The name of bayleaf is synonymous with quality because we strive to provide nothing but superior products to our customers. This commitment is evident in everything from our award-winning specialty finds like Le Bon Magot chutneys and Silk Road teas to our discriminating selection of top shelf pantry staples including Ritrovo pastas, Arboreo rice, green and black lentils, and Prairie Bottom Farm Rockwell beans.

We are often asked, then, wouldn’t it be logical to add a rack of select culinary herbs and spices such as turmeric, tarragon, and tellicherry peppercorns to our repertoire?

Herbs and spices – the leaves, seeds, berries, bark, and other oil-rich plants parts – are used to lend desirable flavors, colors, and even health benefits to foods. There are hundreds of varieties of herbs, spices, and blends with near countless applications. Little else in the food world can add such complexity and soul to a dish, so it stands to reason that these seasonings should also be held to nothing but the highest possible standards.

However, it takes dedicated, specialized focus to be a purveyor of such a varied and volatile consumable. This is why bayleaf yields to the experts and recommends that you do too. We depend on the masters of mace, mustard seed, and marjoram – World Spice Merchants in Seattle – when sourcing the seasonings we use for our paella catering and baking. The botany, plant chemistry, and culinary arts professionals at World Spice Merchants practice a keen attention to detail by buying directly from the source and inspecting (and tasting!) each shipment to guarantee only the best garam marsala, grains of paradise, ginger, and more end up in your soup.

Unlike wine, herbs and spices do not get better with age. With these fickle botanicals, fresher is always better. Larger commercial businesses typically make one-time, bulk purchases to provide grocery stores with their coriander, cumin, and cardamom. World Spice Merchants buys small, frequent quantities thus guaranteeing quick stock turnover and optimum freshness. To further safeguard freshness and flavor, these seasoned specialists sell both ground-to-order (within 24 hours of shipping) and whole herbs and spices in suitable quantities – one ounce to one pound – for the home cook and the restaurant chef.

So, while bayleaf leaves the bay leaf, basil, and bergamot business to the pros, we do offer many tasty recipe necessities including Maldon sea salt, Ritrovo salt b lends, soy sauce, vinegars, honey, olive oil, harissa paste, tomato paste, and more.

Sage advice

-Buy whole spices and grind as you go (choose a mortar and pestle or an inexpensive coffee grinder)

-Give whole spices a quick nonstick skillet stovetop toast before grinding to further develop the vibrant flavors

-Store spices away from the light, heat, and moisture

-Store ground herbs and spices no longer than six months, and whole variations, roughly one year.

-Buy only from reputable dealers such as World Spice Merchants to ensure your fennel, fenugreek, and five spice is of the highest quality, unadulterated, and legally and sustainably obtained.