Spice Guide

Consistency and quality control have been a hallmark of Patak's Foods since the company was founded. The flavor of Patak's® products is heavily dependent on the quality and freshness of the herbs and spices used and as such Kirit Pathak personally supervises their selection and importation from India and around the world.

It is the grinding process that releases aromatic oils from spices and these oils create the delicious flavors of Indian cuisine. Once ground, the flavors of the volatile oils fade rapidly.

With that in mind, one of the many things that set Patak's apart from other manufacturers is that the whole spices are ground at the point of manufacture to ensure freshness of flavor is retained.

Some herbs & spices commonly used in Indian cooking:

Pepper / Kali Mirch

Pepper is commonplace on American dinner tables and in global terms is the most traded spice in terms of volume and value. For this reason, pepper has inherited the name "the King of Spices". As with many other valuable commodities, pepper has a history marred by fierce warfare, empire-building and jealously protected trade routes.

There are two types of peppercorns: black peppercorns, which come from green fruits and white peppercorns from red fruits. The unripe green fruits are fermented for a short time and then sun-dried, during which time, they desiccate, become hard, and adopt a dark brown to black color.

The red fruits are picked when almost ripe, and then are soaked to soften and loosen the outer skin. Once this outer skin is removed, they are rinsed and sun-dried, forming white peppercorns.

The flavor is down to the pepper's essential oil content. Black pepper both emits a woody, fresh aroma and has pungency, whereas the oils of white pepper tend to be removed during the cleaning process, giving it little aroma but much pungency.

Pepper of the best quality can be found from the Indian Malabar coast, from where pepper first came into Europe over 3,000 years ago. Pepper here has a sharp fruity aroma.

Pepper is a spice that will go well with any spice mix or dish. It is essential to the "garam masala" spice blend and is often used in other masalas as it enhances the flavor of other spices, neither losing its own flavor nor dominating others. As such, it is a spice that is truly invaluable in cuisines around the world.

Did you know?

The history of the United States is tied to pepper. Columbus' voyage of discovery was driven by the desire to find a source of the valuable spice.