It's summer, it's hot, so it's not surprising to see Senegalese or Egyptians drinking hibiscus flower juice all day long. For thousands of years, the Egyptians' Karkadé (carcadet) has helped to lower body temperature, which is particularly useful when the midsummer temperature flirts with [...].
Of Arabic origin, the word "coffee" comes from "qawha". Coffee was introduced to Egypt in the 15th century (during the Mamlûk period) from southern Egypt (Nubia) via Yemen and Arabia. The Mamlûks had complete control over the trade, which was initially limited to the upper social classes. As you may have read in [...]
A big thank you to the Kissmychef team for their spontaneous article on Place des Epices. A gastronomic news magazine that smells of passion! https://kissmychef.com
5th to 11th centuries: the world's spice trade in turmoil In 410 AD, the Visigoths sacked Rome. The ransom amounted to several thousand pounds of pepper. This was followed by a period when the world spice trade came to a halt, notably following the invasion of North Africa [...].
It's quite clear that we're not all in the same boat when it comes to buying tomatoes as summer approaches. Of course, we'll be avoiding imported, graded tomatoes straight from Northern Europe, after having transited by truck or plane through the Mediterranean basin, if not further afield... [...] [...].
A friend of mine asked me to make him a special organic gingerbread mix (he's from the Dijon region, so his request came as no surprise). Admittedly, it's not really the season (though?), but it still has major nutritional benefits, especially for marathon runners and trailers. Gingerbread [...]
You've all got them in your kitchen cupboard: pepper, curry, saffron, papryka, turmeric, cinnamon... But according to the French fraud control authority, there is a lot of fraud - up to 81% for saffron! Do you really know what's on your plate? For RMC, Marie Dupin unveils this Tuesday an investigation by the French fraud [...].
It's spring, and summer is fast approaching - on the 21st we'll be there. Barbecues and salads will be the order of the day for a few months, with aperitifs and fine dining among friends and family. I've prepared 3 "special barbecue" mixes, one traditional, one west-facing and one east-facing. The latter is a blend of [...]
It's decided, the barometer seems to want to stay on the up and up, so the barbecues are out. Olive wood, beech wood or charcoal for the less patient, it doesn't matter what you use as long as you've got embers. So get out your chicken legs (or sleeves only), remove the skin (except for the [...]) and [...].
Alexander's conquest of India... 326 B.C. // year 47 We stopped at the beginnings of the future Suez Canal, 500 years B.C., which would have made it possible to avoid the long route taken by Ishmaelite merchants to Egypt. Alexander the Great entered India from the north-west in 326 B.C. when he [...].
In the beginning... 4300 B.C. // 520 B.C. The discovery and trade of spices has seen empires rise and cities fall, and great powers succeed one another, but it has also served to bind together different eras of human history. The spice trade was the starting point for [...]
Barigoule is originally a mixture of mushrooms stuffed with bacon, shallots and carrots. There are different ways of writing it, depending on the era and region of Provence (bérigoule, barigoula, barigoulo, brigoule, bourigoule or baligoule). Our recipe here is much simpler. For [...]
Here we are, our organic grocery store is now online, and our first article! What a pleasure, a long and beautiful story will be written throughout these pages, these years as we travel and discover around the world. November will be our "first" trip (first for Place des Epices, because we travel [...]).