Passion for Spices Team™ Wishes You a Happy New Year

January 5, 2025 Nicholas McTernan

The Passion for Spices™ Team would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Passion For Spices™ is a life style brand where we invite young kids/teens, to adults, to corporate teams to come experience a culinary event while breaking bread together. We are thrilled for the brand expanding and solidifying, and we are able to offer quality services and products to local families and business communities. Here are the featured pillars of our Passion for Spices™ brand. We are looking forward to a fun and exciting 2025.

The Three Featured Pillars at Passion for Spices™

Curated Culinary Experience
Organic & Kosher Spices
Food & Culture Travel (Launching Soon)

Curated Culinary Experiences

Our Curated Culinary Experiences from Around the World showcases Mediterranean, Latin, and Asian cuisines.
Here is what to expect:

Highlights of our Curated Culinary Events:

Women In Business Culinary Event

Women In Business Tapinto article

Asian: Taste of Thai

Latin: Evening in Spain

Mediterranean: Taste of Tuscany

Upcoming Cooking Classes

Around the World Cooking Camp Week One: American Road Trip

Jul 7

Jul 7, 2025 – Jul 11, 2025

Around the World Cooking Camp Week One: American Road Trip

Jul 7, 2025 – Jul 11, 2025

Jul 12

Jul 12, 2025

South Indian Dosa Party

Jul 12, 2025

Around The World Cooking Camp Week Two: Around the World [SOLD OUT]

Jul 14

Jul 14, 2025 – Jul 18, 2025

Around The World Cooking Camp Week Two: Around the World [SOLD OUT]

Jul 14, 2025 – Jul 18, 2025

After School Kids and Teens

Our annual Kids and Teens Summer cooking camp will start July 7th till August 8th. Our Winter Season After School class is also being offered this week as well.

Kids and Teens After School Class

Organic and Kosher Spice line:

Our organic spices are a welcome addition to any culinary adventure, regardless of genre. Our two spices, Keralan Curry and Kashmiri Garam Masala are available.

Keralan Curry

Great for grilling meat, seafood, poultry, and veggies. Use this versatile spice blend at cookouts, this earthy and smokey blend will turn every backyard barbecue into a celebration. Use it in the kitchen everyday for grilling, braising, soup, salads, and roasting.

Recipes Featuring Keralan Curry

Buy now

Kashmiri Garam Masala

Kashmiri Garam Masala is great for grilling lamb, poultry, and veggies. Also, try the spice in pies, cookies, and cakes. This aromatic spice blend could be used in many baking, sweet and savoury dishes.

Recipes Featuring Kashmiri Garam Masala

buy now

Passion for Spices™ offers a perfect gift for upcoming holidays, a gift of cooking for you and your loved ones. The gift card can be redeemed for the spices and the exclusive culinary events.

Buy now

Cheers to everyone from the Passion for Spices™ and happy Holidays to all.

Here is a complimentary recipe for the Holidays, a cocktail and an accompanying mocktail.

Spiced Cranberry Spritz

Cranberry Shrub Cocktail

Passion for Spices™ is Thankful for Breaking Bread with Communities

November 27, 2024 May Fridel

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year to show your gratitude for your family friends and community. Passion For Spices™ is grateful for all of our clients, friends and family, who have come to our cooking school, enhanced their culinary acumen, while breaking bread.

We are very appreciative of our wonderful team at Passion for Spices™ which make this all happen. It gives us joy to share the culinary knowledge and showcase the foods of the world while promoting healthy eating and sustainable lifestyle practices.

Women in Business Inspirational Leadership Luncheon

Here is an TapInto **article** by Bobbi Pier showcasing a Women in Business luncheon that Passion For Spices™ hosted recently.

Please enjoy our curated, complimentary menu from Passion for Spices™ for you and your family this holiday season. (credits to our content artist Dmitri G. for these awesome illustration).

