Saffron is the golden stigma of the purple fall crocus and is the world's most expensive spice. The value of this spice is derived from the fact that it is such a labor-intensive crop. Only five to seven pounds of saffron can be produced from each acre of land. The flavor of saffron, however, is very concentrated. One gram of saffron is enough to flavor forty servings of saffron rice or two large batches of paella. Our genuine Spanish saffron comes in a decorative tin.

Discover a livelier way to enjoy your favorite foods. Discover Whole Spice a small, family-run business dedicated to bringing you the highest quality, hand-picked and freshly ground whole herbs and spices. At Whole Spice we bring together both spices and cultures straight from our kitchen to your table. Your next meal deserves the fresh, heavenly look, smell, and taste of our fine herbs and spices. We hope you are as delighted by our spices as we are to make them for you.

Mexican vanilla beans are some of the most expensive in the world. These beans are 8 inches in length, with approx 100 beans in 1 pound. They have strong vanilla aromas with long glossy pods and rich chocolate tones. These vanilla pods come directly from Veracruz, Mexico. Vanilla is a gift of Veracruz, Mexico to the world. The Aztecs used vanilla: tilxochitl (black flower) to perfume a drink called xocolatl (chocolate), prepared with vanilla and cocoa for the first banquet offered to Hernan Cortes. Bernal Diaz del Castillo (historian of the events of the New Spain) asked with great interest to a tlahuilli (servant) what was the emperor and all the great personalities drinking with such delight. He informed him that this was the drink of the gods. He was so amazed by the exquisite flavor that he asked to see the fruits used to make it.   When shown the cocoa grains and the black vanilla beans he was overwhelmed by the incredible perfume of the brown beans known as xanath (vanilla flower) by the Totonacs in the millennial forests of the Totonacapan region that gave such fragrance to that drink. [+]

18cm beans. All our Tahitian vanilla beans are Grade-A. We import only the highest quality Tahitian vanilla beans directly from our farm on the island of Raiatea, French Polynesia.

Mexican beans, while similar to Madagascar, have a smooth dark and creamy flavor with a rich, spicy, woody fragrance. Some will argue that they are the best. They are perfect for many baked goods, so try them in crème sauces, ice cream, and other wonderful desserts or recipes.

Discover a livelier way to enjoy your favorite foods. Discover Whole Spice a small, family-run business dedicated to bringing you the highest quality, hand-picked and freshly ground whole herbs and spices. At Whole Spice we bring together both spices and cultures straight from our kitchen to your table. Your next meal deserves the fresh, heavenly look, smell, and taste of our fine herbs and spices. We hope you are as delighted by our spices as we are to make them for you.

What is Finishing Salt? The best way to discover finishing salts and begin using them is to try them with your own cooking. Look at them up close, admiring the extraordinary range of shapes and colors, noting how they refract, reflect, or obscure light. Touch them, feeling the crests and edges, letting your fingers snap flakes or crunch chunks, plunging a spoon through a glistening mound of it. Then of course you taste them, and with every dish comes a new discovery as infinite variations of mineral contents and moisture contents and crystal structures and crystal sizes combine in your mouth and the flavors, textures, and aromatics of your food. Our starter sets are the best way to explore finishing salts, whether you are a veteran chef, or have never even heard of finishing salt before, or both! Our aim is on to provide you with salts that are practical and salts that are playful, and some salts that are just plain startling. Our basic starter sets each include six salts. * Fleur de Sel de Camargue, A delicate well-rounded fleur de sel with irregular crystal shapes for bursts of flavor * Sel Gris de l'Ile de Noirmoutier, A high-moisture content French salt with larger crystals for high-heat and dissolving * Maldon Flake Sea Salt, A delicate flakey salt from the UK. Snow-flake texture for a unique experience * Turkish Cyprus Black Pyramid Salt, A dark black pyramid-flake shaped salt, adding color and geometry to your cooking * Alaea Sea Salt, A bright red dry salt from the Hawaiian island of Molokai * Barrique Chardonnay Smoked Salt, This fleur de sel has been smoked in oak casks in which Chardonnay wine was aged for 5 years, lending the salt a beautifully fruity aroma and flavor. Each set comes with a brochure explaining the world of finishing salts, as well as suggested uses.

