Sunday, March 14, 2010

Spicy

With the demise of Pete's Spice and Angelica's there is but one place left to buy herbs and spices in the East Village and that is Dual Specialty Store on 1st Avenue. I can spend hours (ok not hours, but many, many minutes) roaming the aisles of this fragrant shop. There is not a single thing on the shelves that isn't utterly captivating.

I bought a bag of mixed lentils and beans, with the phrase "Ask for recipe" on the label. The man at the counter tried to give me a recipe for cooking rice, which is obviously nothing like cooking dried beans.

Their website is very pretty, and completely different than the store's ambiance. The "About Us" section is worth a look.




3 comments:

Laura Goggin Photography said...

I bought a 'chewing stick' in there recently. I'd never seen such a thing...a stick in a zip-lock bag labeled 'vanilla' (the other choice was cherry). Post-martini hour, it seemed like such a great idea, but in the end, it really was just a stick in a bag...

Anonymous said...

Ha! I bought a box of that great looking psylium husk, with the "modern" factory and candlestick phone(!) years ago as a gag gift. The website is indeed lovely. I like that they sell spices in competent glass jars...
-e-

marjorie said...

i love love love that place for bulk spices, seeds and apricots. but my favorite product is this coriander paste in a jar that is serious yum (i use it in stir-fries, mix it into salad dressing, dollop it on fresh pan-fried fish). i'm addicted. occasionally, seasonally, they also have indian mangoes for crazy-cheap -- so so so so delish.

i like looking at the shampoos and soaps, too -- fun labels.