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Aromatic Turkey

Ingredient:
1 20 pound whole turkey
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup honey
4 allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
3/4 cup celery
2 bay leaves
4 peppercorns
1 sprig thyme
2 tsp. Keralan curry powder
10 cups water or to cover turkey
1 cup dry white wine
Ghee
Paprika
Recipe:
1. Heat all ingredients and bring to a boil.
2. Let the brine cool before adding to the turkey. Then stir in white wine.
3. Refrigerate in the brine for 4 days.
4. Once the turkey is ready to roast, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. dry turkey well then coat with ghee and paprika.
5. Roast the turkey in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about two hours. Take our the turkey and tent it with aluminum foil for an hour.
For more recipes visit our ***Recipes*** page

(credits to our content artist Dimitriji G. Medenica for these awesome illustration).

To learn more about our upcoming events, please check out our Upcoming Cooking Classes in the link below:

Upcoming Cooking Classes

Thankful for Passion for Spices™ Cooking School

We are very thankful for the growth of our cooking school. We welcome everyone from beginners to experts to join us, as you experiment with real food, and enhance your cooking skills. We are thrilled that more and more community and friends are interested in our exclusive culinary experiences where you get expert culinary instruction. Our classes are available for Kids Classes, Adult Classes, Corporate Events, and Private Events.

We want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

This holiday season, we are grateful for introducing some specials for celebrating the holidays with friends and family. We would like to share the wide vareity of cooking classes avbailable and break bread with your friends and families.

Holiday Specials

Thankful for Our Organic Spice Line

Keralan Curry

Kashmiri Garam Masala

Our spice blends are crafted using the highest quality of spices complete with anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories to help boost the immune system for optimal health. These blends were also produced using a sustainable and eco-friendly process which creates its flavorful finish.

Give the Gift of Spices For the Holiday Season

Passion for Spices Gift Card

A unique gift that can be used to register for a cooking class, buy spices, and book a private cooking event!

Shop Gift Cards

Memories From Our 2024 Around the World Summer Cooking Camp

August 28, 2024 May Fridel

At Passion For Spices™ this year, our 15th annual Summer Around the World Cooking Camp was a great success again. We are thrilled to provide a platform for our young generation to learn about food and culture, and provide a true culinary experience. Our team at Passion for Spices™ were so happy to see the eagerness of our young chefs and their enthusiasm in learning new skill sets. We had a great group of happy campers. Please see the details below.

American Road Trip

Cajun: Where the campers prepared gumbo, red beans, and dirty rice, and Roux and Beignets during the workshop

Southern BBQ: Where the campers prepared Pulled Chicken, Cornbread, and Cole Slaw and BBQ Sauce From Scratch with Chicken during the workshop

New York: Where the campers prepared New York Style Pizza and Chili Dogs, and Pretzels with Mustard during the workshop

New England: Where the campers prepared Johnny Cake and Baked Beans, and Pumpkin Whoopie Pie during the workshop

Midwest: Where the campers prepared Juicy Lucy and Runza, and Michigan Pasty during the workshop

Around the World

Italy: Where the campers prepared Homemade Ravioli, tomato sauce, and Garlic bread, and Biscotti during the workshop

China: Where the campers prepared General Tso’s Chicken, fried rice, and Dumplings during the workshop

Mediterranean: Where the campers prepared Muhamara, Hummus, Pita Bread, and Shakshuka during the workshop

France: Where the campers prepared Split Pea Soup, Croque Monsieur and French Apple Tart during the workshop

India: Where the campers prepared Butter Chicken, Raita, Naan Bread, and Sweet and Savory Parathas during the workshop

Arts and Science

Breads: Where the campers prepared Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Savory Cheese Puffs and scones during the workshop

Pickles and Canning: Where the campers prepared Quick Pickles, Jams and Canned Peaches during the workshop

Dumpling Day: Where the campers prepared Gyoza, Samosa, and Dumpling Soup during the workshop

All About Cheese: Where the campers prepared Cheese Fondue, Fresh Homemade Ricotta, and Ricotta Pancake during the workshop

Art of Pies: Where the campers prepared Chicken Pot Pie, Seasonal Fruit Cobbler, and Seasonal Fruit Galatte during the workshop