If only the best will do, then you definitely want to try our premium sea salts. Faerie has chosen a selection of sea salts that get rave reviews from everyone that tries them. The gourmet French sea salt, fleur de sel, enjoys a well deserved reputation as the 'caviar' of sea salts. Not to be outdone is poudre de sel, the ultra-fine Celtic sea salt that adds a light dusting of flavor to everything it touches From Portugal comes creme de sal, the pristine equivalent of fleur de sel that is becoming as popular as its French cousin. We've also included our three flake salts ? murray river pink, cyprus white and cyprus black ? due to their exquisite appearance and ability to melt onto food.

This exotic looking tin contains 1 ounce of Mancha quality Saffron filaments imported from Spain. Saffron is one of the world's most precious spice composed of a variety of Fall blooming crocus. Each flower produces three delicate red stigmas known as saffron. During the harvesting, each flower is carefully handpicked and each thread is peeled, toasted and packaged. Over 6,000 flowers must be handpicked to produce 1 ounce of mancha saffron. It has a very long shelf life when kept in an airtight container away from direct light and a small amount goes a long way. Steep a few pinches of threads in warm water, broth or alcohol for 20 minutes and then use this "tea" and thread mixture to add a unique flavor and aroma as well as a lovely yellow color to rice, pasta, dessert, ice cream, fish and both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Discover naturally fresh, premium quality spices and taste the difference in all your dishes. We are Spicy World, bringing you the best spices and ingredients from around the world. We travel throughout the world purchasing the finest quality spices available, and fully guarantee our products. Experience the difference with our naturally fresh spices that taste, smell, and look great. We are a 100 percent customer-oriented company that is family owned and operated, and are proud to be your source for quality foods from around the world.

Discover naturally fresh, premium quality spices and taste the difference in all your dishes. We are Spicy World, bringing you the best spices and ingredients from around the world. We travel throughout the world purchasing the finest quality spices available, and fully guarantee our products. Experience the difference with our naturally fresh spices that taste, smell, and look great. We are a 100 percent customer-oriented company that is family owned and operated, and are proud to be your source for quality foods from around the world.

Wind and sun naturally evaporate ocean water to create sea salts.   Differing mineral content and harvesting methods produce the unique look and taste of the individual sea salts in our collection. Coarse sea salts provide great taste and visual appeal.   Keep our plastic grinder top jars next to the stove or on the table to conveniently add delicious, freshly ground sea salts to your favorite foods. Whether you are already passionate about sea salts or are trying them for the first time, our coarse sea salt sampler is a great way to find the perfect salts for your taste.   Try fourteen delicious coarse sea salts for one low price. grey sea salt (sel gris)smoked french sea salthawaiian red sea salt (alaea)hawaiian black lava sea salthawaiian jade sea saltlime & coconut smoked sea saltnew zealand sea saltbalinese sea saltperuvian mountain spring saltbolivian rose mountain saltsal do maralderwood smoked sea saltbay sea saltcaribbean sea salt We are also pleased to offer each of our coarse sea salts in regular (½ cup) and medium (1 cup) jars at special collection prices.   All of these superb salts except our grey sea salt (sel gris) is also included in our grinder collection - sel gris is too moist to use in grinders.   Please see individual pages for each of these salts for more size options.

Discover a livelier way to enjoy your favorite foods. Discover Whole Spice a small, family-run business dedicated to bringing you the highest quality, hand-picked and freshly ground whole herbs and spices. At Whole Spice we bring together both spices and cultures straight from our kitchen to your table. Your next meal deserves the fresh, heavenly look, smell, and taste of our fine herbs and spices. We hope you are as delighted by our spices as we are to make them for you.