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Tom Crann and Heidi Raschke

Appetites: Couple serves up ‘spicy’ love story for Valentine’s Day

​Chicken wings
​Tom and Nicole Dokman use their 127 spice blend on ribeye roasts, rotisserie chicken, eggs, vegetables, pasta and oven-roasted potatoes. "Anything savory," Nicole said.
Courtesy of Martin Poole

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For couples looking to spice up their relationship on Valentine’s Day, Tom and Nicole Dokman have a recommendation: Try their 127 spice blend.

That’s the name of the spice blend the Minnesota couple created as their signature wedding flavor and party favor.

Smiling woman and man pose together
Nicole and Tom Dokman are the proprietors of Here's the Deal Spice Company.
Courtesy of Here's the Deal Spice Company

Food is their love language, so they celebrated their love for each other and their friends and family by serving a wedding feast that included ribeye roasts, chicken and fish all seasoned with the versatile blend of garlic, kosher salt, black peppercorn, onion, sunflower oil and paprika. At the end of the night, each guest went home with a jar of the stuff.

People ate it up. And asked for more. Orders started coming in, and eventually Tom gave up his career as a chef to start Here’s the Deal Spice Company with Nicole.

They named their special blend 127 in honor of their Jan. 27 anniversary date and now have an ever-expanding line of spice blends for everything from tacos and wings to ribs and ramen.

The two shared their “spicy” love story with All Things Considered host Tom Crann on a Valentine’s Day edition of Appetites. Click on the audio player below to hear their conversation.