On my own spice route to health

I LOVE cooking shows. Not only have they exposed me to a world of different cooking styles, foods and eateries around the world, but also to what goes into making many of the dishes so delicious and… moreish.

The word “moreish” is defined as “something that is so pleasant to eat, that one wants more”.

One of the food groups that most commonly elicits this desire is sugar. Condiments like braai or barbeque sauce, tomato sauce, chutney – and even many spice blends – are loaded with sugar.

When I decided to start watching my diet in order to lose some weight, I opted to follow a Paleo lifestyle, which restricts the intake of grains, dairy, refined sugar, processed foods and legumes.

It became clear that I’d have to cut commercially available sauces out of my diet – unless I wanted to spend a small fortune on niche products.

This led me to start experimenting with making my own sauces, and mixing my own spice blends rather than buying pre-mixes off the shelf. More often than not, these blends include sugar, anticaking agents and MSG.

A couple of years ago, Texan football player and barbeque enthusiast Dustin Gersch found himself in a similar predicament. When I met him during a recent trip to Austin, Texas, he was promoting Paleo Powder, his product line of “clean” spice blends, free of gluten, MSG, sugar and anti-caking agents, like silicon dioxide.

Closer to home, the Team Asijiki health community has just had its line of “clean” spice products stocked at Dis-Chem. There are a couple of other brands that are also free of sugar and additives.

This weekend I was in the mood for some saucy chops, so I had a go at making my own marinade. I used olive oil, some coconut aminos (a Paleo substitute for soy sauce, but you can also use balsamic vinegar), honey, chilli flakes, paprika powder, white pepper, pink Himalayan salt and cinnamon. And oh boy, it was delicious!

Do you have a healthy alternative to spicing or saucing up your meals? I’d love to hear from you.

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