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In Vietnam, people don’t talk a lot about spices, Vietnamese people prefer herbs and nuoc mam and some fresh spices such as gingember, curcuma, chilli and pepper. But what people usually don’t know is that Vietnamese minorities cook and treat diseases with spices since very long time, for example with talauma or pepper from mountain tops. Most popular spices of the minorities are black cardamom and star anise which are only on cloudy plateaux from the North. There are two ranges of spices at Verticale. The first one are spices that are usually used in daily Vietnamese cuisine (cinnamon, nuoc mam, star anise, turmeric, ginger...). The second range are rare spices that come from remote regions, mountains or from the minorities. The following spices are available at La Verticale shop.
We have a lot of rare spices, they are:
- Wild honey
- Nuoc mam 15 years
- Nuoc mam salt
- Pollen from the forest
- Fresh star anise (anise of 15 years in general)
- Fresh coriander seeds in salted water (also called Caviar from the gardens),
- Ambrette
- Wild pepper (also called pepper from mountain tops)
- Pepper from Phu Quoc Island
- Minorities’s spice
- Talauma
Talauma:
“It’s a rare spice from a tree that can reach 20m high found in the North Vietnam. The picking is in September and October. This tree is threatened because of its precious wood, the cutting of its wood continues although the government is banning it. The seeds of this tree have to be on the market and people have to say about the problem to save the species. The Talauma seed (that women like its little anise smell) is used in cooking by populations in the mountains for game and buffalo meal.
I use the Talauma powder with braised foie fras or for veal sweetbread. Of course it’s ideal for game. I have a friend that put it on the scallop. I find that on fish it calls for travel…" The following spices are those usually used in daily Vietnamese cuisine: | Spices | Ingredients | How to use | Weight | Price | | Cinnamon (Cannelle) | Soft from North Vietnam | For dessert and for marinated meat and fish | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Curry d’Halong | Coriander, turmeric, star anise, spices | For fish and seafood, good for sauce | 25gr | 3.5USD | | “Pho” | Anise, cinnamon, ginger, black cardamom | For “pho” soup, sauted beef and seasoning steak | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Retour des minorités | Talauma, wild pepper, black cardamom, minorities’ spicies | For marinated and seasoning pork and venison | 25gr | 4.5USD | | Hanoi 5 spices | Anise, cinnamon, black cardamom, pepper, ginger | For seasoning, marinated and roasted pork, veal | 25gr | 3.5USD | | “Nuoc mam” salt | From Cat Hai | For last minute salad and fish | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Chilli salt | Red chilli from Center Vietnam | For raw vegetable and green fruits | 25gr | 3.5 | | Corlou 3 peppers | Wild pepper, white and black pepper from Phu Quoc | To crush last minute on salad, meat | 80gr | 4.5USD | | Coriander (Coriandre) | Selected from North Vietnam | Good for salad and fish | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Turmeric (Curcuma) | Selected from North Vietnam | Good for fish, colored sauce and rice | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Red Chilli (Piment fort) | From Center Vietnam | To spice your sauce | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Star anise (Badiance) | From North Vietnam | Good for fish, consommé and dessert | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Clous de girofle (Clove) | From North Vietnam | For soup and marinated meat | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Black cardamom | Light spice from North Vietnam | For soup, sauted beef and pork | 25gr | 3.5USD | | Ginger (Gingembre) | From North Vietnam | For seafood, fish and sauted vegetable | 25gr | 4.5USD | | “Black sesame | From North Vietnam | For salad and dessert | 25gr | 3.5USD | | White sesame | From North Vietnam | For salad and dessert | 25gr | 3.5USD |
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