The Silk Road Spice Merchant

Until December 23rd, The Calgary Farmers' Market is the Calgary Christmas Market! Visit our booth from Thursday to Sunday, 9am - 5pm for a festive and safe holiday experience! Plus, there is no admission fee and parking is free! Check out this link for details:... http://ow.ly/uG5q50CBNvN See more

Our Inglewood store, along with several other Calgary based businesses and brands, was recently featured on visitcalgary.com . Check it out!

We love it when you post pics of your @silkroadspices packages! Online orders are starting to pile up so get your order in ASAP if you're hoping to have fresh spices or spicy gifts delivered in time for Christmas!

To help us better deal with Covid-19 limitations, we have decided to temporarily change our opening hours. Our Inglewood & Whyte Avenue locations will now be closed on Mondays, and will be opening one hour later than usual on all other days, making the new hours 11 am5 pm Tuesday through Saturday & 12 noon5 pm Sundays. Please be aware that we are strictly limiting the number of customers at any one time and may have a line up, especially on the weekends. We recommend arrivi...ng before 4 pm to be sure you make it into the store before we close. Please be patient if you need to wait, and please be kind to our amazing frontline staff who are working incredibly hard to help customers and keep the shelves stocked during a time that's stressful and difficult for all of us. Thank you as always for your support!

Inglewood Christmas is next Thursday, November 19th, from 4pm until 9pm! Our Inglewood store in Calgary is staying open late so be sure to come by. You can also enter our draw to win a gift basket. Use this link to find out more about what's happening in the neighbourhood: http://ow.ly/xzPh50Ckkya

Get out your roasting pans! This delicious seasonal blend has been off the shelves since March, and we're so happy to be mixing it up again. Equally suited to roasting both meat and vegetables, Rustic Roasting Blend is the perfect addition to your favourite fall dishes. In stock now in our stores and on our website (https://silkroadspices.ca/products/rustic-roasting-blend).

Our friend, Karen Anderson of Alberta Food Tours Inc., has put together this lovely #AlbertaCaresPackage that includes a jar of our Mulling Spices along with several other Alberta-made products. The sale of each box supports Alberta small businesses and contributes to mental and food health programs. It was recently featured on CTV News Calgary. Check it out!

May we never forget.

Hey #YEG pals! Need your spice fix? Our Whyte Avenue location is open as usual and we're ready to get you all fixed up with fall spice essentials! So grab your favourite mask and come visit us this weekend!

Now that's a good looking bitters collection! Need to add to yours? Come visit us on #whyteave in #yeg or #ininglewood in #yyc and we will hook you up!

It’s been a long while since our last spice of the week: Behold! Timut peppercorns! Closely related to Szechuan peppercorns, they smell and taste strongly of citrus peel, grapefruit in particular. With a slightly soapy note and a numbing sensation on the tongue. They grow primarily in Nepal and can be used for soups, dumplings, sauces, chutney’s and pickles, infused in oil for salad dressings, or even in a delicious cocktail like a gin and tonic!... They're available in-store, or get them online here: https://silkroadspices.ca/products/timut-peppercorns

Its been a long while since our last spice of the week: Behold! Timut peppercorns! Closely related to Szechuan peppercorns, they smell and taste strongly of citrus peel, grapefruit in particular. With a slightly soapy note and a numbing sensation on the tongue. They grow primarily in Nepal and can be used for soups, dumplings, sauces, chutneys and pickles, infused in oil for salad dressings, or even in a delicious cocktail like a gin and tonic!... Theyre available in-store, or get them online here: https://silkroadspices.ca/products/timut-peppercorns

Its mandatory mask day! Were looking pretty sharp in ours, come on in this weekend and show us yours! @ Inglewood Calgary

It's mandatory mask day! We're looking pretty sharp in ours, come on in this weekend and show us yours! @ Inglewood Calgary

Hello friends! As most of you know, #yyc & #yeg have both passed bylaws making masks/face coverings mandatory in public spaces as of tomorrow, Saturday, August 1st. Our staff have been wearing masks since we reopened, but as of tomorrow our customers will need to be wearing one as well to shop at any of our locations. Lets hope this public health measure will help us to protect each other and get through this craziness a lot faster. We look forward to seeing you all this weekend!

