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The Spice House - Evanston, IL

ronnie_suburban
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karnesky

karnesky

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The interesting thing is that I was Vehemently against doing business on-line. I thought it was so anti-everything that our company is, a wonderful olfactory experience where you really have to come in and smell and taste the old-fashioned way.

For those who are unfortunate enough not to have visited the Spice House, the smells are really under-reported in this thread. I was first drawn to the store when I could smell it from several blocks away on a particularly nice day in Evanston. I am very glad that when I do leave this city, I will be able to conveniently order the quality spices.

Also, thank you so much for the Northwestern University discount! It has helped to make this poor student's cooking much more fun and tastier.

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WHT

WHT

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WHT, are you sure your mother-in-law does not have it in for you and is trying to do you in with the innocent msg as the murder weapon?! Just joking, you seem to get where we are coming from. You just can't be all things to all people.

As I mentioned I do use MSG sometimes in cooking. I still find it funny how it only sometimes causes a problem for me. You are right it could be strychnine and I am blaming the onion soup mix. For selfish reasons I have never decided to experiment and see how much MSG it would take to make me get a headache.

Living hard will take its toll...
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Hopleaf

Hopleaf

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report: the back of the yards blend is awesome. Tried it on turkey breast, just a bit of olive oil and then the rub. Delish! and best of all, no sickly sweet smoke flavor.

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." -Ernest Hemingway

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ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

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I was in the neighborhood this morning and stopped into the Evanston location to pick up a few items. I got to meet Patty (wave to Patty :smile:) and we chatted for a while. As usual, everyone was very nice, and very helpful. It turns out that (at least) one of the employees who was there today is a student at CHIC (sorry NeroW, got too distracted to connect the dots) and The Spice House makes a practice of hiring culinary students. As Patty told me, that practice is in place to maximize the culinary knowledge of the in-store staff. Customers benefit because they can get quality answers to questions that don't pertain specifically to spices. Great policy, IMO and another point of separation between The Spice House and their competitors (do they actually have any competitors? :wink:).

I bought some fresh nutmeg and a handy grater which doubles as a storage vessel. Also picked up some red chili flakes, pink peppercorns, and sesame seeds in white and black. I came home after work and put those new chili flakes and sesame seeds to work on some fresh green beans (along with some canola oil, soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce) in my grill-top wok. 10 minutes later, they were attractively charred and absolutely delicious. It was wonderful actually tasting the little bursts of heat the pepper flakes conveyed into the finished dish. I looked at my old inventory in the cabinet, realized that those red pepper flakes (from the grocery store) were actually brown now. Into the garbage they went. :smile:

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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WHT

WHT

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report: the back of the yards blend is awesome. Tried it on turkey breast, just a bit of olive oil and then the rub. Delish! and best of all, no sickly sweet smoke flavor.

The Bridgeport Seasoning along with the Greektown blend are ones I use a lot.

Living hard will take its toll...
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  • 1 year later...
ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

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Today's Chicago Tribune reports that the Spice House is carrying 3 new spices: Sichuan peppercorns, crystallized ginger nibs and bittersweet, crunchy roasted cacao nibs.

For details, click below:

Off the shelf

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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lynnbeth_

lynnbeth_

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Several years ago I was the pastry chef of the now shuttered Soul Kitchen in Wicker Park. Browsing this post reminded me of a multi-course dinner we did in conjunction with the Spice House. Co-Chef's, at the time, Monique King and Michael Clark and I went up to Evanston and like kid's in a candy store, selected spices and herbs that inspired us to create dishes for the dinner. A few weeks later, we had a menu and a restaurant full of eager diners. Patty and Tom were there to talk about the spices and herbs that we had chosen. Man, I wish I had saved a menu! I do remember with fondness the palate cleanser I prepared - red wine granita infused with Spice House Mulling Spice Blend - got raves! In my brief interaction with them, the Erd's struck me as people who were passionate about what they do and really care about bringing quality products to the public. I may have to make a trip up to Evanston for some mulling spices... even if it is July.... :smile:

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Tess

Tess

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I got the peppercorns and the cacao nibs! They had the nibs out to taste and they were so good I bought some. I put them in some coffee, and that was fine, but have no idea what else to do with them.

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  • 8 months later...
ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

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According to today's Chicago Tribune, The Spice House will be featured on the April 22 episode of Real Simple Television, set to air at 3:30 p.m. CT on WTTW-Ch. 11.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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ulterior epicure

ulterior epicure

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According to today's Chicago Tribune, The Spice House will be featured on the April 22 episode of Real Simple Television, set to air at 3:30 p.m. CT on WTTW-Ch. 11.

For those of us not acquainted - what is the show "Real Simple Television" about?

u.e.

“Watermelon - it’s a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash your face.”

Italian tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)

ulteriorepicure.com

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ronnie_suburban

ronnie_suburban

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According to today's Chicago Tribune, The Spice House will be featured on the April 22 episode of Real Simple Television, set to air at 3:30 p.m. CT on WTTW-Ch. 11.

For those of us not acquainted - what is the show "Real Simple Television" about?

u.e.

Check out this link to the show's official site.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

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  • 2 years later...
CaliPoutine

CaliPoutine

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Kerry Beal, Prasantrin and I made a visit to the Spice House in Evanston last Saturday. To say I was like a kid in a candy store would be an understatement. Kerry and I love it so much, we had to make another visit on Monday to the Chicago location.

gallery_25969_665_253625.jpg

A few years ago, I placed a mail order and then when Penzey's opened in Detroit I went there. I actually prefer the Spice House to Penzey's. I love being able to see the spices in the jars and to have someone package them up for me. It was just so exciting, I swear I was giddy walking around inside.

Everytime I go to Florida, I look for salt-free adobo and can never find it. I'm glad I got some at The Spice House. I dont know what I'll use it for, but I'm still excited :biggrin:

Randi

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  • 2 months later...
T Raveret

T Raveret

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A few years ago, I placed a mail order and then when Penzey's opened in Detroit I went there.  I actually prefer the Spice House to Penzey's.  I love being able to see the spices in the jars and to have someone package them up for me.  It was just so exciting, I swear I was giddy walking around inside. 

I so agree with you. I live in Milwaukee. They put a Penzys 2 minutes from my house but unless its an emergency I always make the 20 minute drive down to The Spice House. side by side The spice house is fresher packed from bulk rather than paked boxed and shelved...penzys is too much like mccormicks (ok maybe thats pushing it ...but just a little)

I also love the feel of the store its old wooden floor and shelves and then theres the smells!! ohhh I feel very lucky to have found them. I first learned about them in the 80's when my sister lived in Flordia and would order from them.

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