The Culinary Spice Merchants Story

As true foodies, we have been obsessed with food and spices for years. As my husband traveled the world as an airline captain, I kept the home fires burning and that literally meant creating new and exciting recipes. Along the way I attended food writing classes at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa.

Finally, we decided it was time to get serious and we created our first spice line called Dining by the Sea with our Seaside Seasonings in 2005.

That business evolved into Culinary Spice Merchants, offering fabulous spices from all over the world. We're proud members of the Specialty Foods Association, an organization dedicated to promoting foods that exemplify quality, innovation, authenticity, and ingredients. 

With times being what they are, we thought we would step back to a simpler time when food was honest…and a handshake was your word. 

So we created the Old West Collection. Each spice comes with a story that is based on real people who loved food, beginning with Aunt Lou's Special Seasoning. She was a freed slave from Tennessee who planned on striking it rich in the gold mines of the Dakota Territory. Funny how life works out. She did end up wealthy, not through her mining, but from her own incredible cooking talent.

Then there’s Mark Twain, who headed West to savor the wonderful restaurants of San Francisco. His favorite restaurant, The Cliff House, still stands today and he especially loved their apple pie. Our Perfect Pie Spice, packed with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and more, is created in his honor  because he loved that pie spice even over squash.

The 1800’s was a time of cowboys and cattle drives. The first, and perhaps only, woman to drive her cattle to market was Lizzie Johnson. Not only was she fearless on the trail, but also fearless in the kitchen. She created a secret spice recipe that she used on her cattle drives. Not even her cook knew the ingredients. So Texas Secret BBQ Seasoning was created.

The 1800’s was also a time of travel to the West which was best done by railway car. Fred Harvey decided that along the railroad stops it might be a good idea to build a hotel and restaurant for the weary travelers, staffed by beautiful young ladies of marriageable age. Worcestershire Sauce had recently been invented in England and shipped from New York to the West via railway. Mr. Harvey thought it would be a great idea to have the Worcestershire Sauce bottles on his restaurant tables. Our Powdered Worcestershire Sauce is the inspiration for that. Same sauce, only more convenient.

By the way, cowboys in the 1800’s, as today, loved their coffee from sunup to evening as they sat around the campfire. So it was natural to create Cowboy Coffee Rub. Not only is it a great BBQ rub, but also great in chili con carne.

In the 1800’s, California was still governed by Mexico and the rancheros hired Vaqueros to manage the herds. We honor those cowboys who excelled at horsemanship and roping with our Vaquero BBQ Rub. Each year at round up time, the ranchero would host a Spanish style barbecue for the Vaqueros and their families. Over a fire of live oak and willow branches, they would grill tons of steaks. A chunky spicy salsa and pinto beans completed the menu, and the fiesta continued through night with music and dancing.

We hope you love stepping back in time as much as we do.