At Zi Spice, sensory-driven cooking classes follow founder’s culinary journey

Razia Hayden’s hands-on cooking classes at a Medford farm are a sensory trip across the world. Students in her Spice & Sizzle: Indian Street Food session on Tuesday smelled the scent of cumin, coriander and fennel intensify as the seeds slowly toasted in a dry skillet. The seeds were part of a chaat masala, which Hayden calls a “flavor bomb.”

People taking Hayden’s cooking class are taught not to rely on measuring spoons, temperature gauges and timers, but instead focus on sounds, sizzles, smells and colors.

They listen for the sound of steam before dropping potatoes into a pot to boil until tender, not mushy. Then they watch for water droplets to bubble to know the oil in another pan is hot enough to lightly crisp the now cubed potatoes. When tossed with fresh herbs, creamy yogurt, tamarind chutney and a sprinkle of chaat masala, the potatoes became a plate of spicy-tangy aloo chaat.

“Use your hands to feel it,” said Hayden, as her students experienced coating cubed cauliflower and rings of onions with a chickpea flour batter to fry into light, crunchy crispy pakoras. “Coat each piece, not too much, not too little,” she said.

Soon, her students were holding up hands covered in the golden-colored batter.

Later in the two-hour class, Hayden paused her instructions as she started a blender filled with plain yogurt, homegrown mint, fresh cilantro leaves, chunks of ginger, just-squeezed lime juice as well as cumin and chili powder to whip up a cooling mint chutney with a little heat.

Another sauce, a sweet, tangy and rich tamarind-date chutney, could top pakoras and chaat. “This is your dish, make it your way,” said Hayden, who owns Medford-based Zi Spice, an artisanal food company that sells organic spices and confections, and offers immersive cooking classes.

One student wanted to peel the potatoes for her dishes. Some chopped the cauliflower into inch-thick slices while others broke off florets. Hayden said she cuts cubes in similar sizes to cook evenly. “Nothing has to be perfect but uniformity is nice,” she said. “Take your time; there’s no rush.”

She said toasting the fennel seeds will make them “more earthy, more of a base flavor versus a top-note flavor,” she said. “It’s up to you.”

She explained that she ground Thai chili peppers she grew last year. “I left some of the seeds so this has a kick,” she said. “Use a quarter of the amount you typically use.”

Her students on Tuesday were advanced or beginning home chefs with a craving to expand their cuisine offerings.

A couple whose social circle is centered on culinary experiences met Hayden at the Oregon Chocolate Festival in March, where Hayden handed out never-before-tasted delights, like her organic chocolate bonbons filled with pistachio cream, saffron-infused ganache and coconut praline.

Another student in the class called herself a “ferocious” home cook who discovered Zi Spice chocolates at the Drift Collective marketplace in Ashland. Shoppers at Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Markets in Medford and Ashland, and the Jacksonville Sunday Market can taste Hayden’s specialty teas, from delicate floral notes of green tea to bold, rich black tea.

Hayden introduced herself to her street-food class while pouring them cups of chai.

“For me, each confectionary, tea and spice blend represents a journey — a fusion of artisanal craft, heritage and innovation,“ states Hayden on ZiSpice.com.

She teaches classes on making aromatic, gluten-free Indian desserts and spice blending to customize curry or garam masala dishes.

Most important: Hayden’s students learn where they can find fresh ground, organic and authentic ingredients. Natural Grocers and some co-op grocery stores stock packages of organic seeds (ground fennel, yellow mustard, fenugreek and coriander) as well as toasted coconut chips and bags of garbanzo flour.

Hayden’s mother, who lives in Washington, sent her amchur powder, made from dried green mangos found in San Francisco. Hayden couldn’t find a reputable source for black salt, so the class created a close substitute by toasting Maldon sea salt.

Some of the organic produce was harvested at Fry Family Farm in Medford, which has a commercial kitchen Hayden uses to produce her artisan food and teach classes.

