What’s in your spices? (How we use locally-sourced spices for flavor and safety)
When most people think of getting exposed to or eating gluten, they think of bread, pasta, etc. Did you know that gluten can be found in some spice blends? Especially those made in other countries that are meant to be shipped overseas?
By creating our own blends using fresh spices that are grown as locally as possible, we are able to make the spices for our restaurant food and catering more flavorful and much better for people with food sensitivities.
Our first pick will always be to use local fresh herbs and, if necessary, will use dried herbs as the next option. We don’t purchase any blends and when a blend is required, we make our own from individual spices and herbs. When we do buy ground or dried spices, we get them from a wholesaler called Spiceology, which grows and prepares all their spices here in the United States. We hand-grind all of our peppercorns in-house because those are needing to be of the highest, most fresh quality of anything we use.
Why does this matter?
Between seeing a drastic rise in the number of people who have food sensitivities to various herbs, spices, and preparation methods, and people being more involved in knowing where their food comes from, we field many questions about everything on our menu, including how things are spiced and prepared.
Spice blends, especially those being imported to the United States, often have various flours added as a binding agent. Those flours trigger a gluten response and can cause other issues for people with a wide variety of food-related sensitivities.
When our restaurant opens and whenever we have a catering client, we will work hard to be very clear about what is in our food and make sure we find out what food sensitivities or allergies each guest has. But that’s where we also need help from our guests! Please always communicate any sensitivities or needs to our wait staff so we know if we need to make adjustments in the kitchen. This includes adjusting recipes or techniques to prevent cross-contamination as much as possible.
We are an agricultural family and have been for generations. We follow the changes in technique and technology and are very careful about who we purchase even locally sourced food from based on quality and how they grow their food. We know that sometimes even the pest control methods for food can cause a negative health response from the end-user!
Besides safety and health, another reason for knowing what is in your spices is the same for other locally sourced food. Local spices and herbs simply taste better. They are fresher and more flavorful!
Gluten can be found in some spice blends.