Big-League Spices

Restaurant chefs have access to a lot of products that are unavailable to home cooks. But things are starting to change. Truffles, other seasonal exotics and fancy produce are now at upscale markets. And a Utah company, J.L. Owens Ltd., which has been wholesaling spices and flavorings to top chefs and culinary schools only, now markets these products to home cooks as well.

Doesn’t impress you? The vanilla powder should. Made from crushed vanilla beans, it has a more powerful flavor than liquid vanilla extract. That’s because alcohol-based extracts evaporate or burn off during baking. On top of that, the powder is four times stronger than liquid and at $11.95 for 4 1/4 ounces (the equivalent of 17 liquid ounces), a good buy. Try it in homemade ice cream, pastries, whipped cream and candy.

Other natural products include intense almond and lemon powders, Chinese cinnamon and Real Salt (an Owens brand mined in Utah from a mineral rock salt deposit and packaged without additives). Spice blends include five-peppercorn, Italian herb and Cajun with no MSG added.

Can’t make up your mind? Why not order one of everything Owens makes--10 4-ounce jars for $39.95. After all, spice is the variety of life.

J.L. Owens Ltd. P.O. Box 760 Midway, Utah 84049 (800) 782-5629 MasterCard, Visa