fig1 shows a two compartment spice pack 100 according to the present invention . a first compartment 102 and second compartment 104 are formed from sealable front layer and back layer . any number of compartments may be so formed , but two are shown for clarity . each compartment is arranged in the order of use , such that the first compartment 102 includes a tear line 110 , instructions 106 associated with the use of the spices in the compartment , and second compartment 104 includes tear line 112 and instructions for use associated with that compartment which may be located above or below tear line 112 , and additional compartments are similarly marked and have associated cooking instructions , such that a cook may tear open each packet in succession and follow the instructions associated with the particular cooking step . fig2 shows the back view of the packet of fig1 . the labeling for the rear side may be unrelated to the cooking step labeling of the front side , which front side labeling is typically aligned to the seal divisions 102 which separates one compartment from an adjacent compartment , or the seal divisions 102 may be unrelated to the front side labeling . in one embodiment of the invention , a shopping list 202 and culinary information 204 is presented on the back side , along with any required information such as nutrition facts , manufacturer information , and the like . the first compartment typically contains spices such as seeds , which are fried in oil at a temperature elevated sufficiently ( greater than 100 ° c . and less than the “ smoke point ” of cooking oils of approximately 230 ° c .) to release these flavors into the cooking oils , the contents of the first packet known as temperature released flavorants , as a high temperature cooking cycle is required for them to be released , whereas the other contents of the spice pack provide flavoring at lower cooking temperatures ( 100 ° c . and below ), which other packets are added after the first cooking step . in one embodiment , the contents of one or more compartments are cooked together or separately in an oil or cooking fluid which supports a temperature substantially greater than the boiling point of water , such as greater than 120 ° c . or well above natural simmering temperature of a sauce containing water , and either before or after the oil - cooking step , one or more compartments are cooked together or separately at a temperature which is at or below the simmering temperature of water , such as well below 120 ° c ., which is elevated above 100 ° c . to take into consideration the increase in boiling point due to salts and other additives which may increase the vapor phase temperature of water . the culinary information 204 which appears on the back side of the package may contain , for example , historical information about the origins of the food item to be prepared , cultural context related to the food item to be prepared , or other information relevant and specific to the dish being prepared . the shopping list 202 which appears on the back side of the package may contain the food items required to prepare the dish , or sources for the more exotic items required , or any information which assists in the acquisition of the required items for preparation of the dish associated with the spice packet 100 . in one embodiment of the invention suitable for asian indian cooking , the first packet contains mixtures of flavorants such as seeds , leafs , roots , or plant saps of coriander , cumin , mustard ( including black , brown , and white ), bay leaf , or asafetida , which are optimally heated in oil at a temperature greater than 100 ° c ., substantially above the simmering temperature of a sauce containing water . in this embodiment , the second and any subsequent packets may contain one or more of coriander , red chili powder , powdered turmeric , powdered garlic , garam masala or its constituents ( black pepper , cloves , cinnamon , brown cardamom , cumin seeds , dry ginger , nutmeg ), bay leaves , cardamom , sugar , salt , black pepper , black cardamom , black salt , cinnamon , or roasted cumin . in one embodiment of the invention , the contents of one or more compartments are related to the preparation of a beverage such as chai , where a first compartment contains spices including at least one of dry ground ginger , fennel seed , cloves , cinnamon , sugar , and dry tulsi , which first packet of spices is added to boiling water and simmered for 2 to 5 minutes . the second compartment of the package may contain a second step spice combination which requires a shorter boiling time , where the second compartment contains fragrant spices such as cardamom and loose tea leaves which should be boiled or steeped for a shorter interval of time than that associated with the first compartment . the benefit of the two - step packaging is the fragrance of spices of the second compartment are retained if the tea and certain fragrant spices such as cardemom are added in a second step after the slower flavor releasing spices of the first step are completed . fig3 shows a process for batch grading of flavorants with variable potency , such as seeds . in a first step 302 , the flavorant is separately prepared . for a batch of seeds , this may require frying the seeds in oil , since the flavor released by some types of seeds varies greatly , such that a greater number of seeds would be required for a recipe with seeds having weak flavor compared to the number for seeds with strong flavor . in step 304 an assay of strength is made , such as by human tasting , and in step 306 a strength sk is assigned for this particular flavorant of this particular batch for use in determining the amount of seed to use . the grading system may be any which provides a numerical value for use as a weighting coefficient for use in determining the amount of this ingredient to use in a later preparation step . for example , a seed with “ usual ” potency may be assigned a strength of 1 , and a seed with “ weak ” potency may be assigned a strength of 0 . 75 , and a seed with “ strong ” potency may be assigned a strength of 1 . 5 . similarly , a second step flavorant used in a subsequent simmering process rather than an oil - based first cooking step such as chili powder may be rated with a numerical potency which is later used in determining the amount of that flavorant to add to a particular spice packet . fig4 shows a process for flavorant grading , where a list of ingredients and quantities is used in step 402 to convert to a weighted quantity for each , such that if a , b , c are the seeds for a first packet , and sa , sb , sc are the respective strengths of those seeds , the quantity for each would be converted 404 by division of a / sa , b / sb , c / sc etc . the compartment would then be filled 406 by quantities a / sa + b / sb + c / sc , etc . the processes of fig3 which produce relative strengths may be performed for certain ingredients , with the other ingredients which are more stable over time and batch to be assigned strength = 1 ( uniform weighting ). fig5 shows a process for converting a recipe to a packaging order . step 502 identifies flavorants such as seeds or spices that are to be cooked in oil , which flavorants are separated and packaged in a first compartment in step 506 , whereas step 504 identifies flavorants that are part of a simmering cooking step , which are placed in one or more subsequent compartments in step 508 . the objects of the invention are not limited to those particular examples provided , and can be applied to any process for cooking food or preparing beverages where multiple cooking steps at different temperatures and times are desired , each cooking step having a nuance or particular process step required for maximizing favor , and the individual ingredients may be subject to selection by a knowledgeable chef based on assay of the flavor intensity prior to packaging . therefore , while specific examples are provided herein for understanding the problem and the invention which solves this problem , the invention is not limited to only the examples provided .