Savory Spice Shop, a Much Needed Addition to the Oklahoma City Food Scene

November 13, 2012Katie

Oklahoma City in all its wonderfully diverse food scenarios that we all know and love has been sorely missing out on one thing – a great spice shop.   I’ve often wondered where to buy spices in Oklahoma City, especially those hard to find spices like saffron or vanilla beans. I’ve also wondered where to buy fresh spices, you know…those that haven’t been sitting on a shelf for months, maybe years?

Well, glory be Oklahoma City, our problem is solved! The void has been filled in the form of one Savory Spice Shop that recently opened at the corner of 43rd and Western Avenue.


If you know where the Western Concepts cluster of restaurants are like Sushi Neko, The Lobby Bar and Mushashi, you’ll be able to find Savory Spice Shop. It’s right across 43rd Street from The Lobby Bar.

Meet the co-owners of Savory Spice Shop – Able Blakley and his mom and business partner Debra.

Let me just tell you first-off, both are about the nicest people you’ll ever meet. They fit into our friendly food culture in Oklahoma like a lost piece of the puzzle. But, it’s not their first time in Oklahoma.   Able is returning to Oklahoma after a brief stint in Colorado, where he first developed his love for the spice business and decided it was his fate. Able grew up with his parents Danny and Debra near Douglas, Oklahoma on their family farm.  Together they are creating a much needed addition to the Oklahoma food scene by bring us Savory Spice Shop.

Walking into the spice shop this weekend, I was impressed by the organized groupings of some fabulous spices, herbs, peppers and rubs. The inside is airy, well-lit and bright which closely matches the warm personalities that exuded from every worker I met while I was there.

The spices are nicely grouped in sections…like this curry section.

There are groupings of special salts.

Notice how there are large or small containers of everything?  There are a few reasons for that, the first being those small containers on the shelves, the front one being a test bottle. You can smell or taste any of the spices at the store before you buy them. The second is that if you decide you want a bucket full of Lavender Vanilla Bean Sugar or just a teaspoon of it, that’s exactly what you can get. Also, the spices are freshly ground in small quantities, so you’ll never get a batch of any spice that’s been sitting around for a long time.   And that’s just plain fantastic for us and the culinary creations we love to conjure up.

And there’s so much more to see and educate yourself about at Savory Spice.

I had no idea so many incredible spices existed, and if I didn’t know what Bhut Jolokia Chile was, why I could just read about it right on the jar, because there is a nice large white label with all the info about it typed right out for you. Did you know that Bhut Jolokia is the Ghost Pepper?

 

Did you also know that I wouldn’t touch that stuff with a ten foot pole for fear I’d burn my eyes out of their sockets when I put in my contacts?  I’ve already been there with jalepenos my friends, and can only imagine the ghost pepper burn.  There are NINE ghost peppers in 1/4 ounce of that jar!

Speaking of chiles, Savory Spice has a bevy of chiles ranging from whole guajillo peppers to Chinese red pepper.

They also have one shelf full of dried varieties of mushrooms.

There is also a large section of rubs for everything from steak to chicken to pork.

And with the holidays coming, how about this for a fun gift for your favorite foodie friend (like me!) or family member?  They have gift boxes, like this one just for Thanksgiving.

In fact, when I was there Sunday, they were packaging up multiple boxed sets for gifts that a company had purchased for their employees. What a great idea!

There are in fact, several gift items I would love to have, as would most foodies…mortars and pestles, spice or pepper grinders, cookbooks, tiny Microplane graters just for spices like nutmeg or cinnamon sticks and those wonderful gift packs.

I love that Savory Spice Shop also carries a line of organic herbs and spices as well and I saw them all over the store.

There are so many more things I could share with you…things like exotic herbs like fennel ponnel, grains of paradise, Korean black garlic and more…

Things like Tahitian and Madagascar Vanilla Beans, which quite possibly could be the best price you’ll find around for good quality vanilla beans.

You just need to visit Savory Spice Shop yourself to see them all…

Oh yes, they offer special classes on the different kinds of spices. They also have some culinary delights cooked up on Sundays around 4-5 p.m.  Check their Facebook page to keep updated and follow them on Twitter as well!

If you’re looking for the Savory Spice Shop Cornbread recipe we made on this morning’s show, you can find it by clicking here.

And if you want to watch us make the cornbread…click Play below!

 

I can’t wait to return to the shop to purchase some more of those fantastic spices I saw…next on my list – Black Truffle Salt! See you there!

3 Comments

  • Jean Larason

    January 20, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    Do you have black garlic cloves?
    1. Katie

      January 25, 2016 at 10:26 am

      Jean Larason - You might think I am the store but I am just writing about it - you may try calling them and asking at the number listed?
  • nevada roots

    December 31, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    nevada it's where my story begins Savory Spice Shop, a Much Needed Addition to the Oklahoma City Food Scene | Dishin

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