Birgit Erath's passion for spices didn't begin in London, but in the Black Forest. There, amidst forests and fields, she and her grandmother gathered wild herbs and mushrooms, which they transformed into aromatic blends. Surrounded by freshly slaughtered animals and the fragrant pantries of a German family, she learned as a child how to conjure flavor with simple, natural ingredients.

Her family regularly slaughtered animals from their own farm, and handling spices wasn't optional, but a necessity: meat had to be pickled, preserved, seasoned, and transformed – into sausage, ham, and roasts. Thus, she learned the basics of spice knowledge at an early age.

After finishing school, Birgit moved to London as an au pair. Her longing for familiar aromas led her to regularly have her family send her spices from Germany – or to bring them back in her suitcase during visits home. She had noticed that while spices and blends were available in many wholesale markets, they were full of preservatives, colorings, and flavor enhancers, which she found awful and which she couldn't tolerate for health reasons.

In her small London kitchen, she experimented with mixtures, cooked for roommates and colleagues, gave away her creations – and was celebrated for it. During this time, she also met Keith, the father of her second son, Jake – a fun-loving Jamaican with a large family, a big heart, and even bigger taste in music. Birgit fell in love not only with him but also with Jamaica: the culture, the people, the music, the way of life. The nights were long, the rum flowed freely, and to the rhythms of dancehall, she learned to cook like they do on the island. For a genuine family recipe from her Jamaican grandmother, she is said to have sacrificed – as she herself recounts with a laugh – at least three bottles of rum (“…she was a tough nut to crack!”).

In 1990, she set up shop at the Portobello Road market with a table and four spices. Her very first spice blend? A classic: roast potato seasoning. For every spice sold, a new one was added. In 1995, she opened her legendary yellow shop – The Spice Shop, just steps away from her market stall. At the time, it was a meeting place for home cooks, gourmets, foodies, and top chefs – from Gordon Ramsay to Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, and many other celebrity guests.

But Birgit never stood still. In the early 2000s, she was gripped by wanderlust once again and truly wanted to broaden her horizons – this time together with her second son, Jake. The two embarked on a multi-year trip around the world. From South America to India and Indonesia, they searched for spices, recipes, and inspiration – and found it everywhere.

Today, Birgit and Jake jointly manage the German branch of The Spice Shop: warehouse, shipping, a small retail store, and a cooking school in Waldmössingen, in the heart of the Black Forest. While their older son Philip runs the flagship store in London, it remains a true family business, internationally rooted, with its heart firmly planted in the Black Forest.

What many don't know: Birgit has kept a handwritten diary for decades, documenting her career, every spice idea, every trip, every person, every recipe. And we are thrilled to be publishing these stories gradually here on the blog under "News".