Better food, made easier.
Spice Masters started with one idea: the spice blend is the part of a dish that does all the work. It's the most complicated bit, the bit people get wrong, and the bit that takes a lot of time every time you cook. So we blend it by hand, in small batches, and then show you how to use it.
Starting Fresh - David (Chief Taster)
I grew up in a house where you cooked from scratch. My parents had an allotment, so food was something you grew and then cooked. When my wife and I got our first home, I assumed I'd carry on the same way, and I did cook, most nights. But when I wrote down the eight dinners I started with, seven of them came out of a jar or a packet. The flavour had already been made by somebody else.
What changed it was Chinese food. Takeaway was part of our week, and I wanted to learn to make those dishes at home, which meant making the flavour myself instead of opening it. Egg fried rice was the first one I got right, and it was the moment I thought, I can actually do this. One dinner at a time, I swapped the jar for fresh ingredients.
I haven't got rid of every shortcut and I won't pretend I have. But I know the flavour is the part worth learning first, because once you can make that, the rest gets easier. Read the full story.
Meeting Mac
Then there's Mac. Our boys both played for the same local team, and that's how we met. He's a Michelin-trained chef who's been in the game for over 30 years, and he knows his stuff, especially spices and how to make food taste out of this world. He was happy to share, and he showed me tricks and tips that changed the game for me.
I thought I knew about mixing spices, but Mac was on a whole other level. He's also unassuming and humble about just how good he is, and he shares by the bucket load. Since we started making blends together, I'm cooking a much wider range than I ever did before.
Our Big Idea
Together, we started this little business because the right spice blend does most of the work in a dish. It's the hardest part to get right and the part that takes the time, and in most kitchens it ends up coming out of a jar. So we blend it by hand, in small batches. It's not a big factory. It's me and Mac, doing the actual work.
We all know that fast food and ready meals aren't the best for us, packed with stuff we can't even pronounce, and many of us grew up on easy, lazy food. But even when life's a whirlwind, we can still make something fresh and cut down on the not-so-good stuff. The trick is flavour balance, and that's something Mac has learnt over 30 years of experimenting.
Sharing the Love
We love cooking, and we want to share how much. Cooking at home is one of the best things you can do. It brings people together, it makes them happier, and it makes them healthier. And we really do need to start eating better, because too much of what we eat has been made for us, by somebody else, with things we can't pronounce.
So we share what we know. We put out recipes and cooking tips for free, and in our lessons Mac shows you the techniques that turn a recipe into a dish you're proud of. We want you to learn, try your own ideas, and share the joy of good food. One meal at a time, we're changing the world from our kitchen to yours.
Come and cook with us.
Start with a Starter Kit: four hand-blended pouches and five chef-led lessons from Mac, for £19.95. Then keep going with Learn to Cook, our monthly membership.