Saturday, April 26, 2025

We say naturally good because all the herbs, spices and chilies that access spices sells contain almost no calories or fats. But if you learn to use them in your cooking, they can have a big impact.

Mary Smith wants everyone to spice up their life. Her newly founded business, Access Spices, aims to provide fresh, rare and flavourful spices that transform ordinary food, without adding fat: “You can really play with the spice to avoid using what you’re trying to avoid in your diet.”

Cooking with herbs, spices and chilies instead of fat, sugar and salt doesn’t mean your taste buds will suffer. Smith’s simple chili paste is proof: “Cut three whole chilies and tap out the seeds. Cover them in boiling water and let them sit for about 30 minutes. Pop them in a blender with onions, garlic, cumin and oregano and go.”

The paste works as a rub for meat, or base for stews and slow cooker dishes.

Smith says: “Even if you don’t like heat, don’t be afraid to try some of the milder chilies because they really don’t have that spicy heat to them. They’re just adding a depth of flavour with a little bit of smokiness or a little bit of fruitiness to it.”

If you’re meek, try paprika. If you’re daring, go for the green Serrano chili.

Smith believes using good quality spices introduces you to subtle flavours you may not notice in grocery store seasonings. And avoiding pre-mixed rubs cuts out unneeded ingredients: We never use MSG in it. No anti-caking. And a lot of the store bought pre-made spice mixes have a lot of additives in them. If you look at list of ingredients, it’s maybe 50 things long when there’s really only four spices in it.”

If you keep your pantry full of fresh spices, even health food won’t lack flavour.

The word fresh is key here. Smith says most ground spices start to lose flavour after three to eight months. so the fresher, the better.