What were the herbs, spices or ingredients you grew up with? Was it rosemary and thyme, or soy sauce and ginger? I think everyone is brought up ingredients or cooking that makes up a part of who they are. Cumin, turmeric, coriander, cardamom and cayenne. These were the spices I grew up with. They make up the foundation of my palette and the flavor profile for everything I ate at home. Even the American food my mom made couldn’t escape at least getting a sprinkling of one of these spices. Meatloaf? You have to add in some cumin and cayenne of course. Chicken Salad? A dash of cayenne was almost mandatory.

So when I moved to Pittsburgh for college and started cooking, I realized how much I had taken these spices for granted. I had no illusions that I would easily be able to find the spices I wanted, but come on how rare are these spices anyway? South Asian food isn’t exactly a new concept in America, and they definitely have Indian food out in Pittsburgh, which is similar enough to the Bengali cuisine I grew up with. What I quickly realized was although cumin and cayenne were abundant, the rest were almost non-existent. Non-existent to the point that people didn’t even know what I was talking about. I would go to grocery stores and ask the attendants but they would just give me a confused look. In the end they would guide me to the spice aisle, pick up some curry powder and say “How about this?”

I thought I could deal with the sudden loss of the flavors I grew up with, but after a few months the cravings were too strong to ignore. My only saving grace during that period was the one Indian restaurant on campus. This only satisfied my cravings for so long though, and I realized I couldn’t go without anymore. The next time my mom called me to see how I was doing I asked her to send me a care package of spices and food. It was an excruciatingly long wait as the package shipped from Seattle to Pittsburgh, but the minute I opened it and the aroma of the spices filled the air… I was home.