What is the most wicked section of the supermarket? It’s definitely the spices. Those little jars are full of the exotic scents of far-off lands, enticing the unwary shopper to all manner of intemperate, hot-blooded…er, actually, they’re just ludicrously overpriced.
The other day I was shopping at QFC, and I had mustard seeds and crystallized ginger on my shopping list. The mustard seeds were destined for Babbo Salmon, the ginger for a biscuit recipe from The Family Kitchen. A quarter-cup jar of mustard seeds (1.4 ounces) was selling for $4.69. A half-cup jar of crystallized ginger (2 ounces) was going for about $11.50.
In marketing parlance, I am a price-sensitive consumer, which means that I will freak out rather than pay $4.69 for mustard seeds, which are among the cheapest of all spices. [Penzeys](http://www.penzeys.com/) sells a pound of mustard seeds for $3.80, which means QFC is charging 14 times as much. Penzeys also charges $3.29 for 3 ounces of crystallized ginger.
Anyway, I wasn’t going to make a special order from Penzeys for two items, and I wanted the stuff now. So Laurie went to Madison Market, the local natural foods store, and got me 1/4 cup of mustard seeds from the bulk section, for less than 50 cents, and a half-pound bag of crystallized ginger for $3.
Jars of evil, I tell you.
And here I am freaking out at the prices Penzeys charges.
You can also try the local Indian grocery stores. I am Indian and we use spices such as ginger powder, cardamom, mustard seeds on a daily basis. I get them fresh from India most times:) If I run out of them, then the Indian stores on the East Side are a good bet. Much cheaper than the tourist trap store at Pike Place.
I’m pretty sure Penzey’s prices are as high as they are because they’re trying to carry only the top end of the quality range. They’re still vastly cheaper than traditional American bulk retail spice companies like McCormick, who charge $300/pound for ground cardamom in tiny bottles.
The Penzey’s saffron I have is considerably redder and more uniform than anything I’ve seen in a store, even Latino or Indian markets. It’s great stuff.
World Spice on Western is your friend…
Cheaper (and fresher) than Penzey’s in most cases.
Oh, I do like World Spice, although our annual Penzeys order is a matter of tradition that will not be tampered with. For one-off stuff I do try to go to World Spice.
You probably already know this, but there’s a Penzey’s in Portland now, down near Clackamas Town Center. I’ve not had a chance to go yet.
Here in SE Michigan, the Arab stores also carry a wide variety of fresh spices in bulk. (I’ve seen many kinds of mustard seed there, but not crystallized ginger, though.)
tparr, not only do I know this, but I bought approximately a ton of spices there last December. It was great.
Oh, note that I mixed up–Laurie got the cheap stuff at Madison Market, not Rainbow Grocery. My mistake.
PFI. Or World Market. But PFI is my go-to place for bulk spices, but dammit if it’s been 6 months since I’ve been there. I hate living in suburbia sometimes.