Spices – where to find them in Ecuador

“Someone said…”NO tumeric, dill, cream of tartar, mace, coriander seeds, italian seasoning, dried rosemary, tarragon, sage only occassionally, chili powder, and that is just off the top of my head. ”

To my knowledge, there is no Mace, but Nutmeg (nuez moscada) is the same…..I have seen Allspice, called Pimienta Dulce…..I have never seen Cream of tartar, but it must be here, I have never used it. I DO bring in Chile powder when I can for my mexican dishes. Spices come and go in the Supermaxis like all other items. When you see it and like it, buy it, you may not see it again, or for a long time. There is lots of cinnamon here, even cinnamon from the Peruvian jungle….McCormack sells it packaged, and you can also find the ‘bark.’ That is good for teas.

Many spices can be purchased at the Supermaxi in packages and in the “produce’ section there are always Fresh herbs also, I love the fresh Cammomile (manzanilla), and Spearmint is called “Yerba Buena” and is used in cooking beans, and so many kinds of mint here also, we have “wild mint” growing on our mountain….I always find Sage here, Mccormack brand, and there also is Badia, another brand of packaged herbs sold in the stores, sage is called Salvia. Use a dictionary for your spice names that you do not know…..Besides supermaxi there are many other places. I refrain from buying spices in the outdoor food markets because they can get old, sit out in the sun, lose their potency.

Dill does not grow here as a rule because no one planted it, but if you do, it grows like a weed!… so it does not have a spanish name…fennil, anis, is alot of times mistaken for it, but it grows like a real weed and would grow on a patio in a pot….. and Rosemary (Romero) grows here like weeds also and turns into little trees. We planted Rosemary 24 years ago and it turned into a foot wide, tall trunked tree! I have lots of dill seeds, if you ever get to the area I can touch bases with you in Otavalo and give you some. The plant when let to go “to seed” will give you a lot of seeds, and I cook with those also when I have a lot. (Green Pepper, Cheddar Cheese, Dill Seed Omelet, Potato Salad, etc.) Rosemary plants can be gotten everywhere in the food markets and plant places… “Romero” or anywhere they sell plants and you would ask for “Plantas de Hierbas”…they are about 35 or 50 cents… All the herb ladies in the open markets have Romero and you can buy some and dry it and bottle it.

Tarragon is sold in the little McCormack envelopes or bottles in Supermaxi and is called ESTRAGON Other places too. Estragon or tarragon is difficult to grow and you really need little plants as starters. Perhaps someone here is growing it. The spices sold in the envelopes are cheaper and you can always put them into your own little bottles.

I also recently bought some more Lemon Grass (Hierba Luisa) plants, good in cooking (especially Thai food) and lemon flavored teas, Lemon Verbena plants are also here, and you can find them, they grow well..(called Cedron) and grow to be trees. Another lemon one is Toronjil, for relaxing…..get a good book with Spanish and English references to medicinal and cooking herbs, I have several, Herbs of Ecuador by Alan White, Libri Mundi ediciones, but it could be out of print.

I was amazed to find pound bags of TUMERIC (Curcumin), which is the main ingredient in Curries, and is a powerful anti-inflammatory, while in Quito on my regular nut mission at the Santa Clara market, right across the street from the natural foods CAMARI store on Calle Marchena…..I researched it a bit and it is from Peru and some powerful things grow in Peru. Curcumin is a root from the jungle there. It is also from India and Asia and that is what I guess you get in the super in U.S.. I paid $4 for a lb. bag of it and it is the real thing.

I do bring in Chili powder though (the only spice I bring in), can’t find it here at all. Coriander Seeds are here! They can be found in the gourmet shops, like El Espanol in Quito and other coffee places there and also Cyrano bakery on Calle Portugal in Quito. I ground them up and flavor coffee and cakes with them and also add to my applesauce and cakes. Cilantro and parsley grow here on the mountain like weeds….cilantro is powerful for eliminating toxic heavy metals in your system, as well as a tasty herb for cooking various dishes. You can use the leaves or the seeds.

I am growing my own Thyme (tomillo) and it also is growing like crazy….I dry it. You can make your own Italian seasoning here…..get a recipe…there is garlic powder here and thyme and rosemary and oregano and sage… and what else….I’m sure it is here. I also grow Lemon Grass and use that in an ‘oriental’ sauce that I make with soy sauce, corn starch, black sesame oiil and garlic and the tea of that, it is good to put on coked veggies to make a sauce for over rice or quinoa…..you can get the little plants and it would grow really well on the coast. Looks like a tall grass.

Parsley is called Perijil, two kinds, the flat and curly. Supermaxi always has the fresh curly. Basil (albaca) can always be found fresh there too, and as well as the dried. I am growing a few (one time only) little plants now just to get the seeds…..there are a few different types of “Albaca” here.

I am almost 100% sure that I saw Mustard seeds there at my wholesale spice place on Calle Marchena in Quito. I have purchased Mccormack “Mustard Powder” (cheese fondue) in the Supermaxi….also dried “ginger powder”….but lots and lots of fresh ginger here…..in the Supermaxi or the market or oriental stores. There are a couple of oriental stores in Quito in the Santa Carolina (Ina Quito) market…..for black sesame oil (sometimes in Supermaxi), fish sauce, soy sauce, other things. We have one in Ibarra now I have heard, tho have not visited yet…..here is contact info for that place in Ibarra….Hong Kong Market, owned by Carlos Kong…..call (land line) 062 642 546. When calling from the Imbabura province eliminate the ‘06’.

I forgot to mention that Cumin, which is Comino, can be purchased in seed form and ground. Marjoram is Mejorana, and grows well and can be purchased…ginger is Jengibre, Chives can be purchased fresh in super…..called Cebollin, and also grow well if you keep snipping them. Most of the soy sauce in the oriental stores is Chinese. There is a good soy sauce that is made here by Ecuadorian Taoists, called VIDA NUEVA, and can be purchased at Camari in Quito as well as other ‘health food’ type places. It is alot like Tamari. They also make a Miso in a little jar.