You've waited so patiently, and now it's finally happened... Our Whyte Ave location in #yeg is OPEN! Come on inwe can't wait to see you!! #oldstrathcona #yegfood #spicesforall

Youve waited so patiently, and now its finally happened... Our Whyte Ave location in #yeg is OPEN! Come on inwe cant wait to see you!! #oldstrathcona #yegfood #spicesforall

The time has come! We are open and so excited to see our lovely customers in person once again! We'll be open Monday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm & Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. We are limiting the number of customers in the store at any one time and may have a line up, especially on the weekends. We recommend arriving before 4 pm to be sure you make it into the store before we close. In-person pickups are not available yet, but we plan to begin offering them again in the next few w...eeks. Come in and visit us!! #allthespices #ininglewood #yyc @ The Silk Road Spice Merchant See more

The time has come! We are open and so excited to see our lovely customers in person once again! Well be open Monday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm & Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. We are limiting the number of customers in the store at any one time and may have a line up, especially on the weekends. We recommend arriving before 4 pm to be sure you make it into the store before we close. In-person pickups are not available yet, but we plan to begin offering them again in the next few w...eeks. Come in and visit us!! #allthespices #ininglewood #yyc @ The Silk Road Spice Merchant See more

We’re starting to get lots of curious inquiries about whether our stores might be opening soon, since retailers in Alberta are now allowed to open with a few important safety guidelines. For now, we have decided to keep our physical stores closed to the public while we continue to assess how we can open safely. In the meantime, we are planning on bringing some of our staff back soon to begin stocking the shelves and getting the stores organized. If you are walking by, you... may see people hard at work inside. We are also thinking about possible ways that we can serve customers before completely reopening. This might include curbside pick-up options for orders placed online, and it might include a plan for curbside shopping where you could place your order at the door and come back for it in a few minutes. Above all, our priority is to take it slowly and consider the safety and security of our staff and customers at each step of the process. As restrictions begin loosening, we will continue to move carefully towards our normal operations and make sure you can each get all of the delicious spices you need to keep your kitchens humming! #spicesforever #ininglewood #oldstrathcona #calgaryfarmersmarket See more

Fancy new exterior paint job Store scrubbed and sanitized from top to bottom All 100+ spice blends freshly hand-mixed and jarred Shelves stocked up with Vietnamese cinnamon, truffle salt, Inglewood Everything Blend, Old Chicago Steak Spice, and everything else you have been missing or running low on The worlds greatest staff, back at work and all together again ... We are so, so close..... #ininglewood #thespicesarecoming See more

Our @calgaryfarmersmarket stall is OPEN!!! We are thrilled to be back at the Market and seeing our wonderful customers in person once again. Were open regular hours: 9 am to 5 pm Thursdays - Sundays every week. There are rules that need to be followed, such as only one customer/customer group allowed in the booth at a time, so please be prepared for a short wait. And the usual things applysometimes we run out of a few items, and we only stock jars and tins, no bags.... We arent offering pickups yet but well have it in place soon. Thank you all for your love and support! See more

Its true! No password page, no missing "Add to Cart" buttons, no apologetic pleas for you to try again later, just our regular old website open and ready to take your orders! Thanks to everyone who has waited patiently. Well keep the website open as long as we can this time, and well continue working hard to grind, blend, jar, pack and ship our spices straight to your door! P.S.- Were also hard at work on our reopening plans. More details coming very soon!

