McCormick® and Chef Michael Schulson team up to help home cooks put their best flavor forward
Check Your Spices – and Enter to Win New Ones – at spicecheckchallenge.com
HUNT VALLEY, MD – Michael Schulson, acclaimed chef and host of the Style Network's Pantry Raid, has a pre-holiday tip for cooks across the country: raid your pantry! Schulson has teamed up with McCormick to create the Spice Check Challenge – an easy way for home cooks to check the age of their spices and be sure that the ingredients in their pantry will deliver peak flavor.
"If you were wearing leg warmers when you last bought your cinnamon, it's time to throw it out and buy a new bottle," says Schulson. "Using spices that are too old means the flavor in your dishes could be compromised. I can't believe what I find in people's pantries – spices that are five, 10, even 15 years old! And, no one is more surprised than their owners, who just lost track of when they last bought spices.”
Take the McCormick Spice Check Challenge
Schulson says it's easy to check the age of your spices to ensure you’re putting your best flavor forward. Start by visiting spicecheckchallenge.com:
• Use the McCormick Fresh Tester to determine exactly when a spice, herb or blend was produced. Keep in mind the following “shelf life” guidelines for spices, herbs and seasonings:
| Ground spices 2-3 years |
Seasoning blends 1-2 years |
| Whole spices 3-4 years |
Extracts 4 years |
| Herbs 1-3 years |
|
Take the Spice Check Challenge
• Try some of Chef Schulson’s pantry tips, such as stocking up on essentials you’ll need to get you from Thanksgiving Day to New Year’s Day – like nuts, chutneys, herbs and spices, chocolate, salsa and bread crumbs – to create quick and creative appetizers and side dishes.
• Enter to win a free set of new spices from McCormick. There will be a new winner each week from Oct. 8, 2007 to Dec. 31, 2007.
In addition, to thank America's home cooks for checking their spices, McCormick is providing support to
Feed the Children – a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping hungry people.
About McCormick
With an extensive network of researchers, trend experts, chefs, home economists, food technologists, and sensory analysts, McCormick & Company, Inc. keeps its finger on the pulse of flavor. McCormick was founded in 1889 in Baltimore, Md. Today it is the largest spice company in the world. McCormick sources only the finest ingredients from around the globe to bring the highest quality flavors to consumers. For more information, visit McCormick online at
www.mccormick.com, or call 1-800-MEAL-TIP (1-800-632-5847).