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.
MARCH 26, 6 pm
Allspice, with its warm and aromatic flavor, has been a staple in traditional cuisine for centuries. From the Caribbean to the Middle East, allspice has woven itself into the fabric of traditional dishes, adding depth and complexity to a wide array of recipes.
We will explore the roots of allspice in culinary traditions, uncovering the historical and cultural contexts that have shaped its use in traditional cuisine. We will also examine the challenges in preserving these time-honored recipes in the face of modernization and changing culinary trends. Join us as we celebrate the enduring allure of allspice and sample recipes both sweet and savory.
APRIL 23, 6 pm
SPECIAL GUEST! Local Spicery owner Nick Davoren, will join us to talk about the Local Spicery’s SOS blends for salt, oil, and sugar-free diets. These special flavorful blends are good for anyone wanting to spice up their meals. (Salt can always be added at your discretion). The Local Spicery in Marysville, CA, personally mills, blends, packages, and sells their products when they are at their peak of freshness. Once ground, spices begin to lose flavor as essential oils react with atmospheric oxygen. The Local Spicery offers maximum flavor and aroma because they mill only what they need in small batches.
We will have samples of their special blend, Depth, featuring umami flavors: meaty, earthy, savory, delicious ~ just what the name implies. Use as dry rub; add to stir fries, casseroles, risotto, soup & stew; heat w/an equal amount of oil to make rue for veggie/meat wine sauce. We will sample recipes using this blend, and talk with Nick about his passion for spices.
This unique blend is hand blended in small batches with: onion, long pepper, kombu, milled porcini mushroom, and sun-dried tomato.
May, 28, 6 pm
Region: Mediterranian/California Spice: Rosemary
Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) is an aromatic, perennial evergreen shrub in the mint family (Labiatae) native to the hills along the Mediterranean, Portugal, and northwestern Spain. And it grows well in California! We will highlight the history, stories, and legends behind this potent herb and taste recipes using fresh and dried rosemary. Fresh Rosemary will be our take-away as well as recipes, its history, and samples of the recipes to enhance your learning and your taste buds!
June 25, 6 pm
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.
July 23, 6 pm
Region: California, Fresh Herbs
Summer is all about eating the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables that grow locally in California. We will taste several dishes made with fresh ingredients and feature fresh herbs to add that particular– boost of flavor. We will highlight some herbs grown in the UC Master Gardeners’ “Inspiration Garden” right here–outside the library. We will discuss growing and cooking techniques to bring out the fresh flavor in every meal.