It's true! No password page, no missing "Add to Cart" buttons, no apologetic pleas for you to try again later, just our regular old website open and ready to take your orders! Thanks to everyone who has waited patiently. We'll keep the website open as long as we can this time, and we'll continue working hard to grind, blend, jar, pack and ship our spices straight to your door! P.S.- We're also hard at work on our reopening plans. More details coming very soon!

Were starting to get lots of curious inquiries about whether our stores might be opening soon, since retailers in Alberta are now allowed to open with a few important safety guidelines. For now, we have decided to keep our physical stores closed to the public while we continue to assess how we can open safely. In the meantime, we are planning on bringing some of our staff back soon to begin stocking the shelves and getting the stores organized. If you are walking by, you... may see people hard at work inside. We are also thinking about possible ways that we can serve customers before completely reopening. This might include curbside pick-up options for orders placed online, and it might include a plan for curbside shopping where you could place your order at the door and come back for it in a few minutes. Above all, our priority is to take it slowly and consider the safety and security of our staff and customers at each step of the process. As restrictions begin loosening, we will continue to move carefully towards our normal operations and make sure you can each get all of the delicious spices you need to keep your kitchens humming! #spicesforever #ininglewood #oldstrathcona #calgaryfarmersmarket See more

To Our Wonderful Customers, Unfortunately, due to an overwhelming number of orders, we have no choice but to close our online shop for a few days while we catch up. This is a temporary measure, and we hope to reopen very soon. We are so incredible grateful for the overwhelming support weve gotten from all of you, and we know that this decision will frustrate those of you who have been trying to place orders for several days already. Please understand we dont take this l...ightly. We have a small crew of dedicated staff who are working as hard as they possibly can to fill and ship orders while practicing appropriate distancing measures and sanitation protocols. Right now our staff are overwhelmed and our turnaround times have been getting up to more than a week. This break will give us a chance to clear the backlog, recharge, and get things moving properly again. Weve left our website accessible by password to those of you who still want to read about spices, plan a future order, or look at recipesthe password is JUSTLOOKING. You wont be able to add products to your cart, view your cart, or purchase products until the store reopens. Were so sorry to have to do this, and we thank you in advance for your patience and understanding during this crazy time. Your friends at The Silk Road See more

OUR WEBSITE IS OVERWHELMED! Our online orders have shot upward, and we are struggling to keep up. Our turnaround time is currently 5-7 days, which is much longer than usual. To get a handle on our order backlog, we are taking the regrettable step of temporarily limiting the number of orders we accept each day. Each morning we will open the online store at 8:30 am MST and keep it open until our order limit is reached. This morning that only took 20 minutes, so get on there q...uick if you need some spices! EDIT: We are now opening intermittently (not every morning) and staying open until we hit 500 orders. Please check the website daily to see if we are open and for current updates. If ordering is done for the day but you would like to access our site to browse, plan a future order, or read recipes, you can click the Enter Store Using Password link and use the password "JUSTBROWSING". This will allow full access to the site, but you will not be able to access your cart or add products to it. While it is frustrating to be overwhelmed by orders we cant fill quickly enough, it is wonderful to be overwhelmed by the love and support of our customers. So many of you have sent us notes and messages of encouragement, and they mean so much to all of us. We will all get through this together. As always, we really appreciate your patience, and promise we will get your spices to you as soon as we can! See more

Alright, this isnt the prettiest photo, but we are sure proud of it. These are the orders we shipped out today155 in total, a new daily record! And all blended, jarred, bagged and packaged by a tiny core team of only six staff! We are overwhelmed by your support. This is such a scary time for small businesses, and because of all these orders from our incredible customers, we have already been able to bring back three of our full time employees who had been laid off. This... is amazing! Were still a few days behind our usual turnaround time, so thank you for being patient. Due to social distancing we cant have any more people working together in our warehouse at the same time, but weve added an evening shift which will help us catch up. Weve been asked a lot about contactless pickup options, and were not sure how to make it work since no one is at our store, but if we figure something out we will post about it here and on our website. We are humbled and filled with gratitude for every one of you who sent in an order, posted stories and photos of their spices, or wrote us a little message of support. Thank you from the bottom of our spicy hearts. Now, off to fill more orders!! See more

