The Ancient and Stimulating Spice Industry | Ian Herbie Hemphill #027

Ian ‘Herbie’ Hemphill is an Australian foodie legend. He and his family have been educating us about spices and herbs for over 50 years. 3 Generations of herbs and spice Hemphills.

Ian Hemphill’s lifelong experience in the spice industry means we can gain the “inside story” into the ancient and stimulating spice industry.

Herbies have a product range of over 200 items, including over 100 spice blends, all developed by Herbie and made daily in the Herbie’s Spicery on the Central Coast of New South Wales.

The Hemphill’s hobby is also their passion, their business, and their livelihood.

Ian is the author of books:

• The Spice and Herb Bible.
• “Spice Travels – A Spice merchant’s voyage of discovery” – Ians personal anecdotes and travel stories.
• He runs Herbies TV.
• Spice Notes.
• Herbaceous.
• Spicery.
• Sticks, Seeds, Pods and Leaves.

• The worlds second oldest profession.
• One of the most lucrative businesses.
• It was used as a currency. – Using something with actual value.
• Spices were used as a status symbol. 
• Myths of spices about the way they were developed.
• Pepper corn rent – pepper corns were used to pay rent. 
• How have we lost our appreciation for this highly valuable commodity? Have we become numb and ignorant to the abundant healing power and importance of spices?
  • Mass marketing has reduced spices to commodity status. 
  • Adulteration means consumers are not exposed to true quality spices.

• Vajikarana – Sukra vardhaka – aphrodisiac that increases reproductive tissue and strength.
• Rakta dhatu (Blood Tissue Health) – Increases haemoglobin thus good for anaemia.
• Heart – enhancing the lymph and blood tissues (rasa and rakta dhatus) encourages blood flow through the circulatory system. Good for angina (inadequate blood supply to the heart) and cardiac congestion.
• Enhances purity as it is very sattvic herb, which enhances love and compassion.
• For mental health and brain health.
• Nervous disorders – rejuvenates majja (bone marrow) and sukra (reproductive) dhatu, thus good for vata and degenerative diseases.
• Skin conditions such as discoloured patches of the face. External applciation.
• Cures headache – topical application.
• Ulcers, worms, vomiting.

• Rasa (taste) – katu, titkta (pungent, bitter)
• Virya (energy) – usna (heating)
• Vipaka (post-digestive effect) – katu (pungent)
• Gunas (Qualities) – snidgha, laghu (unctuousness, light)
• Doshas – Tridoshic. Can heat pitta in excess.
• Karma (Action): Yogavahi (catalyst)

Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice! and most expensive commodity! more expensive than gold!

With a street value on average of around A$20,000 per kilo.

A double handful of saffron weighing about 1 kilo, will contain at least 200,000 stigmas. – the female organ on the flower, held by the male pollen/organ, called the stamen.

• Hand picked.
• Origin – Kashmir (5%), Iran (over 90% of worlds supply, 360 tones a year!), Spain ( biggest exporter, thus importer).
• Different grades.
• Best quality – Kashmir – is the whole stigma with a little bit of style.
• Medium quality – Iran, afganistan.
• Inferior quality – Persia.
• Amount of land to produce how much stigmas – 5 acres/ kilo of saffron.
• 170,000 flowers = 100kg flowers = 1kg dry saffron.

• Safflower petals, corn silk, coconut fibre, and even dyed shredded crocus petals were passed off as saffron.
• How to test? Dissolve water test. – Real saffron takes 15-60mins to release the golden hue. Artificial saffron releases a redder colour, and aroma is like sandalwood. Learn to test here.
• In the past, there were saffron police in Germany

To use saffron:
Soak in warm milk, better not boiled.

• World supply shortage.
• From $50/kg to $500/kg.
• Second most expensive spice in the world.
• The most fluctuating spice in price.
• Make your own Vanilla bean paste by simply warming 1 Tablespoon of glucose syrup and stirring in 1 teaspoon Vanilla bean powder.
• Can only be pollinated by one particular bee that is native to Mexico, and that is also nearly extinct. 
• During a shortage, Coca Cola used 20% of the vanilla supply for Vanilla Coke!
• Curing vanilla is a complex process.

• The importation of seeds of any kind has become more difficult due to new Australian bio-security regulations introduced recently. October 2019.
• That combined with low harvests in India (Herbie’s source) and Guatemala (another major producer) you may have to stock up on whole green cardamom pods, and peel the husk away to avail yourself of the seeds as you need them.
• That’s what Herbies is doing in order to continue to include ground cardamom in retail packs.

Sanskrit synonym: Suksmaila

Rasa (taste) – katu and madhura. (pungent and sweet)
Virya (energy) – Sita (cooling)
Vipaka (post-digestive effect) – Madhura (sweet)
Guna (qualities) – laghu, ruksa (light, dry).
Doshas: KV-
Karma (action):

• Pitta vata hara
  • Pitta hara due to sita virya
  • Vatahara due to madhura vipaka.
• Swasa, Kasa (Asthma, dyspnoea)
• Arsa (Piles)
• Dysuria

Krsna Ela (Black Cardamom) has a very strong odor and camphor like quality.

Rasa (taste) – katu and slightly madhura. (pungent and sweet)
Virya (energy) – Usna (heating)
Vipaka (post-digestive effect) – katu (pungent)
Guna (qualities) – laghu, ruksa (light, dry).
Doshas: KP- and Rakta- (pacifies blood)
Karma (action):

• Vatakapha hara – Kapha hara due to usna virya and katu vipaka.
• Deepana (enkindles agni)
• Itching, thirst, nausea, poison, diseases of mutravaha (urinary tract)
• Swasa, kasa, vomiting, headache.

• Fresh vs dry – Dry is more potent, with the active ingredients concentrated. More pure.
• Easy to grow, but hard to get a good quality. 
• Extracts vs. Whole herbs – always go with whole herbs.

2 types of Turmeric:

1. Madras turmeric – from Tamil Nadu. More light yellow in colour.
2. Allepy turmeric – much darker in colour. Higher curcumin content, a more superior fresh turmeric flavour. More unctuous due higher cur cumin content.

Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) is the most thoroughly researched plant on this planet!

And I don’t blame the scientists for the 5600 peer-reviewed and published biomedical studies.

Check out  the medicinal benefits and Ayurvedic perspective of turmeric HERE.

Australian Native Pepperberry (Tasmannia lanceolata)

• Didn’t come from Asia.
• The pungent aroma of chilli and its hot, sinus-clearing, throat-searing substance called capsaicin permeated the air at India’s famous chilli market in Guntur, the largest chilli market in the world.
• 50 acres dedicated to just the market!
• Hundreds of tons of chillis.
• Make sure they are fully dried to avoid mould. Dry to around 12% moisture content.
• The sugar caramelises when you dry them to create a rich, robust and quite complex flavour. 

In this podcast, Herbie mentioned it has a toxin in it. While this toxin may be present, I still forage pink pepper corns from the trees growing around the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.