Potatoes and Spices: Made for Each Other

Among the most versatile foods we know is the humble potato. This accommodating vegetable, along with its cousins in the sweet potato family, can be prepared in just about any manner you wish. Grilled, roasted, fried, mashed, hashed, baked — the possibilities are virtually endless.

Potatoes of all varieties also take spicing very well. Their creamy, starchy nature provides the perfect canvas for herbs, spices and blends, from basic salt and pepper (many cooks like white pepper with potatoes) to flavored salts and complex blends.

Spices return the favor by elevating basic potato dishes to gourmet status. A pinch of saffron salt or truffle salt will transform your mashed potatoes. Our Roasted Chicken Blend, Lamb Rub and Steak Seasoning work similar culinary magic on roasted spuds. Fragrant Ras El Hanout is particularly good with sweet potatoes. Other blends to try include:

• Garlic and parsley sea salt
• Fleur del sel with black olives
• Chili verde sea salt
• Malt vinegar sea salt
• Bell pepper powder or smoked paprika with garlic salt and a touch of rosemary salt
• Zhug Spice, a bold mix of chili, garlic, coriander, cumin, sea salt, cardamom, clove and cilantro
• Hawaj Soup Blend (turmeric, black pepper, onion, cardamom, cloves and cumin) with sea salt

There are countless ways you can use spices and seasonings to create extraordinary potato dishes. Here are two easy recipes to get you started:

• BBQ and Malt Vinegar French Fries »»
• Yemenite Hawaj Mashed Potatoes »»