The first spice blends you’ll come across on a visit to SpiceTopia are the Ventura Spices!
This collection of spice blends represent the flavors of Ventura! You won’t find any other spice blends like them.
Ventura Spice
Our collection of five Ventura Spices started as just one blend, Ventura Spice
This organic strawberry herbal spice blend started as a post on social media asking:
“What do you think Ventura tastes like?”
The SpiceTopia community responded with
- Pacific Sea Salt to represent the ocean which is such a large part of life in Ventura
- Strawberries which grow in the fields within our city boundaries and around the county
- Rosemary and sage growing in many of our yards and wild alongside our roadsides
- Citrus which is so synonymous with Southern California
- Pink Peppercorns from the trees which have naturalized across our parks and barrancas
- Chile Peppers a farm staple across Ventura County
“What do you use Ventura Spice on?” is almost a daily question at SpiceTopia. And our answer “everything” really is true! This unique sweet, herby, and spicy blend really does work on almost anything. Customers tell us they can’t make chicken without it. We love it on beef, pork, and fresh fruits.
Our favorite Ventura Spice Recipes:
Two Trees Herb Blend
Next comes the blend which truly expresses the wild beauty of our much beloved local landmark simply called Two Trees!
Our Two Trees stand atop a hill that is visible from most of Ventura. These trees which stand as sentinels above our town have survived wildfires, vandalism, and drought. That survival constantly reminds us of the steadfastness and strength of nature.
The Rancho Ventura Conservation Trust has stewardship of Two Trees, so it was only natural to create a Two Tree Blend as a way to raise funds for the trust. For inspiration, Ashley spent time up on the hill with the trees identifying plants which grew wild. And thus a blend with mustard seed, thyme, lemon verbena, citrus, and basil was born!
This blend really shines on seafood, eggs, in salad dressings, and with vegetables. We especially love adding it to tomato based soups.
Our favorite ways to use Two Trees Herb Blend:
Two Trees Butternut Squash Bruschetta
Off the Avenue Rub
Our third Ventura Spice, Off the Avenue, represents the Westside of Ventura commonly referred to as “The Avenue”. As the neighborhood that makes the claim to the most authentic Mexican food in Ventura, it was only natural to create a blend with cumin, cayenne, and habanero. Just a sniff of this blend will remind you of the constant scent of BBQed meats across the neighborhoods of the Avenue.
For many of our customers, this rub is their go-to for grilling! It does shine on larger cuts of meats that cook for a long time such as tri-tip. We love to use it on a roulade pork tenderloin.
And Off the Avenue Rub is also delicious in vegetarian dishes such as our Black Bean Butternut Squash Enchilada recipe, and Three Sisters’ Soup!
Anacapa Deep Dive
With the Channel Islands visible from most of Ventura, it was only natural that our next blend be just for seafood! The result? This delicious ginger citrus blend! Although this blend was created just for seafood, it also works well with chicken, veggies, fruits, and even beef!
Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands, is known for its abundant sea life, so it seemed natural to name this new rub Anacapa Deep Dive.
Our favorite Anacapa Deep Dive Recipes include:
Sheet Pan Shrimp and Brie Bruschetta
Ventucky Poultry Grilling Rub
Once Eliah created Anacapa Deep Dive, he was on a roll and Ventucky Poultry Grilling Rub came next!
Although Ventura is on the coast in Southern California, our county is predominantly agricultural. Unlike our fancy neighbor Santa Barbara and our big city neighbor Los Angeles, Ventura can seem a bit more straightforward ( and the term redneck may even get mentioned when referring to Ventura!). The name Ventucky was originally coined and brandied around as an insult, but soon became a badge of honor to many Ventureans!
Our favorite Ventucky Poultry Grilling Rub recipes:
And what could be more straightforward and downhome than this rub made specifically for chicken! With a delicious blend of garlic, cayenne, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, cinnamon, and coriander, this Ventura Spice is the perfect way to add a deep savory flavor to your chicken or turkey!
All our Ventura Spices are hand-blended at SpiceTopia using organic spices and herbs and are naturally gluten-free and vegan!
How do you use Ventura Spices? We’d love for you to share in the comments!