Hayden grew mint in her home garden for the street-food dishes. She also grows saffron, lavender, roses and blueberries to flavor her organic bonbons made with fair-trade cacao.

“I’m deeply invested in heirloom cacao, not only for its complex flavor profiles but also for its role in biodiversity, cultural preservation and the connections between local and global communities,” she said.

Every filling in her chocolates is made with organic ingredients she grew or she sourced from local farms and independent retailers “because supporting local producers strengthens our food systems,” she said.

Her fine chocolates are deeply rooted in traditions and her life of travel. “Every piece reflects my values: sustainability, craftsmanship and honoring cultural memory through food,” she said.

Her West Coast-inspired Coastal Collection bonbons are made with vanilla, lavender, blood orange and raspberry as well as pears and blackberries. Her Sundara Collection has Middle Eastern spices of mango, saffron, cardamom, tamarind, chi and hibiscus.

For Fermentopia, an event focused on the creativity and tradition of fermented foods and beverages held Jan. 25-26 in the southern Oregon city of Phoenix, Hayden made special infused bonbons with combinations of fig and Rogue Creamery’s Oregon Blue cheese; macadamia, sea salt and caramels; pistachio and cranberry; and saffron, cardamon and fermented mango ganache.

She calls her recipes traditional and inventive.

Her mother was born in Myanmar, but she grew up in England, Wales and Scotland, and her cooking leaned more toward mashed potatoes, meatloaf and nachos, said Hayden. “But every so often, she’d make my favorite dish, Khowsway, a rich and fragrant Burmese coconut chicken noodle soup.”

Hayden’s father is Iranian by heritage, born in India and moved to Canada as a child. “He’s a fantastic cook, too,” said Hayden. “His lasagna and French toast are legendary in our family, and he also makes beautiful dishes passed down from his family’s travels.”

Her grandmother, who left Burma when she was 24, is an incredible cook who makes dishes like A-meh Si Chek, a beef curry dish from Burma that Hayden said is “full of regional flavor and history, even as her palate reflects a life of world travel.”

Hayden started in the food industry at 14, “rolling burritos in Seattle” and she worked in restaurants until she started a company making cupcakes and cookies when she was 26.

“I’ve lived and cooked all over — from Seattle to Saskatchewan, Sonoma to Texas — absorbing techniques, ingredients and traditions along the way,“ she said.

Though she hasn’t yet visited India, she said her understanding of traditional methods comes through practice, study and conversations with food growers, chefs and others.

“My education has been deeply experiential,” she said. “I learned about peaches in Kentucky, berries in Saskatchewan, citrus in Pakistan and even guerrilla growing in Toronto,“ she said. ”I‘m still learning every day, and I think that’s one of the greatest gifts food gives us, a lifelong path of discovery and connection.”

She understands the science of flavor balancing, fermentation and ingredient pairings. Her husband, Daniel Maida Hayden, has a doctorate in molecular biology and plant physiology and she follows biology and organic chemistry to a degree, she said.

But her culinary talent came first, and her science knowledge hasn’t changed the way she cooks but helps explain her reasons.

“If you grind cumin, it doesn’t release all the oil,” she told the class. “If you toast it, using this method, it changes the composition and makes it more complex.”

She continue to explain that toasting burns off some of the bigger mono terpenes, volatile unsaturated hydrocarbons found in the essential oils of plants, leaving more nuanced sesquiterpenes and diterpenes, “which have different, more complex smells.”

She’s encouraging, praising students for carefully using a spatula to fold in the toasting cumin to evenly distribute the heat. “I want it to be dryer and more golden, then it’s done toasting,” she said. “If you spill, that’s okay because you’re going a great job.”

She sees cooking as an enjoyable exchange.

“I believe food is one of the most powerful ways we connect — to our heritage, to our communities and to ourselves,“ she said. ”Teaching is a way for me to pass on not just recipes, but joy, confidence and a deeper understanding of culture through spice.”