Opened in 1950, Kalmaz Spices has been passed down from father to son and still maintains its place in the Spice Bazaar with its colorful spices. We listen to Mehmet Kalmaz, who establishes a one-to-one relationship with his customers by explaining what herbs he grinds in his own mill and what is good for which disease.
"The Spice Bazaar was restored by Lütfü Kırdar in 1941. In 1950, my father established his spice shop here. When he established the spice shop, Hafiz Osman Efendi from Medina, who knew this business very well at that time... I was a child. He used to come and sit here. He was the pioneer of spice and herbalism. They learned a lot from him. We try to sell the best quality spices in our shop. Black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cumin... We have our own mill. We grind it under the supervision of a master miller. Chinese cinnamon is special, we grind it. Allspice, for example, if we can find it, we use Jamaica allspice. If we can't find it, we'll use Mexican, it's good. I drink it in the morning, but not as much as possible. Cinnamon powder. What is it good for? It stabilizes sugar. It's a simple preparation. For example, linden for colds. A sprig of cinnamon, a root of ginger, a root of galangal, it takes care of a lot. But for diseases other than this, this is good for this, this is good for that, let's make this much telkit, let's mix this much... These are wrong."
Producer & Director: Deniz Gül & Gizem Elçi
Original Article: notonly istanbul - Kalmaz Baharat | herbs and spices at the spice bazaar (2014-03-17)
Translated By Deepl