Kurry King Adds to Your Cuisine
Kurry King on 700 Main Street in Garland, Texas will entice your senses the moment you walk in the door with the wafting aroma of roasting spices. The Kurry King himself, Ben Rikhilal and daughter Jody keep the operation going on a daily basis. Over the many years they have supplied satisfied customers with their pure spice products. Kurry King is unique in the fact that they add No MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), salt, sugar, artificial colorings or flavorings to their spices. I found out when visiting Kurry King that most commercial spices you buy in the stores contain fillers.
All of the roasting happens in the kitchen at the back of the store, which accounts for the sweet aroma when you enter. Shelves in front are lined with plastic boxes containing packages of spices and spice blends. Here you will find everything from Hungarian paprika and chile spices to exotic curry blends all roasted, ground, packaged and sold in the store.
Kurry King’s customer base spans the world, from as far away as Hawaii and Australia. But the heart of their business is their loyal local customers that keep the business thriving. They happily report that many long time customers now order their products online to ship across the country to sons and daughters who no longer live with them and to friends and relatives.
The proof is in the pudding, or in this case the spice. Stop in and try some of their pure products and see for yourself. Kurry King is a family business where quality, community and service will keep you coming back.
Their website www.DallasSpiceMarket.com lists their many products and offers recipes to assist you in cooking with their pure spices.
Visit their shop at: 700 Main Street, Garland, TX 469-682-8883
Saturdays you can find them at the Four Season Market, at Firewheel Town Center, also in Garland from 9 – 2.
Citizen Sweet, Sweetly Delivered
Occasionally, the balanced life needs the sweet side and one of Dallas’ newest businesses, Citizen Sweet, offers a bite of the sweet life. The business caught our eye because the products are made from scratch using only the highest quality 100% natural ingredients. What does that mean for you? Not a single artificial flavor, color, sweetener, preservative or transfat. Citizen Sweet offers cupcakes, muffins and cookies by delivery only. Did I mention that they are local? www.citizensweet.com
Sustainable Lifestyle goes Beyond Your Food Choice
We all know that consuming sustainable food is important. Buying organically and locally produced food is at the core of our values. But how do these ideals of sustainability transfer to other parts of our lives? Sustainability is a lifestyle and should permeate every action we take. Because your conscious choices have a tremendous impact on our communities and our environment, Dolphin Blue, an active supporter of these principles in the community, offers these tips to make your kitchen an environmentally friendly place.
Buy local – We don’t mean just food. Pay attention to where your appliances, cookware, and other products are manufactured. Transporting foreign made items consumes a tremendous amount of energy. Consider buying American made products for your kitchen instead. They have a smaller ecological footprint for production, use less energy in transportation, and support local American economies. If you opt against buying foreign grown and mass-produced food, why would you buy unsustainable products to cook it in your kitchen?
Reuse – Many items found in your kitchen have multiple uses that extend their lifecycle well beyond the initial use. Glass jars can hold nuts, seeds, beans, and grains. They also make great glasses for cold summertime drinks. Wine, beer, and liquor bottles can be used as eclectic vases and make great decorating pieces too. Get creative in your kitchen and you’ll quickly see the usefulness of products outside their initial means.
Recycle – You probably already compost in your kitchen, but do you recycle as well? A significant amount of packaging is recyclable, including cans, drink cartons, yogurt tubs, plastic bags and glass jars. Many environmentally minded stores provide recycling programs as well. The more you recycle, the more recycled materials enter the production cycle, which in turn creates a greater number of products to choose from with lower prices.
Buy recycled – But recycling isn’t enough. If you do not buy recycled, the demand for goods made of recycled materials lessens, manufacturers make fewer recycled products, and the goods you recycled in the first place end up in landfills. Buy recycled products whenever you have the chance. Doing so tells manufacturers that you want them to invest in producing environmentally responsible products. Preserve, a company that makes eco friendly products for your home (www. preserveproducts.com), collects #5 plastics (like yogurt containers) to create dishes, cutlery, and cups, all of which are 100% recyclable too. Buying recycled products stops unconscious consumption, reduces wasteful energy use and promotes positive social awareness.
Avoid one-use products – Always be conscious of your consumption. It’s easy to grab one-use items like plastic cups, paper plates, and paper towels, but it isn’t easy for our planet to break down and make use of these items as they rot in landfills. Reduce your impact by choosing items with long and useful life spans. Try using cloth towels and rags in place of paper towels for starters. If you must use paper towels, buy ones made of recycled content like those by Seventh Generation. When shopping, bring a reusable cloth bag instead of wasteful plastic bags to lessen your oil and energy consumption.
Reduce water consumption – Consider how much excess water you use in your kitchen every day. Did you know that most new dishwashers actually consume less water than you would by hand washing your dishes? You can save even more water by not pre-rinsing your dishes (which does little to clean them anyway). When boiling or steaming food, try using only the amount of water needed. The more water you use, the more energy you consume in heating it up, and your consumption becomes increasingly wasteful.
Avoid harmful products – You’re conscious of your food’s quality, so why not be aware of what you use to clean your kitchen? If harsh chemicals with unpronounceable names make up the bulk of your cleaning products, it’s time for a change. Consider the impact these chemicals are having on your family’s health as they leach into your soil, your water and the rest of your environment. Instead, try healthy cleaners like those by Seventh Generation or Ecover that are produced with the planet in mind. Even better, try making your own cleaners using basic ingredients like vinegar, rubbing alcohol and baking soda.
Use energy efficient lighting – You probably spend a lot of time in your kitchen, which means lots of lighting used throughout the day. The next time a bulb burns out, try using Compact Fluorescent Lighting (CFL) instead. CFLs are cool-operating, highly energy efficient (using more than 40% less energy than regular incandescent bulbs) and last an average of 10,000 hours. CFLs save you money in the long run, save you time wasted changing burnt out incandescent bulbs, and help save the planet.
As conscientious citizens of our world, we all need to act responsibly and take on the challenge that Dolphin Blue supports and practices in their daily lives.
To support a sustainable world visit Dolphin Blue.
Be sure to find their coupon on page 20 of the Spring Issue of eDFW.
The Shrimp Stop
Proud Mary Walsh keeps on rolling to the Gulf on a weekly basis in order to bring back fresh shrimp to sell in the Dallas area. A resident of Gun Barrel, Texas, Mary saw the need for this niche market and decided it was something she might like to do. Leaving home early in the morning on Wednesdays, she arrives in Galveston and meets up with the boats where she buys her fresh shrimp. Depending on the season she has to travel further south to get the seafood.
“Consistency, cleanliness and freshness along with being here when you say you’re going to be here”, are maxims by which Mary runs her business. Just like you need to know your farmer, you need to know the source of your fresh seafood. Mary can tell you the story right from the moment she left home to pick it up, all the way through to your market bag.
The Shrimp Stop sells shrimp and other fresh seafood from Thursday to Sunday at the Dallas Farmers Market, Shed 2. For large quantities or special orders, call Mary before 10 am on Wednesday. She can be reached at 903-340-6790 or email theshrimpstop@yahoo.com
Edible Dallas & Fort Worth is a quarterly local foods magazine that promotes the abundance of local foods in Dallas, Fort Worth and 34 North Texas counties. We celebrate the family farmers, wine makers, food artisans, chefs and other food-related businesses for their dedication to using the highest quality, fresh, seasonal foods and ingredients.