BLEND OF THE WEEK: Silk Road All-Purpose Blend Our All-Purpose Blend starts with onion, garlic and black pepper, lovingly blended with a huge range of herbs and spices, including basil, marjoram, oregano, sage, thyme, cumin, coriander, orange peel, rosemary and more. Silk Road All-Purpose Blend adds a nice, fresh, savoury flavour to almost anything. On potatoes, in soups or stews, on the barbeque, in pasta saucesyou really cant go wrong. Its just a short-cut to simple, de...licious food. Get it here: http://ow.ly/Kwdz50yBSrn

Alright, this isn't the prettiest photo, but we are sure proud of it. These are the orders we shipped out today155 in total, a new daily record! And all blended, jarred, bagged and packaged by a tiny core team of only six staff! We are overwhelmed by your support. This is such a scary time for small businesses, and because of all these orders from our incredible customers, we have already been able to bring back three of our full time employees who had been laid off. This... is amazing! We're still a few days behind our usual turnaround time, so thank you for being patient. Due to social distancing we can't have any more people working together in our warehouse at the same time, but we've added an evening shift which will help us catch up. We've been asked a lot about contactless pickup options, and we're not sure how to make it work since no one is at our store, but if we figure something out we will post about it here and on our website. We are humbled and filled with gratitude for every one of you who sent in an order, posted stories and photos of their spices, or wrote us a little message of support. Thank you from the bottom of our spicy hearts. Now, off to fill more orders!! See more

Megan recommends Memphis Pork Rub. Perfect for barbecue popcorn!

We think you'll love this recipe for Chicken karaage, a popular Japanese izakaya (pub) food. Our Shichimi Togarashi adds great, spicy, citrusy flavour to the karaage coating. Shichimi Togarashi is available here: http://www.silkroadspices.ca/products/shichimi-togarashi

Every single one of us has had our lives affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic in ways that seemed impossible just a few short weeks ago. We have friends and family members who are under quarantine. Our daughter is devastated by the sudden news that she will not be going back to school for the rest of the year and already badly misses her friends and teachers. We had to temporarily lay off all of our front line staff, and have no way to predict when we will be able to get ...them back to work. Our wonderful, eclectic shopping neighbourhoods of Inglewood in Calgary and Old Strathcona in Edmonton have become ghost towns as more and more businesses choose to do the right thing and close their doors. This has hit us very hard, and we know that we are far from alone. We are very fortunate to have an online store as part of our business, and we have a small team of incredibly dedicated staff who are working hard to keep it running smoothly while our retail locations are closed. We are glad that our customers are still able to get their spices, but most of all we are glad that our online business has enabled us to keep some of our staff working. We want to sincerely thank every single one of our customers for ordering online. Every order you place helps us pay our rent and utilities so our business stays afloat, and, most importantly, pay our amazing staff and keep as many of them working as possible. We got to thinking about all of the other small businesses in our communities who have closed and who are in exactly the same situation as us--struggling to reach customers in any way possible so they can survive this crisis. We know that many people have lost their jobs or have to stay home with children and money is tight, but we want to encourage everyone to support small, local businesses as much and as often as you can. It really does make an enormous impact during these scary and difficult times. Here are just a few of the small businesses we love: @thenextpageyyc @plantshopyyc @stashlounge @acousticmusicshop @theliveryshop @knifewear @kentofinglewood #supportsmallbusiness #shoponline #shoplocal #ininglewood #oldstrathcona #shoplocalyyc #shoplocalyeg See more

We think youll love this recipe for Chicken karaage, a popular Japanese izakaya (pub) food. Our Shichimi Togarashi adds great, spicy, citrusy flavour to the karaage coating. Shichimi Togarashi is available here: http://www.silkroadspices.ca/products/shichimi-togarashi

