When you’re ready to spice things up this winter, start with your dinner. You can kick those bland meals to the curb by checking out some of these top stores around Vacaville, California. If you need some inspiration, a few of the following options even offer cooking demonstrations to help you get started.
Whole Spice
Located a half-hour southwest of Vacaville in Napa’s 40,000-square-foot Oxbow Public Market, Whole Spice is the place to go if you’re looking to fully stock your spice rack. With over 500 spices, herbs, salts, and sugars, you’ll find everything from allspice to zhug. As you walk around the store, make sure taste some of the yummy samples of freshly prepared herb and spice dips. The store also offers cooking programs that include recipes from international cuisines so you can learn to make something new.
County Square Market
Located in Vacaville, County Square Market is an Asian specialty market selling a variety of spices and foods. Head to the sauce aisle to find everything from low-sodium soy sauce to hard-to-find items like sushi vinegar and tahini paste. The tea aisle has an extensive selection of black, green, herbal, ginseng, and oolong teas from around the world. Plus, you’ll find an excellent selection of common and rare produce. If you’re not sure how to use particular ingredients or prepare certain dishes, be sure to sign up for one of their free cooking demonstrations.
Preservation & Co
Travel just over a half-hour northeast of Vacaville to downtown Sacramento to find Preservation & Co. If you’re looking for sauces, some of the popular handcrafted options include blackberry fig barbecue sauce, Bloody Mary cocktail sauce, and Bloody Mary marinara. You can also pick up a citrus rosemary salt that gives your meat a tangy zest. If you’d like to add some spice and flavor to your food by marinating it, consider the habanero dill pickle brine or the hickory pickle brine.
The Allspicery
The Allspicery is another great option located in Sacramento. This one-stop spice shop offers an excellent variety of high-quality spices, herbs, and spice blends from around the world. If you’re shopping for spices, you’ll find everything from your traditional onion powder, rosemary, and basil leaves to the more obscure cinchona bark, leek flakes, and black lime. When you’re really ready to spice things up, the chile selection includes Carolina reaper, ghost chile powder, and hot smoked paprika.
Nugget Markets
With a store near the Nut Tree Complex in Vacaville, the family-owned Nugget Markets wants to make sure you always have what you need to prepare those spicy meals. Along with a great spice department, you’ll find a fine selection of fresh, local, and organic produce. The meat and seafood department always offer quality cuts, and you’ll even discover hundreds of specialty cheeses from around the world to make your meal complete.
When you’re looking to take your meals to the next level, be sure to explore these great spice-shop options around the Vacaville area.
Image via Flickr by sara marlowe licensed under CC BY 2.0
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