The Spice of Life

Walk into Rose and Ruth’s Small Batch Spices, and you are hit by the aroma of numerous spices in the best way possible. The warm blend with strong cinnamon accents gives the feeling of visiting your grandmother’s kitchen while she’s making you your favorite treat.

Family matriarchs actually play an important role in this lovely little shop at 609 Main Street. Rose and Ruth were the grandmothers of owner Joseph Shultz. “They were great cooks,” Shultz fondly recalls.

They are featured prominently, with a photo of each and a brief bio displayed on the store’s shelves alongside amber jars of Saigon Cinnamon, Mediterranean oregano, sweet paprika, and tellicherry peppercorns, to name a few.

Family Features Strongly

Shultz will happily guide you through this world of spices, herbs, and seasonings, for it is not just his business, but also his passion. He worked in the nonprofit world for 15 years but wanted something different.

“I love to cook; my passion is food. I wanted to leave my job, have my own business, be in the food world, but not at a restaurant. This is a way to have my own business and in the food world and still have a life,” he says.

This is perhaps more important than ever since he and his wife, Hannah, welcomed their son eight months ago. Baby spice, if you will!

Rose & Ruth’s is all about family. “My wife is a huge part of the business,” he says. “The design is all hers. I bring more creative culinary elements, and she brings a practical business sense.”

His parents and sisters are also involved. Shultz’s mother, Ruth’s daughter, grew up in Tanzania, learning an appreciation for international cuisines. Together, mother and son make spice blends, such as the Bangkok Blend, which includes green mango. The taste is savory and spicy. “Coming up with it was fun and tasty,” says Shultz.

Ruth grew up in New Jersey. A nurse, she ran a clinic in Appalachia before moving to Tanzania for 40 years doing humanitarian work. Wherever she went, she learned the local cuisine.

Rose was from the Ozarks and eventually moved to rural Ohio. She is remembered as a “country cook” who mastered “Americana Cuisine.”

Spice for Every Occasion

While family is important at Rose & Ruth’s, the stars of the show are the spices. Shultz carefully sources the spices, continually trying to get as close to the original source as possible. Take, for example, the store’s bestseller, Saigon Cinnamon, which is supplied by a source that works with a farmer in Vietnam. Shultz doesn’t currently work directly with farms, but that is his goal for the future.

As for the Saigon Cinnamon, Shultz says his reaction after the first taste was, “This is what cinnamon should taste like. It was mind-blowing. It was wildly different from anything I’ve ever had. There are no added sugars or additives; it’s sweet up front with a cinnamon kick.”

Another of Shultz’s favorite spices is Mexican oregano, a cross between Mediterranean oregano and lemon verbena. Then, there is Green Mango Amchur. The mango is picked before it’s ripe, so it’s green and has a sour, not sweet, taste.

Shultz grinds all the spices at the store to be certain they are pure with no additives. The date is put on the label, and nothing sold is older than six months. “That’s what sets us apart, we’re small, we can do it. We can focus on freshness and quality,” he says.

Since starting this business, Shultz has had a spice education. He says, “I learned Latin names, about different chilis, making blends with spices from around the world, what goes well together.”

The lessons also include the practical, such as what to put on the label and what degrades spices. “It’s why we use an amber jar to protect the spices from the sun,” says Shultz.

The focus of the store may seem narrow, but Shultz notes that spices are having their moment. “The response is way better than I anticipated,” he says. “I’ve got a lot of repeat customers. I wasn’t sure if people would buy more than once as a novelty.”

Besides the Boonton location, Rose and Ruth’s will be available at about a dozen farmers’ markets this coming season. For more information, visit roseandruths.com.

Photographs by Antonietta Henry