Raw Spice Bar: Inspiring Flavorful New Recipes

I received a sample in exchange for my honest review.

We like to do cooking projects, but we don’t always have the inspiration or motivation.  I was excited when I received a flavor kit from Raw Spice Bar to give me some new ideas for fresh spices!

Raw Spice Bar delivers fresh spices right to your door, ready to use, along with recipes to inspire you.

We source the highest quality and some of the most unique spices from around the world.  Our spice blends are created by top chefs from around the world and expertly toasted, ground and blended for maximum flavor.  Our kitchen-tested recipes take you around the world and offer endless ideas for integrating our spice blends into your home meals.  The perfect amount of small batch spices, freshly ground.

Peppercorn Chai

Right away, I knew I wanted to use the Peppercorn Chai spice packet to make Peppercorn Chai Spice Tea.

Chai spices, which have permeated cultures for over 5,000 years, remains a staple of Punjab cuisine and is typically served in hot milky tea following a main meal. We’ve included dried rose petals to the traditional chai spices of green cardamom, toasted black peppercorns, fennel & cloves.

The recipe was easy – milk, water, sugar, and black tea, plus your spices.  You heat up the ingredients and then strain before drinking.  The chai was a really nice treat, an I had it instead of my regular cup of coffee.

I love the aroma of this spice blend, which is made with Toasted Black Peppercorns, Rose Petals, Ginger, Cinnamon, Green Cardamom, Cloves, Nutmeg, Star Anise, and Spices.  The spices are fresh and freshly ground, so they are quite aromatic and rich in flavor.  The Chai I made tasted wonderful, with a nice kick to it.

I also received two other packets:

Unpumpkin Pie Spice

I couldn’t wait to use this one for some kind of comfort food!  This smells amazing, blending so many wonderful spices: Ginger, Allspice, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Black Peppercorns, Star Anise, Spices.

You could easily just add this into coffee or a variety of recipes – which is exactly what I did.  I added this spice to our pancakes, and it gave them such a wonderfully delicious flavor.

Indo-French Vadouvan

So with this one, I really had no idea what it was.  The description reads, “This French take on an Indian masala, is bursting with the aromatic and vibrant flavors of both cuisines.”  The ingredients include Shallots, Onion, Garlic, Toasted Fenugreek, Toasted Fennel Seed, Curry Leaves, Toasted Cumin, Toasted Cloves, Green Cardamon and Spices.  This is definitely a unique blend, so the question was how to use it.

I received a recipe card with this spice, but the Butternut Squash soup wasn’t something I felt like I was in the mood for, and the Vadouvan Scrambled Eggs weren’t my thing either (not a big fan of eggs).  However, I checked out the other recipes on the Raw Spice Bar website and found Mac & Cheese Vadouvan.  Now we were talking!  The recipe is a great twist on regular mac & cheese, but easy to make.  I had no idea really of what to expect, but the result was fantastic.  The flavor is just beautiful – very rich, while not overpowering or spicy.

I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from the Raw Spice Bar delivery.  And while I generally find cooking to be a chore, I actually found myself inspired!  It was fun to try some new recipes, and they were all a success.  A lot of the people in our lives are really tough to find gifts for, but this would be perfect.  How many people do you know that just don’t want more ‘stuff’?  The Raw Spice Bar packets are great, because you get inspired, make the recipes, and actually use up the spices.  I loved feeling creative and enjoying delicious dishes with my family.

Visit Raw Spice Bar at http://rawspicebar.com/