Spices are fantastic for adding fun and flavour to foods without adding fat or sugar, so we give them the thumbs up! George Bond and Raymond Watkins, directors of Mr Wolf Spices Ltd., based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, have announced the launch of an initial offering of seven culinary herb and spice combinations, after lengthy experimentation and kitchen trials by fellow director, Hamish Dow. Labelled Urban Spice under the new Mr Wolf brand, each combination of dry spices has been carefully curated. Selected from a total of 26 individual spices, each combo is designed to enrich and enhance the core flavour of food types, from meats to poultry, seafood or vegetables. Mr Wolf spice packets can be purchased individually at £9.97 per 100g packet or £3 for a 20g sample packet. Try La Rossa, the Zingy, Spicey one that contains paprika, fennel, oregano, rosemary, garlic, bay, cayenne pepper and coriander. It’s used in Italian or Spanish-style pasta dishes, soups, stews and casseroles. Or have a sniff of the Peaceful Turk, inspired by the rich flavours of Turkey and the Middle East, this combination is essentially herbal with a touch of exotic heat, sporting the spices sweet paprika, hot paprika, dill, mint, cumin, sumac, coriander and saffron. The website also holds recipes.