The Swedish - Canadian spice trade...

There's no secret that I'm a bit obsessed with spices, I have a spice rack that even I sometimes shake my head at. The saying "So many spices so little time" has never been more apt!
I think it's amazing how the same ingredient can take on so many different shapes with just a little help from a jar of something fragrant, colorful and utterly tasty.

Imagine the chicken if you will. A chicken that can travel the distance from South America with cacao and chili, up north to Cajun and hickory across the pacific ocean to Japan with soy and sesame and then slip over to china with a taste of sweet and sour, down to Thailand for a bit of lime and cilantro, then off to the curry pots of India, stopping by Lebanon for the lemon and cumin scene and a brief visit to north Africa with a lovely taste of Cinnamon before hitting the European kitchens that offer garlic, parmesan and basil. How I'd love to be that chicken!!

I share my passion for flavors with many members of my family, but maybe most of all with my amazing aunt Annette who resides in Canada. When other people bring chocolate (well OK, we do that too..),  cheesy souvenirs and booze (...and sometimes that too...) when they go see family abroad, we usually focus on the spices that is not available to us at home. Like the newer series that Santa Maria has put out on the market here in Sweden with a Wasabi/sesame, a green harissa, a piri piri and lime/mint and many many more. Off the go to Canada for approval and great reviews. In return I find my spice collection expanded with amongst other goodies ground rosemary, ground bay leaves, ground jalapeno and heavenly Montreal Steak spice. We do this a lot and I'm so happy to have the possibility to have access to spices not commonly found here at home. Needless to say I have to travel quite a bit to keep my stash up to par....