Farm to Table

Corn: Where the campers prepared Corn Chowder, Corn Muffins, and Popcorns with Various Toppings during the workshop

Squash: Where the campers prepared Butternut Squash & Lentil Curry with Rice, Seasonal Squash Muffin, and Pumpkin Bread during the workshop

Eggs: Where the campers prepared Curried Deviled Eggs, Classic Quiche, and Madelines during the workshop

Tomatoes: Where the campers prepared Tomato Soup, Baked Fries, Ketchup from Scratch, and Tomato Tart during the workshop

Stone Fruits: Where the campers prepared Peach Chutney and Chicken Kebab, Strawberry Ice Cream, and Seasonal Fruit Cobbler during the workshop

Culinary Teen Competition

One of our students, Miles LoPrete, wrote an account of his experiences during our Week 5 cooking camp:

This is my second year at Passion For Spices Culinary Teen Competition Summer Camp. Passion For Spices is an amazing highest-rated cooking school in the Summit area that helps you learn a bunch of new skills and techniques in cooking. The chefs and all the staff at Passion for Spices are more than happy to help you if you need help with learning something. Below I wrote my day-to-day experience and everything we learned!

On the first day of the camp, we learned how to make rice, soups, and knife skills. First, we made a soup, which was a super flavorful corn chowder that used the corn cobs in the broth to make the soup extra delicious. Next, we made traditional fried rice with eggs, vegetables, and spices. For our knife skills, we learned how to cut things that are a little trickier to learn such as ginger, and herbs.

On the second day, we learned how to make a super flavorful and simple grilled zucchini with fresh herbs, shallots, garlic, and topped with fresh tomato sauce. This day we also learned how to spatchcock a chicken and cut a chicken into 8 pieces. Spatchcocking is hard but it’s super important to learn ways of cooking a chicken. Most people don't know how to do this skill but it is super important to learn for a cheaper option for chicken. With this, we made two types of chicken, Super delicious and flavorful tandoori chicken, and a simple yet super good herb-grilled chicken. We also made an amazing garlic confit mashed potato. In the end, we all enjoyed this delicious meal.

On the third day, we learned how to make pasta two ways. First was an egg pasta dough used for the ravioli we were making, which we filled with a ricotta spinach filling that turned out great. We then used a cutting tool to get the pasta into a square shape. This was served with a homemade basil pesto sauce. Next, we learned how to make Semolina Pasta for the Orecchiette, which is a pasta with a similar size of gnocchi rolled over a fork or a tool with lines to get its iconic look. We served this pasta with an amazing homemade tomato sauce.

On the fourth day, we learned how to make 4 different types of desserts. The first one was a Peach Crisp which had a bunch of delicious fresh peaches, lots of warm spices, brown sugar, and topped with a homemade biscuit for the top. The second dessert we made was a Plum Cobbler Tart which was filled with fresh plums, an apple, and a bunch of warm spices along with a crisp crumbly top! Next, we made a Vanilla and Chocolate Pudding. It was super good and not overly sweet which I thought made it better than any other pudding I have had before. Last we made meringues which was for the next day because they had to sit for hours out to set. These where made with egg whites and sugar. At the end of ghe day we topped everything with ice cream!

On the last day, it was time for the cooking competition which was where we made a big meal for all of our families. We arrived 3 hours early to start our big meal. We started with prepping everything for a buffet-style meal. We also had to prep the dining room with tablecloths, silverware, plates, and napkins. We got assigned what to do in the kitchen and we tried our hardest to make the food super good in big batches. We also were assigned roles when the parents started coming in working as hosts and greeting people, as well as helping people to their seats. Once the parents started rolling in at 6 pm we started to bring out our food we worked super hard on. For this meal we had, garlic bread, fruit plates, smashed potatoes, Grilled zucchini with fresh tomatoes, Spinach Tahiri Rice, We also made Grilled chicken, and tandoori chicken as well as some ricotta-filled ravioli with a choice of tomato or pesto sauce. For dessert, we made peach cobbler topped with a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream and meringues we prepped yesterday! It was really fun to feed the parents and our siblings and see them enjoying the food we worked hard on.

