Spices We Love for
Summer Cooking
Liven up your summer menu with some easy to use spices. Whether you're grilling fish on the patio, tossing pasta for a crowd, or slow-cooking a weekend braise that fills the whole house with smoke and herbs, the right spice can turn a simple dish into something you'll make again and again.
We've pulled together twelve of our favorites from the Sullivan Street collection — spices that earn their place on the counter all season long. Some bring heat, some bring bloom, some bring a pinch of France or Mexico or the Northern California coast. All of them are worth knowing.
Syria / Turkey
Aleppo Pepper
A mild, fruity heat with a slow-building warmth and a hint of sun-dried tomato — Aleppo pepper is the chili you reach for when you want flavor first and fire second. It makes a superb replacement for standard red chili flakes, but brings so much more character.
In summer, we love it scattered over halloumi hot off the grill, worked into a lamb kofta marinade, or dusted across a sliced watermelon-feta salad for a sweet-spicy contrast that's pure August.
Great for
- Grilled halloumi
- Lamb kofta
- Watermelon-feta salad
- Hummus finishing oil
- Shakshuka
House Blend · Italian-Inspired
Bruschetta Seasoning
Our house blend combines organic garlic, oregano, basil, Calabrian hot chili flakes, parsley, and sea salt into one aromatic, all-purpose Italian seasoning. The kind of blend that makes everything taste like it came from a trattoria in the middle of Campania.
Mix it into summer tomato sauce, toss it with roasted cherry tomatoes and pasta, or simply stir it into good olive oil for a grilled-bread dip that disappears at every backyard dinner.
Great for
- Grilled bruschetta
- Tomato pasta sauce
- Pizza dough seasoning
- Roasted cherry tomatoes
- Olive oil dipping blend
Organic
Coriander Seed
Warm, citrusy, and faintly floral — whole coriander seed is one of the great utility spices of summer. Crush it lightly and it releases a fragrance that bridges the gap between savory and sweet. Herbal traditions worldwide have long relied on it to soothe digestion, and it pairs beautifully with cardamom, caraway, fennel, and anise.
Toast a handful and crack them coarsely into a dry rub for salmon or chicken thighs, or bloom them in olive oil with garlic at the start of a summer vegetable sauté.
Great for
- Dry rubs for fish
- Grilled chicken
- Vegetable sautés
- Pickled cucumbers
- Spiced lemonade
Basque Country, Southern France · PDO / AOC
Espelette Pepper
Piment d'Espelette carries a Protected Designation of Origin — like Champagne for chili — grown exclusively in the Basque foothills of southern France. Its heat is gentle and round, with a rich, slightly smoky sweetness that black pepper cannot replicate.
In France it finishes everything from scrambled eggs to Basque chicken to fresh chèvre. In summer, we shake it liberally over grilled corn, swirl it into aioli for crab, or use it wherever a recipe asks for black pepper and you want something with more soul.
Great for
- Grilled corn
- Basque chicken
- Aioli & mayo
- Chèvre & fresh cheese
- Finish on eggs
Organic · South of France
Herbs de Provence
This certified organic blend — basil, rosemary, thyme, and lavender-laced Provençal herbs — is the benchmark of southern French cooking. It carries summer in its fragrance: warm hillsides, wild thyme, the faint sweetness of lavender in evening light.
A generous handful rubbed under the skin of a rotisserie chicken, scattered over potatoes roasting alongside fish, or whisked into a vinaigrette for a Niçoise-style salad. Few blends pull as much weight with as little effort.
Great for
- Roast chicken
- Grilled fish
- Potato salad
- Niçoise vinaigrette
- Ratatouille
Wild Harvested · Northern California
Fennel Pollen
Hand-collected from wild fennel flowers in Northern California, fennel pollen is the kind of ingredient that makes chefs protective of their supply. Intensely floral, sweetly anise-like, and impossibly fragrant — a tiny pinch does things that a teaspoon of any other spice cannot. It comes packaged in a reusable glass vial because it deserves to be treated as the treasure it is.
Dust it over pork tenderloin before roasting, finish grilled clams with a tiny shower of it, or toss it through fresh pasta with olive oil and lemon for one of the simplest great summer dishes we know.
