Spice topping toppers - value pack
Some spices are fantastic as a topping just before serving a dish. And once you get used to it, you'll find that you'll almost always want to have a jar of these spices on the table. Because a sprinkle of these flavor enhancers not only boosts the taste but also the appearance of many dishes.
- Foraged Sumac: This powder made from sour red berries can be used instead of a squeeze of lemon juice. It has a fresh, sour taste and a beautiful deep purple color. Sprinkle it over your yogurt dip, hummus, grilled vegetables, or baked chicken for an instant uplift to your dish.
- Hatay Chili: For extra spice, without making your dish immediately hot. It provides a slight kick, but also a fruitiness to your dishes. The coarse flakes are easy to sprinkle over your meal, and it pairs with more than you might think. Delicious in combination with sumac, but also in pasta dishes, over salads, or over a chickpea stew.
- Sicilian Spring Thyme: We are huge fans of the look of this thyme. The small purple dried flowers make it something special. This thyme is better suited as a sprinkle spice than when cooked or baked with your dishes, as heat causes it to lose some of its aromas. A pinch at the end of the cooking process, however, provides fresh and peppery aromas and, of course, the characteristic thyme flavor. Delicious over salads, dips,
Frequently asked questions
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Air, light and moisture are not good for the quality of your spices. Therefore, store them in a tightly sealed jar or tin that does not let light through (or in a dark kitchen cupboard or drawer). Do not store them above your stove, as cooking fumes can get to them there. Make sure that you transfer spices from a repack into a tightly sealed jar or tin as quickly as possible.
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The shelf life of spices is primarily determined by the loss of flavour that occurs over time, as they otherwise don't really go bad. We use a best-before date of 2.5 - 3 years after harvest. This depends partly on the time of packaging and also on whether they are whole spices that you need to grind yourself or pre-ground powder.
Spices in the supermarket have often already been on their way for 2-3 years before they are even packaged, and then receive a best-before date of another 3-5 years. Above all, use your senses to determine if they are still good. At some point, there's just no flavour left, which is a shame for a good meal!
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We do not have organic certification, despite our spices meeting these standards. All farmers work in harmony with nature and without pesticides, but the certification process is unfortunately very expensive. It is actually unaffordable for small farmers. And we want to show them that it is worthwhile to grow spices sustainably. That there are people willing to pay for a quality natural product and that they don't first have to make a huge, impossible investment in the form of certification.
Some of our farmers do have the certificate. Cooperatives, for example, can apply for the certification process jointly, which makes it much more affordable. However, to be able to state this on the packaging, our entire chain would also have to be certified, including the Social Workshop where the spices are packaged. This is currently not possible, as they also work for other non-organic producers. So, in short: no, we are not officially certified, but the quality and way of working are at least as good.
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Single Origin means that a product comes from one specific place. Often, harvests from different places, sometimes even from different countries and different years, are mixed together. Traders do this to develop the cheapest possible product with a consistent taste. With us, you know exactly where your spices come from, right down to the name of the farmer. This also means that the quality can sometimes vary, as it is a natural product. For example, one year may be drier than another, which can lead to a change in taste. But our farmers always strive for the highest possible taste experience, and you can taste it!
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We always strive to purchase the latest harvest. It can happen that we still have some harvest in stock when the new harvest is already ready. So we cannot always guarantee that you will get the very latest harvest, but we do strive for that as much as possible. On the packaging, you will find a QR code to a page where you can find out exactly when your spices were harvested and when they were filled into the tins/bags. With this, we aim for full transparency in our process.
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We ship to most European countries, but this will, of course, incur higher shipping costs. Would you like to order from a country that isn't listed? Please contact us so we can explore the options.
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At Sociale Werkplaats Siza, they do their utmost to pack the parcels the day after the order. If it's busy, it might take an extra day. They don't work on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, so if you order on a Thursday, for example, it will take a bit longer for your parcel to be shipped.
Once the parcels are ready, they are collected by the Groene Rijders and delivered by their bicycle couriers in the areas they serve, or outsourced to PostNL. Depending on how busy they are, they also aim to deliver within 1 working day.