Treat Your Taste Buds With Spices That Michelin-Starred Chefs Use

The path most spices take from the exotic places they’re grown to your less exotic kitchen cabinet is a long one, both in miles traveled and time elapsed. Which is why the pepper you grind onto a rib-eye and the cinnamon you sprinkle over your oatmeal are already pale, tired shadows of their original selves. Burlap & Barrel, based in Queens, N.Y., bypasses the centuries-old, slow-moving supply chain and sources whole spices directly from growers. While “single origin” and “fair trade” are virtuous traits, it’s the vividly fresh taste that has chefs from Manhattan’s Eleven Madison Park and Blue Hill ordering Turkish black Urfa chile ($9 for 1.8 oz., bottom right of photo) and delicate shavings of Zanzibar cinnamon verum ($7 for 0.3 oz., center).

• Claire Cheney of Curio Spice Co. sources and blends delicious and unusual spice mixes. Edo ($9 for 1.5 oz.) is inspired by Japanese shichimi togarashi and highlights the lemony sansho pepper.