BLEND OF THE WEEK: Shichimi Togarashi Shichimi Togarashi is often found on the table in sushi restaurants and is popular sprinkled in udon and ramen soups, on other noodle dishes, and in things like yakitori and rice bowls. The flavour is always a little citrusy, a little toasty, and very hot. Ours goes a little easier on the chiles than the common commercial brands and has more of the interesting flavours like Szechuan peppercorns and nori (roasted seaweed).... Its available here: http://ow.ly/acJr50ysKQy

Jayson recommends Garam Masala. Essential to most Indian curries and stews, and ideal for roasted vegetables. He likes to use it when baking his homemade Curry Doughnuts!

To Our Friends & Customers, The global COVID-19 pandemic has been at the forefront of our minds over the past two weeks. Our priority during this time has been to minimize any risk to our staff, our customers, and to our community. We feel strongly that minimizing social contact is the best way to combat this virus, and so we have made the very difficult decision to temporarily close all three of our retail locations. As of March 19th, 2020, our Calgary locations in Inglewood... and at the Calgary Farmers Market as well as our Edmonton location on Whyte Avenue will be temporarily closed. The good news is that our online store remains up and running, and we will continue to have a small team working at our warehouse who will be grinding, blending and packing spices so you can get them delivered right to your door. We have removed the local pickup options from our website. If you have already placed an order for pickup we will contact you right away to make other arrangements. Were a small family business and are so appreciative of all the support weve already received from our customers. This is a tough time for all of us, and while we will try to get your orders out as soon as possible, we ask for your patience if things dont move quite as quickly as normal. The Silk Road team is like a family, and while there is no way for anyone to know how long it will be before life returns to normal, we feel confident that we will get through this scary and uncertain time together. Take good care of yourselves and your own families. We look forward to opening our doors to all of you again soon. The Silk Road Team

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

This delicious baked egg dish really showcases the Urfa flavour: pruney and smoky with a distinct scent of chocolate and tobacco. Urfa Biber are available on our website: http://ow.ly/6SPk50ymZzD

Did you know that we sell dill pollen? It's available on our website. Dill pollen tastes like super concentrated intense dill pickle essence. It tastes like dill pickle potato chips. Its amazing.... Dill pollen is a yellowish-green, coarse powder hand-picked from the flowers of the dill plant, and the labour involved in harvesting it makes it quite expensive. Its a natural fit for fish prepared any way you like, its lovely with vegetables like carrots and parsnips, and its incredible with potatoes.

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

BLEND OF THE WEEK: Alhambra Merguez Seasoning Merguez sausages are typically made from lamb and have a nice, warm flavour with intense spiciness and deep reddish colour. This blend is perfect for sausage-making, but that doesnt mean you have to run out to buy lamb casings. Its far easier to make meatballs, which are also delicious. Or use it as a general spice blend for burgers, stews, tagines and couscous.... Our Alhambra Merguez Seasoning is a complicated blend made from a huge list of spices including smoked Spanish paprika, sumac, fennel and caraway. Get it here: http://ow.ly/ih8U50ymZrQ

Just a reminder that you can also place orders on our online store: http://ow.ly/Agk950yLEuR .

This butter chicken recipe from the Vikalinka blog tastes just like London takeout! And it's so simple to make!

Vivian recommends NIGELLA SEEDS. Use them sprinkled over a fried egg, or baked in crackers and bread. Get them here: http://ow.ly/QMC550ymZ6j

Did you know that we sell dill pollen? Its available on our website. Dill pollen tastes like super concentrated intense dill pickle essence. It tastes like dill pickle potato chips. Its amazing.... Dill pollen is a yellowish-green, coarse powder hand-picked from the flowers of the dill plant, and the labour involved in harvesting it makes it quite expensive. Its a natural fit for fish prepared any way you like, its lovely with vegetables like carrots and parsnips, and its incredible with potatoes.

