Organic toasted Colombo blend

The Colombo spice blend is certainly one of the best-known spice blends, along with ras el hanout and Indian curry. It's a blend that also bears witness to the history of spices and the various conquests, immigrations and voyages around the world.

What is the Colombo spice blend?

If two spices stand out in this blend, it's turmeric, which gives the blend its yellow-orange hue, and coriander. Between them, they account for more than fifty percent of the blend. If it's called Colombo, it's because it's Sri Lankan, lost, the spice blend is indeed Indian (from the south) but it doesn't owe its origin to Sri Lanka's economic capital Colombo. You can talk about Colombo blend or Colombo spice blend on the spot, but more than one Tamil will misunderstand your question, and with good reason.

The famous Colombo is in fact a blend of spices used to prepare Kuzhambu, a dish in sauce very common in Sri Lankan Tamil and Tamil cuisine. There are hundreds of varieties. Difficult to pronounce, its name has been changed to Kulambu, bringing it closer to Colombo.

So why is Colombo one of Reunion's most popular dishes? At the beginning of the 18th century, a trade between India and Reunion Island was established, and the slave trade began. In 1704, 15% of the island's servile population were Indians, a figure that rose to a quarter 5 years later. To support the development of the sugar cane and coffee industries, the island's governor supported the Indian slave trade, and hundreds and thousands of Indians from the south of the country landed on the island. The name Malbar was unfortunately coined for the Tamil slaves from the Malabar coast of India.

We can imagine all these people uprooted from their homeland, taking their spices and recipes with them to recreate some semblance of local life. Colombo became Reunionese.

What to do with Colombo spice blend?

Like Kuzhambu, Colombo recipes are numerous and depend on the region and the family. Originally, the Colombo blend was not strong, but rather mild, and even the most spice-averse savor it with pleasure.

Shrimp, chicken, veal, pork, fish, rabbit - there are countless colombos to choose from! West Indian colombos are generally stronger than those of Indian origin, because they contain chili pepper, which at the time was not a spice endemic to Asia, but to South America. Chilli plants were brought over by the French in 1710, when the island came under French "control", its position on the route to India being a real boon.