Tricks of the Spice Trade

I taught myself to cook the same way I taught myself many life skills -- by getting books out of the library and subscribing to magazines. Over the years my library card has come in handy for learning about netball and swimming, playing the guitar, camping, spiritual growth, menstruation, relationships, sex, travelling, dysfunctional family dynamics, gardening, triathlons, obsessions and addictions, interior decorating, painting and drawing, knitting and crochet, decluttering, writing books, yoga. All those things I've needed to know about at one time or another, in order to survive or thrive, depending.

My first magazine subscription was Fine Cooking. It was totally over my head. But I read it religiously, never doubting that it would teach me to be a Fine Cook. It took a while, but one day I "got it" about braising meat, and I became, pretty much overnight, a more confident cook, more optimistic and experimental, less fearful about what might go wrong and more open to things going right in the kitchen.

I've kept my favourite issues of Fine Cooking. Every now and then I pull one out and look at the kitchen-worn pages, and remember the meals I made for an ever-expanding list of dinner guests in the seriously crappy kitchen in my apartment on 6th Ave in Vancouver, birthplace of the keen cook I am today... and I feel grateful and happy.

Lately, I've been in cooking deconstruction mode, thinking about the bare bones basics of meal making, stripping home cooking down to what's only just necessary to make a decent meal -- I'm looking at ingredients, equipment, cooking techniques and time. I'm working on an idea for people I call the foodie underdogs -- people who have never learned to cook, who didn't subscribe to Fine Cooking back in the 90s, and who just want to make some decent home cooked meals instead of eating fast, junky, or processed food. So I'm simplifying, big time, as I get my head around this idea.

I've ended up testing ready-made spice mixes -- a confession I don't make lightly! Thanks to my obsessive cook book reading, food blog following, and years of magazine subscriptions, I'm a dab hand at roasting, grinding, mincing or pounding my own spice mixes, rubs and pastes. But this is exactly the kind of barrier I want to remove for beginner cooks, so they can just make a decent meal, right now, and without feeling like a loser because they haven't got half the stuff in their pantry, and don't know what it is anyway. That's one of the reasons foodie underdogs slam shut the recipe book and dial 0800 PIZZA.

Ready-Made Spice Mixes people. I've been surprised at how good these can be. Here are three that ship me straight to Portugal, Morocco and Mexico, and are now staples in my pantry. I wouldn't say they've put my mortar and pestle out of business, but close.

PORTUGAL WITH JONATHAN: sardines on toast

I met Jonathan at Moore Wilson's, at his free sample table. I'm assuming the guy who was so enthusiastic about these seasonings was Jonathan himself. I've used his wonderful mixes before, but not the Portuguese seasoning. Jonathan insisted I try it with sardines on toast, which made my face screw up a bit. But after he'd whisked me through the idea, with his arms waving and eyes shining, I was totally revved to have them for pre-dinner snacks.

You'll need

• A couple of tablespoons of Jonathan's Portuguese seasoning.
• A can of sardines in olive oil. The Spanish ones in the yellow tin are gorgeous, and not over-fishy smelly.
• Some good chewy bread that makes nice toast.

How to
Coat the sardines in the seasoning. Roll them in it, or sprinkle it on them. 
Heat sardines in a heavy pan, on moderate heat, till they're warmed through and the seasoning is crunchy. They've got enough oil in them already, so no need to add any to the pan.
Toast your bread.
Pile the sardines on the toast, and eat like you're in a tapas bar in Lisbon.

You're in for a real treat here. Salty, herby, oily, hot, crunchy, with a mysterious, lingering sweetness. I couldn't stop eating these, and so ruined my appetite for dinner that night. Worth it.

MOROCCO WITH ALEXANDRA: lamb shanks

Alexandra's spice mixes are absolutely gorgeous -- both the package design and the rich, complex flavour of North Africa. I haven't met Alexandra, but I bet she waves her arms around excitedly and has sparkly eyes, just like Jonathan. Her zahtar smells kind of zingy and perky --it's exciting on the nose. When it's cooked with the lamb and tomatoes, it becomes deep and rich and almost creamy. I like to sprinkle a little bit of uncooked zahtar over the cooked dish, just to give it a chance to shine on both levels. You can also mix some zahtar with olive oil and lemon juice, and drizzle over before serving. Read on...

You'll need

• Lamb shanks. 4 big ones = 4 normal servings.
• Alaxantra's Bazaar zahtar
• 4 carrots and 2 onions
• A can of tomatoes. 440g
• Roughly a cup of red wine or water
• A can of big butter beans or chickpeas. 400g
• Olive oil

How to
Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy, oven-proof pot with a lid.
Peel and quarter the onions, roughly chop the carrots, and heat gently in the olive oil.
Add the lamb shanks, 2 tablespoons zahtar, and tomatoes with all their juice.
Add red wine or water, just enough to bring the liquid level about half way up the lamb shanks.
Stir gently to distribute the spices.
Put the lid on, and put in the oven at 160 for 2 - 3 hours. It doesn't really matter how long you leave it. Just check at the one hour mark and make sure it's not drying out. Add some water if you need to. 

It's ready when the lamb is falling off the bone. If you're not ready to eat it right away, you can cool and keep in the fridge for a day or two. You can take the fat off the surface if you want to. Before you eat it, heat and add a can of big fat butter beans, drained.

Taste, and add another sprinkle of zahtar if you want. Or make a glorious drizzle by mixing 1 tbs zahtar with 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs lemon juice. Drip on top before eating.

MEXICO WITH UNCLE PABLO: tacos and salsa

Uncle Pablo makes hot, clean and tangy seasoning mix which is just amazing in a meat or bean chilli or in salsa. I haven't cooked with it recently, but take a trip to the archives for a tacos and salsa treat.

And while we're in Mexico, Jonathan also has some amazing manuka smoked chipotle power that packs a huge punch as a table seasoning (use it instead of pepper). I haven't cooked with this yet, but I am really looking forward to using it in a pork belly taco recipe I saw on Jamie's 15-minute meals.

So really, with help like this around, there is absolutely no need to make your own spice mixes, rubs, or pastes again. Having said that, I'm heading out to the shed to read some gardening magazines, and check up on my tomato seedlings. I may have given up on spice mixing, but I still haven't found a decent substitute for home-grown tomatoes.