St. Patricks Day is coming up and weve compiled a couple of recipes for food and drinks that will get you in the mood! How about a bowl of Irish Stout Beef Stew with some nigella bread for dipping?

BLEND OF THE WEEK: Inca Fire Salt This intensely hot Peruvian chile salt is inspired by the sun worship and fire ceremonies of the Inca civilization. Its seriously hot those who brag about their heat tolerance are going to love this one. But its not just hot. Theres a ton of flavour in with the heat, and if you want to dilute it a bit, you can always just mix it with some plain salt.... Its particularly perfect for heating up your popcorn, French fries and scrambled eggs. Its available on our website: http://ow.ly/u9Kg50ymYp2

We source the best extracts we can, with the broadest range of flavours: almond, peppermint, orange, lemon, aniseed, maple, coffee, cinnamon, hazelnut, lavender, ginger, pistachio, chocolate, and vanilla. Get them here: http://ow.ly/RGmR50ymUbc and here: http://ow.ly/zOTA50ymUcF

Here's how to make a simple marinade for chicken from our Tandoori Masala: 3 tbsp of tandoori masala powder cup of plain yogurt cup of oil... 1 tsp of minced garlic Mix everything together in a bowl and then rub it into pieces of chicken that have been scored deeply with a knife and sprinkled with lime juice. Marinate overnight if possible and then grill or bake. Delicious.

This butter chicken recipe from the Vikalinka blog tastes just like London takeout! And its so simple to make!

The flavours in this roasted Tandoori cauliflower pair perfectly with the zesty garlic-cilantro yogurt sauce. Delicious! We suggest substituting 2-3 teaspoons of our Tandoori Masala for the spices called for in the recipe.

Heres how to make a simple marinade for chicken from our Tandoori Masala: 3 tbsp of tandoori masala powder cup of plain yogurt cup of oil... 1 tsp of minced garlic Mix everything together in a bowl and then rub it into pieces of chicken that have been scored deeply with a knife and sprinkled with lime juice. Marinate overnight if possible and then grill or bake. Delicious.

BLEND OF THE WEEK: Tandoori Masala Tandoori Masala is a spice blend used to make the classic Indian dish tandoori chicken. This blend has a mild to medium heat and is characterized by a number of unusual Indian spices, including amchur and kala namak. In many traditional and commercial blends, red colouring is included to turn the meat a bright red, but there are no additives in our tandoori masala.... Get it on our website: http://ow.ly/yE1250ymPR9

Katriona recommends West African Citrus Spice. It's great on Chicken, but next time try it on your eggs!

We have 6 delicious flavours of hot cocoa, all hand-mixed with love! http://ow.ly/uAW450yfwiT

This stunning, rustic cake from A Brown Table is made with black tea, apples, and lots of spices. Theres tons of flavour in every bite! http://ow.ly/mkhJ50yfvLJ

BLEND OF THE WEEK: Chai Masala There are a million different ways to make chai. Its taken years to settle on a consistent recipe that brings together all the best things from the different types weve tasted and this, finally, is it. The one common ingredient, no matter whos making your chai, is cardamom. After that, ingredients vary wildly. Our blend is quite unique in that it includes ajowan, mint and rose petals in addition to fennel, cloves, cinnamon and ginger. The s...mell of the spice mix is a little different than the generic chai teabags that are so common now, but the flavour is full, complex and very fresh and fragrant. We sell chai masala (tea spices) both on their own and with Indian Assam tea mixed in: http://ow.ly/nVL150yfvHW

Katriona recommends West African Citrus Spice. Its great on Chicken, but next time try it on your eggs!

This Rustic Punjabi Spinach and Lamb Curry is our version of Palak Gosht, a lovely, earthy dish with a mild and subtle flavour. Try it. We think youll like it!