Hand-crafted spices with a personal touch from Juliet Mae

Last week, I was wandering through the lively Marin Farmers Market at the Marin Civic Center, snapping photos of unusual vegetables, sampling here and there when a jovial looking gent said “hey, give our spices a try!”

I’m an unaplogetic spice junkie, having been a Penzey’s customer for years, but I also love to browse through ethic grocery shops and open markets on my travels looking for that something new and different. My spice cabinet was a must-have deal breaker when I re-modeled the kitchen and a sizable section of my freezer is devoted to herbs and spices.

Anyway, I had to stop and take a look at the Juliet Mae spice stand.

The gentleman who enticed me over is Bill, the husband of the Juliet Mae team.  Kathy FitzHenry is his better half. They must be an awesome team. Bill is Mr. Enthusiasm, telling my friend and I all about how they craft each spice and spice blend - even toasting the individual spices in a facility in San Francisco’s Presidio. He is thoroughly engaging.

But the spices speak for themselves. So far, I’ve just tried the Tunisian Five Spice blend - I’m all in love with the North African flavor palette - with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and grains of paradise. Whoa! That’s gotta be good, right? Grains of Paradise are a peppery member of the ginger family. It’s very well balanced and perfect for meats like lamb or chicken. Just use it as you will a ‘rub’ and expect delicious results.

They have a nicely put together website:

 

When I told Bill that I’d like to blog about their product, he seemed intrigued. But then I made the usual disclaimer, that if he didn’t like the Progressive “Big L” Liberal politics, no never mind … just keep going to the non-partisan food page. Bill piped right up that “Big L” politics suited him just fine.

The guy had me right there.

Try Juliet Mae spices. I think you will pleasantly surprised. They are very reasonably priced, and I was happy to note that their shipping prices are really reasonable unlike so many online vendors. The Juliet Mae line is also available at many retail locations, including Whole Foods.

Incredible Afghan eats: Bolanis and sauces

Over at the Marin County Civic Center Farmers Market we found this funny young guy selling Afghan foods. He was handing out samples at lightspeed and talking a mile a minute. By all appearances he was really enjoying the experience, and is a born salesman-get-your-bolanis-and-sauce-dude.

   

Perhaps needless to say, but I got home with something called a low-carb spinach Bolani and a jar of sweet jalepeno sauce. It sat in my refrigerator a couple days while I decided what to do with it. You know how that is, you make an impulse buy and then it becomes mystery food as soon as you get home.

Something mexican must have crossed my mind and I thought “hey, grill it like a quesadilla”. I amaze myself sometimes, but that bar is set pretty low.

I whacked off some triangles of the bolani, pulled some thin slices of ham out of the meat tray and laid those on top of the triangles. Together, I tossed them onto a lightly oiled griddle, turning just once until they were a nice and crispy golden brown. Then I slathered the sauce on them.

Amazing. Simply scrumptious. So good that I’m a bit depressed that I can’t just run down to the local Whole Foods and get some of this on a regular basis. It was great just as a light lunch snack and then later as the ‘bread’ portion of a meal.

Go to their website and you can find out where to buy these products at Farmers Markets around California. I don’t know, but maybe you could mail order it. Certainly the jars of sauce would be worth the effort.

http://www.bolaniandsauce.com/html/About.html

Hey, Bolani folks: Whole Foods in Reno. Just a hint.

maven