Pepper has been called the "King of Spices"  It crosses every culture and there are many choices of enjoying the dried berries of Piper nigrum which are ground into particles of many sizes.  Like all spices, freshness is a key quality.  Parsley Porch, fine, medium and coarse ground pepper is purchased at the peak of freshness and has a mouth watering aroma.  Convenience is a primary reason for buying ground pepper.  However, as the owner, I highly recommend investing in a good pepper mill and buying WHOLE peppercorns.  Fresh ground pepper is a culinary delight often provided by servers at the finest restaurants.  Why not enjoy it every meal?  I tell my customers that grinding peppercorns is similar to grinding coffee beans prior to brewing coffee.  Taste and smell are always connected.  Let's review options for Parsley Porch whole peppercorns:

BLACK Peppercorns:  These are the most common and the fruits of a flowering pepper vine.  Sometimes they are cooked but always sun dried turning their characteristic black color.  Flavor nuances come from the soil, climate and harvesting methods.  Our "Black Peppercorns" are "Lampong" and are a very high quality grown in Sumatra (Indonesia).  Our PREMIUM peppercorns are "Tellicherry" and grown in India.  Considered by gourmet chefs to be the finest in the world, they are kept on the vine longer, are larger and have a flavor complex unequaled.  This is MY primary pepper choice for meal preparation.

4 BLEND Peppercorns:  You guessed it!  All 4 of those listed above are combined.  Terrific flavor profile and look great in a clear pepper mill.  The best of all worlds in flavor and color.

Saffron & The Parsley Porch

 

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and by weight is 20% of the value of gold.  Culinary uses of saffron go back to the Bronze Age (1500 BC) and it was celebrated in many cultures across the known world.  Saffron comes Crocus sativum and the 3 red stigmas in the female portion of each flower.  Gathering saffron is extremely labor intensive as it takes 167 flowers to produce 1 gram and there are 80,000 threads in one pound.  Since it is so expensive it is the most “pirated” spice in the world as dishonest purveyors will add floral waste to increase the weight.  International law (ISO-3632) has lab tests for saffron quality.   The content of safranal, which gives the aroma and picrocrocin which gives the flavor and color results in ungraded, saffron 3, saffron 2 and saffron 1 which is the highest grade. The Parsley Porch sells ONLY saffron 1.  Picrocrocin readings of over 200 are necessary for this rating and we have sold saffron that measures 230+ on the ISO 3632 scale.  Having a Master’s +60 in biology, and having taught 41 years, I get this.  But what my customers care about is the coloring and taste.  Since saffron has been around for 3000+ years, TASTE is how many experts determine quality.  Similarly, we can express hot peppers in Scoville heat units but we know how a hot pepper is when we TASTE it.  If Parsley Porch saffron were not of the highest quality, our sales would not be what they are.  We have over 200 products at The Parsley Porch and saffron sales makes up about 10% our total business income.  Saffron 1 is commonly sold for about $11 /gram.  If you buy the “blister packs” at the checkout you pay $3+ for 3 grains.  While grains and grams are both units of weight, there are >15 grains = 1 gram and thus you pay $15 for a gram at the grocery store.  Parsley Porch saffron is $6.50 for 1 g and $12 for a 2 g vial.  We stand by our “catchphrase”…”The BEST Spices at GREAT Prices”.  Bon appetit!

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Vanilla Beans & Pure Vanilla Extract

Vanilla beans are actually pods (like peas) of the growing form of climbing orchids of the genus Vanilla. The Parsley Porch sells the 2 most common species of vanilla beans.  Vanilla planifolia beans are sometimes called “Madagascar” beans because that is where many are grown.  They are the most common vanilla beans used by the corporate sources for vanilla extract.  Thus, their flavor is easily recognized by most people.  Vanilla tahitiensis which are grown in Tahiti and other Pacific islands are wider with superb aroma and bouquet prized by pastry chefs.  BOTH species are terrific and The Parsley Porch uses BOTH in making our pure vanilla extract, which is one product that our loyal customers rave about.  Like saffron, vanilla beans are labor intensive making them the 2^nd most expensive spice, right behind saffron.  In the USA, vanilla flavor is not prized among the average person because we grow up with so much ARTIFICIAL vanilla flavoring in cheap vanilla ice cream and soft serve, which we cover with chocolate, cherries and a variety of other toppings.  Gourmet chefs in the finest restaurants and people who make homemade vanilla ice cream know that vanilla beans provide an exquisite flavor opportunity that is absolutely top shelf. 

Since it is a lot of work to separate the seeds inside the vanilla pods and since vanillin, the chemical with the flavor, dissolves in alcohol most people turn to pure vanilla extract.  There is a LEGAL formula and recipe that one must follow in order to call it PURE VANILLA EXTRACT.  Customers often ask me “How many vanilla beans should I buy to make extract?”  I tell them it is not a number because vanilla beans can vary greatly in size.  10 big beans can WEIGH more than 2x as much 10 small beans.  Thus, the most consistent way measure vanilla beans is by WEIGHT.  The recipe:  13.35 oz. vanilla beans in 1 gallon 35% ethyl alcohol for a minimum of 60 days = PURE vanilla extract.  The Parsley Porch uses 80 proof vodka = 40% ethyl alcohol and our beans percolate in the vodka for AT LEAST 6 months and up to a year.  We go beyond the minimum that the law requires.  National brands make good extract.  The Parsley Porch makes BETTER pure vanilla extract.  We put a bean in every bottle of vanilla that we sell.  We put TWO beans in every bottle of TWO FOLD.  TWICE the weight (26.7 oz) per gallon of 35% ethyl alcohol means it is TWICE as strong so you use ½ as much.

$14 / 5 oz. bottle of Parsley Porch Pure Vanilla Extract is a top shelf bargain…$19 / 5 oz. of TWO FOLD just may be our “Best Buy”.