Talk to me about herbs and spices

[dashoflime]

I have a £25 M&S voucher which I'm thinking of spending on stocking the herb and spice cupboard.
At the moment I have standard mixed herbs, the basic Indian spices and some stuff for Asian cooking (soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil etc). I want to get a bit more adventurous. What do you suggest I buy?

I'd get lots of whole spices rather than ground: whole nutmeg, cloves, cumin, juniper. Sumac is great - google recipes for chicken baked in pita sprinkled with sumac. Not sure m&s has a great selection though, maybe yours is better! If I had an m&s voucher I'd stock up on those stir in tray bake jars - had the sundried tomato one the other day and I couldn't believe it was out of a jar, it was amazing (and I am a made from scratch snob!)

Do M&S have a decent range of herbs and spices then?

If yes - saffron
Doubt they'd have sumac but it's lovely in fattoush (salad with crispy pitta)
Nice oil and vinegar maybe?

Tbh I would get my herbs and spices from a bog standard supermarket and use my vouchers for something nice which you can either only get or that is particularly nice from m&s. Some nice cakes perhaps. Or party food for Christmas season.

Sweet paprika, bay leaves, garlic, preserved lemons, rose harissa paste. For Mediterranean/middle eastern dishes.

Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & cloves. Great for sweet dishes, like cakes, but can also be used in savoury dishes like Moroccan curries.

To go with your Thai/asian spices: galangal puree in jar (Thai ginger), lemongrass, lime leaves, coconut milk & coconut oil, sweet chili dip, oyster sauce, Japanese teriyaki sauce, hoisin sauce.

Do M & S sell Barts herbs & spices? Their sweet paprika and zatar are both good.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone :)

Yes, M&S (some branches) does do herbs and spices. The one in Dundee has a whole aisle. When I was having difficulty tracking down Kaffir Lime, I eventually found it there.