Being a bit fed up with buying little jars of spices when we run out and also finding that a lot of spices in epiceries and the like can be a bit on the faded side (at least round here), I’ve been looking at on-line suppliers. We use quite a lot of smoked paprika for various recipes and recently discovered that the Spanish pimenton is just such a beast.
Has anyone experience of this supplier? The prices seem reasonable…
I haven’t used these people because I use Mes épices, who have virtually everything and it might be worth comparing. We drive to Spain two or three times a year, so buy various paprikas down there. However, I’ve just noticed that the Mes épices smoked paprika is A.O.P. so should be very good indeed.
(Paprika fumé doux - Pimenton de la Vera - Achat en ligne - MesÉpices.com)
Thanks Mark. They seem to be very similar companies with similar pricing. I shall have a good look at that one since you have experience with it!
We buy virtually all our spices from them and have done so for several years. I like the fact that they offer many spices in seed rather than ground form.
As well as bhadourian in Lyon we have used this online company recommended in this thread
What is particularly good from there, Mark? Had a quick look and wondering about their ail des ours persillade for a tagliatelle with mushrooms.
I don’t know that one Karen - apart from dried green peppercorns (less intrusively acrid than black) I mainly buy whole grain Middle Eastern /Maghreb spices. Even if one can find some of them around here, they’re invariably ground and maybe not very fresh.
If I was planning a mushroom tagliatelle at this time of year, I’d be tempted to splash out on some cepes;
For Indian spices, I have used
@imtiazhasan has also recommended
Haven’t tried them yet though, although they do seem to have quite an extensive range.
I use Annachi and they haven’t disappointed in either choice or freshness! Prices and speed of delivery are also quite good.
That sounds good. A friend made a pesto with ail des ours.
My experience of any conserved wild garlic products is that they don’t really work thaf well and loose the subtleties of the flavour. We just eat it during the short period of the year when we can collect it fresh.
As with so many things… fresh is marvellous.
However, I’ve had some success with freezing herbs… then (out of season) just adding, as required to the hot cooking-mix, where they defrost in situ… 
Do you freeze the herbs as whole leaves, Stella? We have a bumper crop of sorrel and mint after the last rains revived everything!
Thank you for all your spice outlet suggestions, everyone. Most useful!
I’ve done all sorts… depending on what one has on the go… remove woody stems though… you only want to freeze what you would enjoy eating…
incidentally, I freeze lemon juice and/or zest… when lemons are plentiful and cheap (?)
Just thought I’d mention that at the Piegut-Pluviers market Wednesday mornings, there’s at least one stall with spices! You might want to consider the markets in your area, especially any of them that are year-round markets.
Sorrel we cook, and then freeze in ice cube trays. Not exactly the same, but enough to add some flavour.
We’ve got a couple of stalls on local markets that sell spices, but as I’ve noted above, they’re usually ground rather than en graine and I doubt that the sellers have the turnover on many spices to ensure they’re fresh. For that reason, even though I prefer to support local traders, I buy all my spices online apart from cinnamon sticks .
We have quite a large Turkish community, so the spices on the Turkish stalls are pretty good & fresh.
gosh… I suspect they’re rather interesting, too
Nothing that wild. Sumac - which we love - Za’tar mix, allspice, nigella, then the standard cinnamon, cumin etc.