This is a sponsored post, all thoughts and opinions are my own
RawSpiceBar is back with an exciting batch of spices for March. With March being Persian New Year month, they smartly put together a fun blend of spices that lets you dip your toes into any aspect of Persian cuisine. Persian spices are similar to other Mediterranean spices, but I would say they have some subtleties that are unique to solely Persian cuisine. Persian spices are critical to maintaining the principal tenet of Persian cooking, which hot & cold. Everything in Persian cooking is about balancing “hot” foods & “cold” foods. That doesn’t mean spicy or hot in temperature, but rather food that generates energy in your body (think cinnamon). Cold doesn’t mean icy, but rather it’s a food that provides a cooling effect on your body (think mint).
This blend is fun and allows you to try Persian spices without having to invest in a whole variety of different Persian spices.
ADVIEH KHORESH – This is a really fun spice mix and honestly every good Persian cook has their own blend. The RawSpiceBar people did a good job of capturing some of the essentials of an Advieh mix. What is Advieh? Advieh is literally just means spice, so Advieh Khoresh means spice for khoresh. This is a spice blend of coriander, turmeric, cumin, pepper, saffron, and cinnamon. I’ve touched on khoresh before on this site and you can use this blend to basically make any of the major Iranian khoresh’s, but especially gheimeh.
SAFFRON THREADS – High grade saffron is really critical to elevating your Persian cooking game. You can’t really serve any high end rice dish without saffron, it’s just not the same. This amount will allow you to test drive saffron without having to make the financial investment. I recommend you make saffron water to stretch this amount even further. Saffron is a major component to the Persian flavor profile and it’s also very prominent in Persian desserts.
MAST-O-KHIAR ROSE & HERBS – Mast-o-Khiar, literally translates to yogurt and cucumber. Yogurt is essential to every Persian dish and is used more like a condiment in Persian cooking. At every Persian dinner table, you will find a bowl of (at minimum) plain yogurt. If you’re having a party of want to elevate your yogurt, Persian cooks will often make Mast-o-Khiar, or yogurt with cucumber. It’s simple, it’s a diced cucumber mixed into the yogurt. Sometimes, chefs will just do that, but more often than not, you add some spices to the mixture to elevate it to something out of this world. This is a mixture of dill, mint, black pepper, and rose petals. It works perfectly with the yogurt and goes really well with a kabob or khoresh.
Per the usual, RawSpiceBar knocked it out of the park. If you haven’t already signed up, I really recommend you do so. It’s outrageously cheap for the stuff they give you each week. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again, you could either buy a mediocre sandwich for the cost of this subscription, or buy this subscription and elevate your cooking for a whole week!
