They were all supposed to fit.

I took this photo to illustrate to a friend the place of honour that his gift of “Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend” has in our household. If you’re wondering where it is – top shelf. Wait, top of the cabinet, in the middle.

We don’t have Trader Joes in Canada. For a while we had a store called “Pirate Joes” where the owner would go to the USA, purchase product at full retail from Trader Joes, mule it back across the border, and then sell it at a markup in a store in Vancouver. He stayed in business for years before Trader Joes finally shut him down. I don’t think they really cared that he was selling their products; they just cared that they had no opportunity to have any control over said sales.

Canada is Trader Joes-Free. We lament this on a regular basis.

But I’m here to write about spice racks. But like any good food conversation, it’s hard to really comprehend how many themes there are here. I know, it’s a spice rack and only a spice rack. But I built it after much consultation with my wife. We agreed on the size and how many jars we needed.

We agreed on 35 different spices, all in similar jars. 7 shelves, 5 jars per shelf, no problem. We filled it completely in about 10 minutes once it was installed. I’m not sure who was in charge of counting, but obviously we left a few essentials out. I had no idea that Ras-el-Hanout even existed, let alone THREE types of paprika (Sweet, spicy, smoked)

What is more, we don’t have anything older than me in the shelf. See below for an explanation.

Exhibit ‘A’. From my late grandmother-in-law’s spice rack:

My grandmother-in-law was lovely, and the turmeric was… Terrible. It was like 50 years old. The packaging was epic, but the spices not so much. There is something to be said for keeping things fresh.

Back to the spice rack – it’s a work in progress. We have swapped the ground nutmeg for fresh nutmeg (nuts about the size of olives that you grate on a microplane), and we only have one type of dried oregano right now. The fresh stuff is taking over the herb garden as I write this.

Still, we have harissa, and now rose harissa. And we have Zatar, and something called ‘Dukkah’ which showed up recently. No idea what it is, but I expect it’s tasty.

My next plan is to find smaller jars.