McCormick's 2024 Flavor Of The Year Tamarind And Pasilla Chile Seasoning Review: A Spice Blend Worthy Of Celebration
Thanks to a ubiquitous market presence and instantly recognizable logo, McCormick has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the world of seasonings, spices, and flavor extracts. Of course, the company didn't simply come upon its monumental success by chance. The conglomerate earned its reputation as the prototypical purveyor of flavor additives, after all — which began when its namesake Willoughby McCormick founded the company in his basement in 1889. In fact, that drive to provide top-notch spices and seasonings continues more than 130 years later, as evidenced by McCormick's 2024 Flavor of the Year: tamarind.
If you're unfamiliar with the specifics of tamarind, well ... you're not alone. Quite frankly, the lack of widespread knowledge surrounding the sweet-and-sour fruit — which grows on the (you guessed it!) tamarind tree prevalent in parts of Africa, Asia, and Central America – likely spurred McCormick on during its selection process for the best flavor of 2024.
Knowing tamarind has a lot to offer kitchens throughout the U.S., the company released the latest addition to its Flavor Inspirations line this December in celebration of the under-the-radar fruit's ascension: a Tamarind & Pasilla Chile seasoning blend. Thanks to McCormick, we were lucky enough to receive a sample of this "small batch crafted exclusive" (as it's described on the label). After cooking several dishes starring this unique spice blend, here's our review of McCormick's 2024 Flavor of the Year.
What's in McCormick's Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning?
Right off the bat, you're likely already aware of two of the main ingredients found in the Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning blend. After all, tamarind and pasilla chile peppers are indeed prominently listed among the actual ingredients. To be perfectly precise, though, this Flavor Inspirations blend includes extractives of tamarind — with a bevy of additional spices and seasonings rounding out the batch.
In addition to pasilla chile peppers, McCormick's 2024 Flavor of the Year-inspired seasoning blend includes paprika, coriander seed, salt, brown sugar, onion, garlic, and sugar (citric acid is listed, as well). With so many additional components, the visual composition of McCormick's Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning is more reminiscent of a hand-mixed dry rub than a pre-made mixture purchased online — which appears to be exactly what McCormick was aiming for when crafting the celebratory blend's recipe.
As a limited-time spice mixture, it seems clear McCormick hoped its small batch-created seasoning blend would stand out from the crowd of generic spice blends sold at grocery stores across the nation. Given the wide range of complementary ingredients contained in the Tamarind and Pasilla Chile blend alongside the namesake items, we'd have to say the company achieved that goal.
How much does it cost and where is it available?
A quick trip to your nearest supermarket will reveal the exact price for most of McCormick's products. But you won't find the new Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning blend on the shelves of any grocery store — or any brick-and-mortar stores at all, for that matter. After all, the unique spice blend (created in conjunction with tamarind's status as the company's 2024 Flavor of the Year) only appears to be available for purchase online via McCormick's website.
Starting on December 6, 2023, the Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning blend could be bought online for the eminently reasonable price of $5.95 per bottle (plus any applicable shipping and handling fees). Now, while we'd presume the limited-time seasoning blend will remain available until at least January 2024 — since it's next year's flavor and all — it's unclear just how long McCormick's, ahem, limited-time Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning blend will be offered. Frankly, it seems fair to conclude the tamarind-forward spice mixture can be obtained by any interested consumers online as long as it remains in stock. In other words, if you'd like to try this intriguing concoction, don't wait too long to order a bottle.
How does McCormick's Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning compare to its other products?
Compared to the basic spices and seasonings sold by McCormick — like salt, black pepper, and garlic powder (among many, many others) — the limited-time Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning blend is a wholly distinctive product. This is hardly surprising, of course, and the better comparison point for this new tamarind-centric mixture is likely the company's line of Flavor Inspirations spice blends.
McCormick's inspired collection of rare flavor combinations includes a Cheesy Buffalo (co-branded with Frank's RedHot sauce) and a Banana Fosters seasoning. Of course, while each of those seasoning blends also offers a cornucopia of ingredients mixed together, none is remotely identical (or even similar to) the Tamarind and Pasilla Chile blend.
More than that, unlike the newest Flavor Inspiration released by McCormick, the already available seasoning blends are presumably mass-produced. With its additional status as a spice mixture crafted in small batches (a sticker on the bottle declared as much), the Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning stands alone among McCormick items.
Verdict: A perfect low-key addition to numerous dishes
At first, we weren't entirely sure what the best procedure would be to taste-test McCormick's new Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning blend. Though the company noted several recipes where the sweet, sour, and spicy mixture could be included alongside the product's launch, we decided to keep things simple. Consequently, we tried the Tamarind and Pasilla Chile blend on chicken thighs, potatoes, and boneless pork chops.
Bottom line: No matter what we applied this seasoning blend to, it provided a dynamic combination of subtle heat expertly balanced with sweet (and slightly sour) flavors. When liberally coated on chicken thighs cooked in an Instant Pot, it reminded us of a less-aggressive curry blend — and had us devouring an entire plate in minutes after the first delectable bite.
Meanwhile, the undeniably mild spiciness of the titular pepper shone through on roasted potatoes, while creating a dynamite crust on pan-seared pork chops. Simply put, after experiencing the Tamarind and Pasilla Chile seasoning blend's ability to elevate the trio of items we made for this review? We can't wait to see how well it works in future dishes, as well — and highly recommend any interested readers grab a bottle as soon as they can.