Illyanna Maisonet is a talented chef, exhaustive researcher and incredible writer. So when we had the opportunity to collaborate with her on two spice blends (to go along with her soon-to-launch cookbook, Diasporican) we jumped at the chance! Enter our newest spice blends- Sazón and Adobo. Illyanna knew that to get this Sazón and Adobo right, we needed source wild achiote directly from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. The result is the only Sazón and Adobo in the US that’s made with Puerto Rican achiote. She wrote beautifully about creating these blends and sourcing the achiote in her weekly newsletter (seriously, subscribe to her newsletter at the link in her bio: @eatgordaeat, it’s awesome) so we’ll let her take it from here: “Achiote has been used in Puerto Rico since pre-contact. There are documented accounts of the Taino (now a term being challenged because it is said that no 16th-century Spanish documents use this word to refer to the tribal affiliation or ethnicity of the natives of the Greater Antilles.) using it for cooking as well as painting their faces. This is because the Taino are said to have reached the island of Boriken (Borinquen/Boriquén) by traveling the waters from South America, where achiote is also used in cooking. Achiote gives most of Puerto Rican cuisine its inviting orange hue. Much like its used in the commercial food industry for the orange color of cheddar cheese. The flavor isn’t very strong, a subtle floral mustiness just kind of lingers in the background. Anyone who’s ever made achiote oil knows the experience of inhaling in that perfume when the achiote seeds hit the hot oil when we’re preparing it for pasteles. From all of the work I had done in Puerto Rico over the last five-years, I had developed and nurtured some contacts. There are many things I’ve been in my life: non-profit youth advocate, shoe salesperson, grocery bagger, food truck corresponder, cook and writer. Somehow over the last two years I started sourcing achiote. The achiote I use is directly from small farmers in Puerto.”