Spice mixes and rubs are a great way to add a quick flavour hit to your food.  You don’t need to buy those pre-mixed herb and spice mixes from the supermarket, if you have a decently stocked spice cupboard you can easily make your own.  The advantages are that, once you know what you are doing, you can adjust the mix to your liking, you can make whatever quantity you may require (excess can be stored in a jar in the pantry) and it’s cheaper to buy spices individually.  I get a lot of my basic spices these days from my Indian grocer where you can buy them in larger quantities and they are a lot cheaper than they are in the supermarket.

One of the most popular spice mixes is Cajun.  These flavours, along with Zydeco music and gumbo, hail from Louisiana where they like their food spicy.  As with the Indian spice mix, garam masala, I’m sure there are many variations.  Here’s the one I make.

Great for barbeques

Cajun Spice Mix

Ingredients

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder (this is just dried garlic, finely ground)

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp cornflour (funnily enough this is usually made from wheat, use gluten free flour if desired)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried chilli powder

1/2 tsp fennel powder

1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

Method

Mix all ingredients together.  Use to coat beef, free range chicken or fish before cooking on the grill or barbeque.