes, colors, flavors and levels of spiciness. The Chili Pepper Institute provides some fascinating facts and trivia if you want to learn more. You may also want to check out the Hot Sauce Blog and the PepperFool.

We visited an herb and spice shop called La Abejita (the little bee) in the small town of Buceries, which stocks a rich mosaic of dried chilis. Here’s a short slide show of some of their selection:

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When cooking a meal one always uses some sort of seasoning. A special spice, a dash of a secret something from Grandma’s recipe, maybe just sea salt and cracked pepper for simplicity. As food is an integral part of our daily life, don’t we want it to taste as full and decadent as it possibly can be? Just as we want the air we breathe to be clean and pure. Why settle for less? La vita è corta!

Thankfully, World Spice Merchants in Seattle, Washington are at our beck and call (well, close enough: Mon. – Sat 10am – 6pm, and Sun. Noon – 5pm) to assist you, the gourmand, in finding that perfect ingredient to complete your culinary creation. Tired of plain chicken? Dress it up with preserved lemons, berbere, or Biscayne citrus rub. Want to dabble in Indian? Ethiopian? Tibetan? The experts at World Spice Merchants will kindly guide you in the right direction. And, true to Seattle style, in a very cool, casual, yet highly informative way.

Along with a huge selection of pure spices and hand-mixed blends that are blended in small batches to maintain the utmost freshness, their client list alone is sure to further impress you.

Enjoy the experience and the results.

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Welcome to the world of black lemons! If you’ve never had the opportunity to try these Middle Eastern goodies go to World Spice Merchants and order some. They’re completely dried and look inedible, but in fact their sweet-tartness is so flavorful you’ll want to use it in about everything: soups, stews, tagines, couscous, even sprinkled on salads. The tangy depth that the lemons add is wonderfully unusual and earthy.

We ground a couple of them (use a mortar and pestle, a clean coffee grinder or a microplane grater) and, with other spices, created a delicious North African-esque chicken dish. We just kind of created it as we went along, so sorry folks, no recipe. That’s the beauty of improvisational cooking!

Check out Syrian Zahtar and Black Lemon Spiced Chicken from The Hunger. In a word: Mmmm.

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