To “spice up” means to make food tasty by adding spices. But do they have to be exotic spices from overseas, or can we do without them for sustainability reasons? To find out, we checked out our Green PearlsⓇ partners who recommended their organic spices.
The own herb garden has priority
The most sustainable way to add flavor to your food is to use herbs from your own garden. Herbs are considered spices, but by definition they consist only of “leaves, flowers, or shoots,” while spices can also include roots, bark, and more.
According to TV chef Jamie Oliver, growing herbs is easy: “Whether you live in the city or the country, on the sixteenth floor or in a basement apartment, it doesn’t matter! Just put the herbs in the garden, in a window box, in a terracotta pot or even in a bucket – and you’ll have a never-ending supply of your favorite flavor enhancers,” he advertises on his website.
At Summit Lodges Pfunds in the Tyrolean Oberland, there is no need for exotic spices. Instead, you’ll find raised beds in the sustainable vacation homes where you can help yourself to fresh herbs. “We buy our herbs in the raised beds exclusively from local nurseries or pick them ourselves from the forests and meadows of Pfunds,” they say.
Many of the sustainable Green PearlsⓇ partners have their own herb gardens for their kitchens. STURM in Mellrichstadt even has a 30,000 square meter snack garden.
Herbal seminars in September and October
If you like to learn more about the use of regional herbs and spices, there are currently two dates when you can get a special guided tour from gardener Barbara or organic farmer Rudi in the STURM’s hotel garden. The HERBS days are on September 12th and October 10th.
5 top organic herbs for your own herb garden
If you don’t already have your own spice garden on your windowsill, we recommend the following 5 herbs to get you started:
- Basil plays a central role in Italian cuisine. Its sweet, slightly anise-like flavor livens up salads and pasta dishes and is the basis for pesto.
- chives are a member of the onion family and are used in hearty dishes such as potatoes, eggs, cheese, and salads.
- oregano is a soft herb with a strong flavor. It goes well with meat dishes, cooked vegetables and tomato sauces.
- parsley should always be on hand in your kitchen – fresh parsley is the perfect finishing touch to most recipes and adds freshness to the dish.
- thyme has small fragrant leaves and is my personal favorite herb. It goes great with roasts and stews. Tip: If you can’t be bothered to pick the whole leaves, you can add the whole stems to the dish and remove them before serving.
Fresh herbs are decorative
Another advantage of the herb garden is its beautiful appearance. At the ADLER Spa Resort SICILIA, small organic herb and vegetable gardens, olive groves and orange groves adorn the hillsides throughout the resort. “From the tree to the glass of juice, from the fishing boat to the plate: that’s the motto of our farm-to-table concept.”
At LA VIMEA, Italy’s first completely vegan hotel, chef Luca Sordi goes to the hotel’s own herb and flower garden every day to pick his ingredients.
“We cultivate our own spectrum of flavors and colors for our vegan menus, also paying attention to the therapeutic potential of plants.” – LA VIMEA
“Everything grows in Liguria except pepper”
According to Elena Scalambrin of the Relais del Maro in Liguria, all the spices they use come from their own herb garden. The only exceptions are red and black pepper. Dry and sunny Italy does not have the right climate for pepper, a tropical climbing plant.
Turmeric and pepper from a Thai hotel garden
In Thailand, where our Green PearlsⓇ partner Keemala is located, both pepper and turmeric grow directly in the hotel garden. “Our guests can also book a garden tour with our chef,” reports the sustainable resort. On one of these tours, guests can learn about these “exotic” spices in the wild.
Sustainability with exotic spices – are there problems?
The Zurich-based organization “Eaternity” has calculated that our diet is responsible for about one third of all man-made greenhouse gases. Herbs and spices, however, are hardly significant – even if “exotics” such as pepper or saffron have to travel a long way to reach us, they cause hardly any greenhouse gas emissions, according to Eaternity.
Watch out for vanilla!
The only spices in the critical range are wormwood and vanilla beans. Also, as we reported in our blog post on sustainable patisserie, child labor is widespread on vanilla plantations. So be sure to look for the Fair-Trade label on vanilla!
To harvest the pepper, pickers climb ladders up to six meters high. Unsecured. As the German TV-Show Pro7 “Galileo” reported in 2019, the workers on a pepper plantation injure themselves “seriously” on average twice a year. That’s why it’s important to look closely at pepper to make sure it’s fair trade.
Here’s what to look for in sustainable spices
If you want to support fair labor where workers are entitled to safety measures, health insurance, and a fair wage, buy spices with the Fair-Trade seal! Some companies also work directly with plantations and projects, where they themselves (without a label) guarantee good working conditions. It is up to you to decide if this is trustworthy. If in doubt, the real Fair-Trade label is internationally recognized and has a good reputation.
Also, with organic spices, you can be sure that no pesticides have been used. This protects the soil and groundwater and promotes biodiversity.
Gut Sonnenhausen, south of Munich, emphasizes that not only herbs and spices are purchased organically, but ALL food.
“We use imported spices, but only in organic quality and fair trade.” – Okelmann’s (family-run eco-hotel in Lower Saxony).
These are the organic spices recommended by our Green PearlsⓇ partners.
Whether you want to avoid imported spices altogether depends on your taste and diet. At the HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio Allgäu, for example, we offer “Ayurvedic-influenced cuisine”. In Ayurveda, spices play a central role in nutrition. They are said to not only aid digestion, but also sharpen the senses. To apply the Indian art of healing, the corresponding spices such as turmeric, cardamom and cinnamon have to be imported to the Allgäu. The HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio only buys organic spices from the organic wholesaler Ökoring.
SoulSpice – fair, organic, social and plastic-free
The Hotel SCHWARZWALD PANORAMA in the Black Forest buys spices from SoulSpice. The Swabian company has set itself high ecological and social standards. The spices are purchased directly from the producers, without intermediaries, and are all organically grown. SoulSpice pays attention to fair working conditions and supports social projects in the countries of production. In Germany, where the spices are ground and hand-packed in glass jars, the company also employs 20 people with mental or physical disabilities.
Link: SoulSpice
Sonnentor – A major player in sustainability
Sonnentor, an Austrian company founded in 1988, specializes in organically grown herbs, teas and spices. It exports its organic spices to more than 50 countries and is one of the best-known brands in the organic trade.
Both the Naturresort Gerbehof on the German side of Lake Constance and the Biohotel Grafenast in Tyrol buy spices from Sonnentor (in addition to local herbs from their own hotel gardens).
Tip: Sonnentor’s current spice recommendation is “Chakalaka”. This is a South African spice blend of paprika, turmeric and coriander. It goes well with couscous, falafel and can be used mixed with oil as a marinade for grilled vegetables (or meat).
Link: Sonnentor
As you can see, you can also make sure that spices are produced sustainably and that workers in the producing countries are entitled to fair working conditions.
Finally, we have a tip for you from Gut Guntrams. In the extraordinary vacation homes on the edge of the Bucklige Welt (near Vienna): Spices are never bought ground, but always whole. Most spices taste best when freshly ground, as they still have their full aroma, which otherwise evaporates with time. To grind spices yourself, you can use either a traditional mortar and pestle or a spice mill.
Do you grind your own spices and have your own herb garden? We would love to hear your comments!
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