Celebrate our Earth’s culinary bounty with this Terra Kit! These ingredients highlight earthy and botanical flavors, perfect for adding richness to comfort foods or complexity to traditional dishes. Use this kit to explore international flavors right in your own kitchen, with tasting inspirations from all around the globe. Use #culinariekit to share your creations with us, or join our Facebook group to show us what you’ve cooked up!

The Ingredients

Some ingredients are subject to change based on seasonal availability.

Fonio

Fonio is a West African ancient grain that is just starting to gain popularity in the United States, and for good reason! These little grey and white grains fluff up to make a textural, flavor-absorbing side or base for a dish. Its comparisons are somewhere between couscous and quinoa, but fonio is packed with nutrients and has a distinct, earthy flavor all its own.

Fonio Cooking Tips

• Follow the instructions on the bag, it’s about as easy as it gets! It’s a 2:1 ratio (water:grain), simply simmer, let stand, and fluff with a fork. If it seems soggy? Leave it on the heat a little longer. Too dry? Add a splash of water.
• To make a rich side dish, make your fonio pilaf-style by using broth or stock in place of water.
• Craving something sweet? Do a quick butter and brown sugar version like you would with corn grits!

Bourbon Smoked Cacao Nibs
or

Bourbon Smoked Vanilla Sugar

Cacao nibs are nothing more than roasted cacao beans crushed into smaller pieces. They’re a wonderful way to get a natural chocolatey flavor without overwhelming sweetness, while the subtle flavors of bourbon and smoke add a new depth.

The bourbon smoked vanilla sugar is pretty self-explanatory: bold smoke and luscious vanilla are infused into cane sugar to lend depth to the usual sweetener.

Bourbon Smoked Cacao Nibs Tips

• Add cacao nibs to a smoothie or milkshake for a tasty and textural crunch.
• Grind into a fine powder with a coffee or spice grinder and add to baked goods.
• Add these little bits to homemade trail mix for a healthier chocolate component.

Bourbon Smoked Vanilla Sugar Tips

• Go simple by using a sprinkle of this sugar in your coffee or tea for a more complex morning beverage.
• Use a pinch of this sugar alongside powdered sugar to make a deliciously unique cookie icing.
• Use anywhere else you’d use regular cane sugar when you want a bolder result!

Bourbon Smoked Cacao Nibs Recipes

Chocolate Mousse [Bourbon Barrel Foods]

Chocolate Dipped Pecan Sandies [Bourbon Barrel Foods]

Paella or Basque Seasoning

Paella is probably the most famous (and delicious) Spanish dish. It’s traditionally made with various types of seafood and saffron-kissed rice and served in the same cast iron pan where it was cooked, family style. Basque seasoning also hails from Spain, celebrating the Mediterranean flavors common to the Basque region, highlighting sun dried tomato and smoked paprika. These seasoning blends can help you achieve those flavors with a lot less effort, and whatever ingredients you choose!

Paella or Basque Seasoning Tips

• It’s not just for rice! Stir some into the water before you make quinoa, bulgur, couscous, farro, or any other grain–like fonio!
• Not into seafood? That’s fine. Use any other protein or vegetable and you can still make a delicious paella. It’s really all about the rice and a well seasoned pan.
• With seasonings this bold, it’s best to build your entire meal around the spices. Choose a grain that will absorb the flavor well, a protein that will be complimented by the saffron or sun dried tomato, and vegetables with a mild flavor to not overpower the dish.

Kampot + Salt or Ferla Blend

The Kampot + Salt from Curio Spice Co. is an almost-all purpose seasoning with complimentary notes of tarragon, citrus, and ginger. Kampot is a peppercorn that hails from Cambodia and was nearly wiped out at one point in history. It has a unique flavor that certainly sets it apart from your standard black pepper.

For those who received the Ferla, you could probably smell this earthy herb blend from Curio Spice Co. right when you opened up your Terra Kit! It’s a powerful combination of herbs that make you feel like you’re roaming the Tuscan countryside.

Kampot + Salt Blend Tips

• This Kampot + Salt blend is ideal for flaky fish baked in the oven.
• Press tofu and season with Kampot + Salt for a cold snack or salad topping.
• Use with SoLA Deli’s hibiscus + sage olive oil to roast carrots for a truly unique and colorful side dish.