Overall the Passion-for-spices teen culinary camp was an incredible experience where I learned so much with making food from different cultures. I'm happy I did this camp a second year and overall truly enjoyed this class.

Soups, Salads, Broths: Our campers made a very well liked soups and starters, Corn Chowder and Spinach Tahiri for this event, as well as Grilled Zuchini. The Teens also built their skills like knife skills and basic stock making.

Starters, Homemade Pastas, and Sauces: in the spirit of the name, campers prepared a full complement of starters, with a Dumpling Assortment, Chicken Satay, and Semolina Pasta.

Sides and Desserts: Campers produced French Style Potatoes and Mediterranean Couscous with Rice to accompany any main course

Main Course: Our campers prepared the savory Roasted Spatchcocked Chicken with Classic Style Ratatouille, fit for a king. The final day, we had our annual cook off, where the camper’s parents came to sample everything that the campers had made.

Mystery Market Basket Competition: The Campers cooked a three course meal to present to friends and family.

Passion for Spices Cooking School™ Wishes You a Happy New Year 2024

January 9, 2024 Nicholas McTernan

Passion for Spices™ would like to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year. We hope you have a great start to the New Year! We are very grateful for a very productive and fun filled 2023, while introducing more chefs, new clients, and more community project involvement. We are ever so grateful for the platform we have to share the knowledge of good food and breaking bread with our community. We are looking forward to a fabulous 2024!

Here are some of the curated culinary events at Passion for Spices™ Culinary School.

Our Annual Passion For Spices™ Around the World Summer Cooking Camp Highlights

We had a houseful of enthusiastic young chefs for our Around the World Summer Cooking Camp 2023. We had seasonal after school classes where young kids came and prepared different seasonal food and enjoyed the food they prepared.

Our fifth week of our camp was our culinary teen competition. In this program, The young teens build their culinary skillset, and was able to prepare a full course menu from a given mystery basket. The food was served to the families and they appreciated and were thrilled to see the gourmet food they prepared.

Passion For Spices™ Adult Cooking Classes

Our Adult Cooking Classes showcase, Mediterranean, Latin, and Asian cuisines. Based on season and popularity, we curate different classes with different themes. Some of the popular Adult Cooking Classes included Taste of Morocco, Beer and Gourmet Bites, Taste of Thai, and Classic Indian Made Easy. Above are some highlights from our Taste of Morocco class which happened before the pandemic hit.

We are also thankful for our new classes taught by expert culinary educators, Shelley Wiseman and Kathleeen Sanderson. We are pleased to announce that our Cooking Classes are available for the new year.

Passion for Spices™ Corporate Team Building

Passion for Spices™ Plans for 2024

We will be adding more curated classes and pop ups from around the world, where you can come and enjoy amazing culinary experiences. Also food and wine culinary adventures will be announced soon.

We want to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Safe New Year and we hope that everyone can enjoy more cooking and quality time with their family.

We are also in the process of planning our annual five week summer camp, starting on July 8th to August 5th. Save the date!

Create a Memorable Thanksgiving Table

November 21, 2023 May Fridel

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year to show your gratitude for your Family, friends, and colleagues who you have in life. Passion For Spices™ Team is grateful for all of our clients who joined us in our Cooking School. We are also aapreciative for our wonderful team that makes Passion For Spices™ special. It gives us joy to spread the culinary knowledge and showcase foods of the world as we teach all levels of cooking skills, promote healthy heating and share family time (Tech Free) together.
Here is a complimentary Thanksgiving menu curated by Passion for Spices™. The recipes are easy to make, delicious and will stand out on your dinner table!

Thanksgiving Menu

Thankful for Passion for Spices™ Cooking School

We are very thankful for the growth of our cooking school. We welcome everyone from beginners to experts to join us, as you experiment with real food, and enhance your cooking skills. We are excited to have expanded our cooking school to include Kids Classes, Adult Classes, Corporate Events, and Private Events.

Here’s some of the highlights of cuisines that we offer in our cooking classes. We are grateful for our culinary team and our guest culinary educators who offer classes at our culinary school.