Abundant adulation at the aromatic altar of Penzey's

Back in 2004 when Penzey's started asking for suggestions for locations for new stores, I may very well have submitted Boston a half-million times. Having been a regular catalog customer since 1998

They obvious took my spamming seriously and opened a store in Arlington, MA in 2005. I was somewhat ecstatic.

Today, I'm a regular there, spending more money than is necessarily necessary, but I keep telling myself the the boost to my quality of life is worth it.

Saturday's run netted:

Mexican vanilla pods
Cumin seed
Fennel seed
Zataar
Dill weed
Anise seed
Sweet Hungarian Paprika*
Crushed, dried jalapenos
A Russian season blend called Tsardust Memories

While Penzey's has a lot of what I'm looking for, they have far from everything. I finally made it to the Indian grocer today and picked up:

Whole coriander**
Methi seed (whole fenugreek)
Amchur powder (powdered mango)
Black sesame seed
Asafoetida, aka heeng powder (of which I am a bit afraid. It's called Devil's Dung for a reason; it smells horrible, but supposedly mellows out quite a bit when heat is applied).


* I have clear memories throughout my childhood of my mother preparing a chicken for roasting by rubbing it inside and out with paprika. I asked her why and she told me that it just makes it colorful. "Is that all? Doesn't it taste good, too?" I asked. She said that paprika didn't have any flavor of its own, and I believed this until Saturday. I've been adding paprika to everything! Warm and rich and subtle, it rounds out most things I've tried it with. WTF Mom?

** In the "I learned something new today" department, cilantro is the leaf of the coriander plant.