My appreciation for doing things the "slightly harder way round" does not stop at garlic and doesn't only include putting extra effort into your cooking but extends to buying the best quality ingredients you can afford. This was all sparked by a bottle of pre-ground turmeric. The difference is that it wasn't the usual bright yellow but a deeper, almost mustardy colour and what surprised me most was it's amazing smell as I opened the bottle. I will admit, I've never truly smelled turmeric before. It's always been this mystical spice to me, the value of which I could never exactly put my finger on, until now that is. This was a bottle of organic turmeric that I found in Dischem of all places. Totally different from any other I'd used before but I'm guessing still not as good as if I'd bought the actual root - not so easy to come by though.
Besides the flavour benefits of whole spice, pre-ground spices do not last very long and go stale quite quickly, losing their intensity and flavour. You may as well be putting dust in your food. Whole spices on the other hand, keep for much longer when stored correctly (sealed glass jar) and you'll discover are far superior to the ground stuff as you grind it either by hand in a pestle and mortar or in your spice grinder and smell the difference.
So while it may seem laborious, those few extra minutes could be the difference between good and excellent food.
Go to your local spice shop and buy whole spices instead of ground and give it a go.
Get the kit!