Great for
- Roast pork
- Grilled clams
- Fresh pasta finish
- Seared scallops
- Focaccia topping
Organic
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Our organic Lemon Pepper — black pepper, onion, and bright citrus zest — is calibrated for seafood and poultry. Piquant and invigorating, it preserves the natural color, texture, and taste of whatever you're cooking while adding a pop of zest that makes every bite feel alive.
It's the seasoning we trust on grilled shrimp skewers, dusted over tilapia fillets before a quick sear, or shaken generously over grilled zucchini and summer squash. Bright, clean, and consistently brilliant.
Great for
- Shrimp skewers
- Grilled fish fillets
- Roasted zucchini
- Chicken wings
- Potato wedges
Oaxaca, Mexico · 4,000–10,000 SHU
Oaxacan Chili Pepper
Whole dried and slow-smoked over low heat for days, these Oaxacan peppers carry a deep, robust smokiness that is the backbone of great mole. Medium heat (4,000–10,000 Scoville) — enough to make a pot of chili interesting without overwhelming it.
Rehydrate them in warm water and blend into your summer mole, simmer them in soups and chili, or tear them into pieces and scatter into a slow-cooked weekend brisket. Wherever smoke and depth are needed, these are what you reach for.
Great for
- Mole sauce
- Summer chili
- Brisket braise
- Smoky soups
- Enchilada sauce
Organic · Blended in-shop · India
Organic Rainbow Peppercorn Blend
Blended right in our shop from organic Malabar black, green, pink, and white peppercorns — this is the whole-peppercorn experience done properly. Each variety brings something different: black for heat and bite, green for freshness, pink for gentle fruitiness, white for earthiness. Together they produce a round, complex peppercorn character unlike anything from a single-variety grinder.
Fill your pepper mill and use it everywhere this summer — over sliced ripe tomatoes, crushed into a steak crust, or scattered over a stone fruit dessert with flaky sea salt.
Great for
- Pepper mill everyday use
- Steak crust
- Tomato salads
- Finishing dishes
- Fruit & cheese boards
Organic · Mediterranean-Inspired
Seafood Rub 🦐
A perfect blend of organic Mediterranean spices — sea salt, garlic, onion, sugar, paprika, and yellow mustard — crafted specifically to bring out the best in fish, shellfish, and summer vegetables. For deeper flavor penetration, apply it the night before, cover, and refrigerate.
Pat it generously onto salmon before planking, rub it over whole branzino heading to the grill, or press it into sea scallops before a hot cast-iron sear. One of the most useful spice blends in a summer kitchen.
Great for
- Planked salmon
- Whole grilled fish
- Sea scallops
- Grilled shrimp
- Roasted vegetables
Québec, Canada 🍁
Trapper's Spice Blend
Legend has it a Northern Canadian trapper accidentally dropped his salt cellar into his maple syrup pot — and rather than waste either, seasoned his dried bison meat with the sweet-salty result. The rest, as they say, is epicurean history. This Quebecois blend carries that same irresistible sweet-salt balance, making it one of the most versatile all-purpose rubs we carry.
It's brilliant on grilled ribs, transformative on smash burgers, and surprisingly good on roasted sweet potatoes or summer squash. Anywhere a recipe calls for a sweet-savory finish, this is your blend.
Great for
- Grilled ribs
- Smash burgers
- Sweet potato wedges
- Grilled corn
- Pork chops
Italy-Inspired · Blended in France
Arrabbiata Spice Blend
Arrabbiata means "angry" in Italian — a nod to the fiery red chili and garlic that define this classic Roman pasta sauce. Our version is a dried herb and spice blend built around those same bold flavors, ready to go from jar to pan to table in minutes.
Stir it into your own summer red sauce over penne, mix it with olive oil for a feisty drizzling oil over grilled bread, or use it as a pizza seasoning base when you want dinner to have some attitude. One of the great all-purpose Italian blends for the season.
Great for
- Arrabbiata sauce
- Pizza seasoning
- Drizzling oil for bread
- Pasta al pomodoro
- Grilled bruschetta