Ferla Blend Tips

• The herbs in the Ferla blend make it ideal for a simple pasta dressing. Combine with olive oil, kosher salt, and some freshly roasted veggies for an incredible comfort food meal.
• Use this blend to add “oomph” to stews, especially with umami-heavy proteins.
• Sprinkle on baked goods like croissants or fresh breads after applying an egg or aquafaba wash.

cHarissa Spice Rub

cHarissa brings an authentic, complex harissa flavor profile to your dishes with ease. Delicious and lightly spicy, this spice blend works great in full dishes like stir fries, but also rubbed into proteins and vegetables.

Harissa Spice Rub Tips

• Use a dash to kick up a squash soup like pumpkin or butternut, the spice will ignite fall flavors.
• Combine with tomato paste and Tree Juice maple syrup for a mind-blowing meatloaf or lentil loaf glaze.
• Mix with full fat coconut milk for a speedy and delicious stir fry sauce.

Harissa Spice Rub Recipes

Harissa Sauteed Mushrooms [cHarissa]

Harissa Avocado Toast [cHarissa]

Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup

If you’re not from the Midwest or the East coast, chances are you’ve spent a lifetime pouring imitation maple syrup on your pancakes. This is no such syrup! The maple connoisseurs at Tree Juice make their delicious craft syrups in New York. Their bourbon barrel aged has a woody, whiskey-tinged taste that isn’t overpowering. Don’t waste this enchanting amber sauce on simple pancakes–taste it, bake with it, and let it bring your sweets to life.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup Tips

• Use in place of sugar in any recipe for an earthier, richer result.
• Add a dash to a homemade balsamic vinaigrette for a salad dressing that will actually make you crave salads.
• Make four-ingredient candied nuts: real maple syrup, vegetable oil, sea salt, and your favorite nut (we like pecans).

Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup Recipes

Cast Iron Chipotle Maple Cornbread [Culinarie Kit]

Maple Bacon Roasted Pumpkin Seeds [Food Network]

Sweet Breakfast Quinoa [Food & Wine]

Curry Paste

Entube takes the guesswork out of some very complicated flavor profiles! Their harissa, curry, and mole paste come sealed in a convenient tube for adding to recipes. This yellow curry paste has a mild heat and loads of flavor.

Curry Paste Tips

• Combine with full fat coconut milk (the stuff in the can) for the world’s simplest curry sauce.
• Stir into the water you use to cook your rice for a delicious curry pilaf.
• Did you know that curry and cheddar cheese go great together? Try a squeeze of this curry paste in your next batch of broccoli cheddar soup.

Culinarie Exclusive

Tisthe Seasoning Blend

Just in time for fall comes Chef Ellie’s Tisthe Seasoning. Nutty, earthy, and reminiscent of the holidays before your drunk uncle ruined them. Use this spice blend and your selective memory to enjoy holiday nostalgia by adding it to sweet loaves, cookies, chili, buttered toast, or your morning coffee.

Tisthe Seasoning Blend Tips

• Use it anywhere you would use cinnamon for a more complex, warming flavor.
• There’s a teensy tiny bit of heat to this seasoning, thanks to the inclusion of crushed Aleppo chiles. It’s not enough to scare the kids away, but it’ll perk up your dessert just a hair.
•  While this seasoning blend has a sweeter profile, there is zero sugar in it–don’t be afraid to try it in savory dishes!

-OR-

Heckdust Seasoning Blend

Smelly’s Brunch seasoning blends are created by Culinarie’s own Executive Chef Ellie (aka “Smelly”). The Heckdust Seasoning Blend is her spicy masterpiece, mixing ancho and aleppo chiles with smoked paprika and toasted onion. It’s got just enough heat to make you notice (hot as heck, not hot as hell!) with savory notes that will amp up the blandest dish.

Heckdust Seasoning Blend Tips

• Add a dash to a batch of chili for a more interesting heat than your classic cayenne pepper.
• A light sprinkle will take a pair of overeasy eggs to the next level.
• Toss with roasted brussel sprouts or kale for a healthy and delicious snack.

Don’t toss that cloth that your ingredients came wrapped in! It’s flour sack towel and every kitchen needs one…or twenty. They’re huge, they’re absorbent, and they’ve been used in professional and home kitchens for ages because they’re so versatile. You can use this towel to clean, or use it to cover dough while it rests. You can even use it as a substitute for cheesecloth in a pinch–it’s great for wringing moisture out of vegetables. Best of all, they’re durable and can be washed by hand or in a machine.

All Culinarie Kit packaging is 100% recycled or reused from our vendors’ shipments! Please continue the trend and reuse or recycle your Culinarie Kit box to help save the planet.

Loving your Terra Kit? Did you whip up something great? Let us know on our Facebook page, tag us @culinariekit on Instagram, or join our Culinarie Cooks Facebook group to share your creations.