Welcome to my Spice Masterclass?
Become a Master of Spice & elevate your cooking plus Shopping List & World wide Supplier List.
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Welcome to Spice Masterclass!
Watch this!
Hello Sunshine,
Ever since I could touch, taste and smell, with clear comprehension, I have loved spices and all the pleasure and promise these treasures bring to daily feasting. People often confuse the word ‘spice’ to mean ‘hot’, which is incorrect. Spice can be warm or hot, cooling or numbing. Whether you cook with a light sprinkling or a heady heap, with the right use of spice, you will be in awe of its power to elevate your meals and drinks, savoury and sweet alike. I’ll share my secrets to using spice to transform anything from drinks, dips, soups and stews, with videos, guides, recipes and shopping lists to guide you.
Enchanted by the fragrance of fennel and fenugreek, grounded by cooling and earthy cumin and coriander, entranced by the rich perfume of vanilla and luxurious saffron, happy in the sweet and warm embrace of cinnamon in chai, banana bread, or in mulled wine, or the zesty piquante grains of paradise transporting your taste buds to places black pepper couldn’t.
Do you ever wonder, how much is too much, and how much is too little? Do you have an enviable collection of spices, gathering dust, because you never use each in more than one or two dishes? Is black pepper the only spice you’ve got? Which, of-course, is a worthy treasure that I adore, as seen in my Black Pepper & Vanilla Chai Shortbread. Have you discovered some wondrous spices like Uda pods, black cardamom or blends like Berbere but now sure how to use them in many different recipes? This masterclass is for you.
It has taken me many years of curiosity, travel, and the trial and error that comes with cookery, to master the use of spices. I had the wonderful opportunity to write an award-winning cookbook, I teach cookery classes regularly, and my recipes have been chosen on several top recipe lists, and graced the covers of some of our favourite magazines. Why? Because these recipes are an explosion of flavours, that many of you enjoy, with spices working with the best ingredients, layered for maximum flavour and pleasure. I would love to show you why and how I cook this way. To understand how restraint or boldness in using spices can create wonder in your cooking. I will share my secrets to buying, storing and using spices, so that you too can conjure and enjoy the most flavourful adventures.
Building a spice collection
It is important to carefully and intentionally build a spice collection. I may be biased, as my spice collection is vast, a steadily growing treasure, due to an insatiable appetite for flavours from around the world. My collection allows me to dream of flavours beyond my experiences, memories, beyond borders. However great one’s collection is, most of your treasures will be rendered useless, if you do not buy the right spices, store and preserve them properly and if you haven’t a clue how to use them in more dishes than one.
Let’s get shopping!
To get you started, we have put together a comprehensive and growing list of stores from across the world where you can find the few ingredients that are not in regular supermarkets, from dried hibiscus to grains of paradise, selim and more. We have searched far and wide to try to help source these ingredients. As we are not in control of these suppliers, this is simply a guide, and with your help we can build it with more helpful links for others in our community. In the comments, please share your favourite stores or wherever you shop and what spices or ingredients you have found there.
We have also included a shopping list of spices which you can print out and tick away as you build your own spice collection. This first shopping list, ‘Part 1’, contains most of the spices in my collection and those used in Africana cookbook. This is also the first set of spices we will be using in the Spice Masterclass Series together over the next few months. Essential spices that I have in my collection and useful for very many cuisines and styles of cooking.
Please do not be intimidated by this list or feel forced to buy them all, especially if you don’t feel you need them. You can stock up with what you love or are most interested in and slowly build your collection as we go on, or buy all now and enjoy an adventure of flavours every day.
Find ingredients used in Africana cookbook from store across the world. We will continue to update this through our research and with your help. Please share your shopping links and experiences, so that others can benefit from it.
Recipes to master the use of spice
As part of our Spice Masterclass, I will share videos on socials (Instagram & Facebook) and here in our newsletter, you will find more detail about each spice or spice blend and how to use them in your cooking. So make sure you have subscribed.
Full recipes will be shared here, mostly exclusively for our Members. As a subscriber, you will receive my letters in their inbox, or you can read Cook With Lerato via the website or app.
Recipes to whet your appetite
DON’T MISS WHAT’S TO COME
How to buy and store spices ~ My rules for buying spices, and in smaller quantities, whole spices versus ground and how to store your collection to preserve flavour and aroma. How old is the oldest spice in your cupboard? Join the conversation.
Mulling Spices + Recipe ~ Hint? It’s non-alcoholic, with quite the kick!
Are you ready to spice up your life? (Dancing to the Spice Girls tune in excitement) I couldn’t help it!
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