[Sca-cooks] Herby things

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Siobhan wrote:
>If you had the opportunity to buy culinary herbs or spices (in
>person, not via mail) that you don't normally find at your local
>store, but they could be ones you find at Pennsic, what might they
>be? E.g. juniper berries..and then, what quantity? Half ounce?
>Ounce?

Since i can buy just about any herb and spice here in the San 
Francisco Bay Area, i just buy what i need. The local Whole Foods has 
a good herb and spice section, although they don't have everything. 
Then there's Lhasa Karnak, which has a truly wretched web site, but 
has just about everything except Long Pepper. And there are Chinese, 
Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Indian, Pakistani, Afghani, 
Persian, Lebanese, Ethiopian, and other ethnic food shops.

I know i am fortunate.

The only thing i can think of that i haven't found locally is Long 
Pepper and i bought 8 oz when i was in Morocco several years ago for 
a rather low price, and recently located the package (it was lurking 
in an unpacked box for a couple years). I've heard that it might be 
at Chinese herbalists, but i haven't tried that yet.

If there were a significant difference in *quality*, or the same 
quality at a lower price, i might be induced to buy more.

Also, i like to support small independent businesses, so if i ever 
get to Pennsic, i'd certainly purchase stuff from vendors like the 
Pepperers' Guild, even if i could get it at home.

A friend and i were going to become spice merchants at West Kingdom 
events. We even had a name for our unfledged enterprise, translated 
into English, Latin, French, Italian, and Arabic. I am a Kingdom 
officer and my friend is now a Kingdom officer, but we figured that 
we could squeeze vending time into Kingdom events... Alas, financial 
down turns for us both put the kibosh on the plan. Maybe next year...

Anahita