Do you love to cook? Do you like to try new flavors and recipes? Or maybe you are in a cooking rut and don’t know how to start expanding your cooking repertoire. Join the Spice Club and take your cooking to the next level with featured spices and recipes to infuse excitement and flavor into every style of meal!
The Loomis Library Spice Club hosts monthly meetings to enhance our understanding and appreciation of different cultures through the lens of spices. Each month we explore a different region, a featured spice blend, ancient grains, and more! We will provide vegetarian recipes highlighting the featured regional cuisine and sample the recipes provided.
How it works:
Each month the library will provide a spice kit curriculum package that can be picked up at the monthly meetings or during normal business hours after the meeting date. Preregister for one or all workshops!
Each kit will include:
- Information and history of a featured spice, spice blend, ancient grains, and more!. We will explore regional cuisine and cultures, and botanical information of the featured spice.
- Two or more recipes featuring the spice or spice blend.
- Pre-measured samples of the spice, spice blend, or ancient grain, for the recipes*
* while supplies last
We will meet in person on the scheduled dates (see below) for an informal meeting, and sample the featured recipes.
October 29th, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Region: Turkey
Ancient Grain: Bulgar
The process of making bulgur from wheat is an ancient that originated in the Anatolia region of modern-day Turkey, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Bulgur is regarded as one of humankind’s first “processed foods.” It has greater nutritional value and is resistant to insect pests. We will learn more about this ancient grain and sample recipes from Turkey through the Mediterranean. All recipes are adapted for vegetarian eating.
November 26th, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Region: India
Blend: Curry
The origins of curry began before the British arrived in the subcontinent of India in 1608. To understand the full history, you must return to the colonization timeline to when the Portuguese arrived in India in 1498 and introduced chili. Then came the Dutch in 1605, followed by the French who arrived in South India in 1664, and the new classification of Indian food for non-Indians was defined — it evolved and transformed throughout time. Colonization not only played a critical role in transporting Indian food out of India, it reclassified classic dishes that took on their own cuisine. We will deep dive into the history of this spice blend and sample vegetarian recipes from Southeast Asia.
December 3rd, 2024 from 6:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Holiday Traditions and Foods from Around the World
Spice Blend: Apple Pie Spice from the Local Spicery in Marysville
This custom blend of seasonings from the Local Spicery in Marysville tastes like bacon…with no added salt! It is vegan and completely natural. Make vegan “bacon” by sprinkling this smoky savory flavor on your meal. This blend is used as a finishing spice after cooking. We will deep-dive into cooking with this special blend and sample recipes that feature this bacon substitute.
