Lior Lev Sercarz is a spice blender to the stars—star chefs. His clients include Eric Ripert, Michelle Bernstein, Paul Kahan, and Apollonia Poilâne. It’s a “who’s who” of culinary innovators. Even chefs who blend their spices agree: Sercarz does it better. Sercarz’s culinary education started early, as a young boy in Israel. His is not a romantic tale of old techniques and recipes. It is a story of practical cooking. His mother worked late. She left ingredients for him to make dinner for his younger siblings. As years passed, his family traveled across Europe. The wide range of cuisines and cultures they encountered honed Lior’s exceptional palate. Their experiences were as unique as a spin on Dragon Slots, where unexpected combos lead to wins.

At 19, Sercarz joined the Israeli army, where he was charged with kitchen duty. He learned the simple but indispensable purpose of “food as satisfaction.” After leaving the army, he traveled to South America. He became interested in finding the source of food traditions. The spice trade sparked his curiosity. This was due to the lack of industrialization in the creation of spices.

Lior’s love for hand-harvested spices grew during his time at the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France. His externship, especially with Olivier Roellinger, inspired it. Roellinger is a three-star Michelin chef known for his spices and blends. From there, Sercarz moved on to New York’s Daniel. There, he experimented with spice blends and built a vast spice rack. This inspired his current business, La Boîte à Épices.

Sercarz has 41 signature spice blends and 30 extra ones for chefs. He seeks not to mimic a flavor but to evoke a memory of a specific place. For example, his “Cancale” is named for the town where he trained with Roellinger. It uses the region’s signature fleur de sel, orange peel, and fennel seeds from the cliffs of Brittany.

ICE recreational students enjoyed a cooking class. It celebrated Sercarz’s first cookbook, The Art of Blending. They discovered twelve of his multi-sensory spices, including Cancale. Like his spices, this book evokes emotion. It has vivid pictures and anecdotes about many flavors and cultures. Sercarz’s celebrity clients are chefs. They use his spice blends in recipes for soups, sweets, smoked fish, and cocktails.

Sercarz is a highly skilled chef. He produced fourteen dishes that night. They were impressive. Yet his instruction was far from heavy-handed. As he explained to the class, he does not care how people choose to use his spices.

He respects each person’s creativity and choice of how to use his blends. That said, the drive to publish this cookbook came from his non-chef clients. They often asked for recipe suggestions. He believes the cookbook stands alone. It doesn’t need to own the spice blends in the recipes.

It was in sitting down to enjoy our spiced feast that we were able to appreciate Sercarz’s unique perspective the most. He diagnosed ignorance in our treatment of spices. They are like meat or vegetables. There is seasonality, labor, and a variance in quality. His blends range from 9 to 23 ingredients and can take as little as one day or six months to create. Each blend gets meticulous attention to detail. It shows a deep understanding of his raw ingredients. From the choice of salt and heat to the unusual flavors, no decision goes unweighed. It gives Sercarz’s products an unmatched complexity. His spice blends are a pleasure to work with—for all five senses.

Conclusion

Lior Lev Sercarz has carved a unique and unparalleled niche in the world of spices. Sercarz, through his craft and attention to detail, has elevated spice blending to an art. He has a deep appreciation for the raw ingredients. Lior Lev Sercarz’s journey began as a young boy cooking for his siblings in Israel. Today, he’s a world-famous spice blender for top chefs. His passion for flavor knows no bounds. It blends tastes from around the globe. Sercarz invites us to explore the vibrant world of spices. He does this through his spice blends and cookbook, The Art of Blending. His blends inspire experimentation and recall distant places. They appeal to both professional chefs and home cooks. Every sprinkle of his blends tells a story. It shows his dedication to making the ordinary extraordinary.