Making up a Food Hamper.

I found a UK based Russian and Eastern European food site, so I've ordered several jars and spice packs that I have never heard of eg. canned sorrel.
What is interesting is that all the labels are in Cyrillic script. DD will have fun working them out.

Thank you all for the suggestions.

Try the SPICES ON THE WEB website.
Lots of ingredients I can't find anywhere else, not just spices and herbs but sauces, seasonings (some salt free for you to add to taste) etc.

Bijou

My son usually gives me a food hamper at Christmas. I particularly like the flavoured olive oils. Garlic olive oil saves me having to chop up fresh garlic. Sicilian lemon oil for fish. Usual jams in small jars.

It's a good idea, Bijou, especially for foodies.

including laverbread.
But no laverbread!
Sorry

If you want spices and you live within reach of Indian shops, I recommend that you go there. You will have lots of choice and the prices are much, much lower than elsewhere. Turkish shops have some interesting stuff too.

My son usually gives me a food hamper at Christmas. I particularly like the flavoured olive oils. Garlic olive oil saves me having to chop up fresh garlic. Sicilian lemon oil for fish. Usual jams in small jars.

Jut a word of caution - if you're making up a hamper for anybody who you know to have any 'dietary restrictions' - such as a Nut Allergy, Wheat Allergy, Dairy Allergy, Coeliac etc - PLEASE double check the ingredients on the bottles/jars of spices and seasonings.

I'm Coeliac, and only last week one of the members of a forum that I go on gave us all a warning about some very ordinary SALT that she'd bought - that actually had a 'may contain Gluten' warning on the label.

I would NEVER have considered double-checking the label on a packet of salt before ....................... but you just can't trust some food processing systems/manufacturers these days. Just how on earth would Gluten (found in Wheat/Oats/Barley/Spelt/Rye/Soy) find it's way into something as basic as Salt .

I'd take a wander up the supermarket world food aisle or to a Chinese supermarket or Polish food shop

Nice balsamic vinegar....Waitrose do little balsamic balls to scatter in food, saffron ( which always seems so expensive), z’atar,Nam Pla Fish sauce (anchovy based -used to add depth to sauces and soups, sumac - add to roast potatoes or hummus. Flavoured olive oils. Unusual mustards or chutney. Just a few ideas off the top off my head!

seasonedpioneers.com is a good place to start, good luck

I have monthly deliveries of spices and recipes from Simply Cook. You go on their website and pick recipes and they send the spices/recipes for the meal. They come in a slim box which comes through letterbox.

Don't forget the capers!
Lots of ingredients can be found on the 'antipasta' shelf of online stores, but add homemade chutneys or jams or jellies if you make them - and a round of homemade shortbread (topped with caramel and chocolate, possibly).

Lidl also do sun dried tomatoes, aubergines etc. bottled in oil.

I make up a hamper for my son every Christmas, try the Ocado website.
If you search on the name of a slightly more unusual spice/sauce, say "rose harissa" you can see which aisle or shelf it is listed on and then take a general look at that shelf. I also buy some of the more expensive pastas, balsamic vinegar, oils, flours, nuts etc., a big bottle of good olive oil, good anchovies and sardines, crystal salt, interesting pepper and chipotle paste.
Waitrose have slightly less choice and tend to sell just their own version called "Cook's Ingredients" which I don't find quite so good.
Lidl do a lot of more luxury food items at Christmas: pink Himalayan salt in a grinder, little vacuum jars of pate or anchovies and so on, very attractively packed.

We hve a wonderful Indian shop near us that have the most aromatic spices. The owner is a fantastic and kind person who will source all you need and give advice to using the spices.

Use Traidcraft to buy chutneys etc from around the world, and help a struggling community at the same time

For something a bit different, you could try the cafe mor online shop - beachfood.co.uk The outdoor cafe in West Wales has an international reputation for seafood, and you can buy their seaweed based condiments, ketchups etc. including laverbread.

I've got a foodie niece who lives on a tight budget,, have bought her a new cook book and am buying lots of the harder to find expensive ingredients. Fun for me and she'll love it .

We had a glut of little tomatoes last year so I dried them and stored them in olive oil with garlic and bay leaves.
They're still at the back of the cupboard somewhere.

We've never grown vegetables or anything Callistemon. We manage a few herbs occasionally.

Kate1949 I didn't even manage to grow peppers successfully, although the oregano seeds itself everywhere!

I use Seasoned Pioneers in the Wirral. They do wonderful gift selections and recipes and ideas. They have a website and Facebook page.

I recently discovered Mara Seaweed seasoning - £3 in Tesco. It's a healthy substitute for salt. I use Shony, plain and Sea-spice with chilli and sesame. Information about the products is on maraseaweed website.

Thanks for the ideas ladies. I'm going to start with banana ketchup.
My DD uses spices and condiments that I have never heard of, so I'm struggling to think of anything she hasn't come across.

Callistemon

This thread has given me some ideas for DS; I usually look for some unusual food items for him but we haven't been anywhere this year.