Unusual ingredients (as a gift)

[Gastrognome]

Hello all,

My wife's birthday is coming up soon and I am looking to get her selection of off-beat ingredients or condiments for the pantry.

She loves to cook and loves weird and wonderful food, so strange and bizarre would be just fine.

I've already ordered odd things from Japan, some miracle fruit tablets, nice truffle salt and some other sundries but need more ideas to get this hamper lookin' good. (I'm not terribly knowledgeable in the kitchen.)

Looking to buy either online or in Melbourne, Australia.

Thank you very much for any suggestions!

[jimbo]

You might want to do a theme (asian, french, spanish, etc) I have both lemongrass and kaffir lime growing in pots. If she is into asian food. These would be long appreciated. On the more expensive level, I sometimes order truffles and local foie gras. Again, it depends on what she enjoys cooking and your budget.

[ChefToddMohr]

Last Christmas, my wife gave me an assortment of gourmet salts. It was a great gift for someone who loves to cook and has every gadget.

http://faeriesfinest.com/

[mcnerd]

How about a BIG jar of Saffron? You can check Penzey's Spices (http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html) which has a lot of gift boxes of spices.

[Big Daddy's House]

Saffron is expensive.

[mcnerd]

Which is why I stated a "BIG" jar. Of course one could just buy a cheap gift for the wife...... :D

[awesomeapril]

If you are not only interested in spices and herbs, purple haze carrots are very cool!
http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/PD/5074
yes, this link is just a place to buy seeds, but it has a good description of what they are.

[Len-NJ]

I love crazy tasty ingredients so I just looked in my pantry and this is some of what I’d recommend.

I really like NoMU Tandoori rub (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EQ5I4C?ie=UTF8&tag=hellficollec-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001EQ5I4C) (made in S. Africa) – it’s more rustic than the usual tandoori spice blends and not as powdery – you can see the different spices in the mix. I use it on meats, chicken, fish and veg – I like it a lot on pizza dough (oil dough, sprinkle with rub and grill).

I picked up this great smoked Spanish paprika (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IMQ1IA?ie=UTF8&tag=hellficollec-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000IMQ1IA) when I was in Spain – I use it on veg and in pasta, the aroma is insane.

O olive oils and vinegars (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUT F8%26x%3D21%26ref%255F%3Dnb%255Fss%26y%3D20%26fiel d-keywords%3Do%2520olive%2520oils%2520and%2520vinega rs%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Dgrocery&tag=hellficollec-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957) are really flavorful and the bottles are pretty – when you finish a bottle, you can reuse it with your own spiced evoo – I have a few of the flavors and haven’t found one I didn’t like yet.

If you like spicy food – you must get a bottle of both sriracha (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000CNU59?ie=UTF8&tag=hellficollec-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000CNU59) and garlic chili paste (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LO25RG?ie=UTF8&tag=hellficollec-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000LO25RG) (Thai products)! They’re perfect for dipping French fries, adding to soups, marinades – I cook Tilapia filets in the chili sauce and mix sriracha with Japanese Kewpie (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00023T3IA?ie=UTF8&tag=hellficollec-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00023T3IA) mayo for a dip.

Happy cooking!

[moobox]

You can find lots of cool unusual goodies over at http://gourmetlibrary.com.