Ras-el-hanout, the Moroccan blend
I already posted stories
about tagines, one of my favorite dish, and more specifically about my first
tagine, several decades ago, lost in the Moroccan middle Atlas (click here). Tagines
are tightly associated with the spice blend without which a tagine would not be
a tagine. I mean ras-el-hanout (also spelt raz-el-hanout). Spices are very
important in the cuisine, the economy and the culture of Morocco and other Maghreb
countries. You just need to walk in the spice market of a souk, in Fes or Marrakesh
for instance, to measure the importance of this industry. Not mentioning the
unique olfactory experience! In Morocco, ras-el-hanout is the top spice, or
rather the top blend since, as curry, it is made of a certain number of
different spices, from 10 to 30 or more. In fact, its name refers to that
prominent position in the shop, as it means the top of the shelves, the
signature product of each spice shop… Considering the strategic importance of
this blend, you easily imagine that its composition is kept secret. This is why
there is no one, ten or even 100 recipes of ras-el-hanout, but thousands and thousands
of recipes, as many as there are spice shops in Morocco, and there are a lot in
the souks of Marrakesh, Fes, Casablanca, Salé and other beautiful Moroccan
cities… If you add the recipes invented or adapted by the dadas, those women traditionally
working as cooks and nannies in the rich families, the number is even more considerable.
The recipe I share
with you today, with 18 different spices, seeds, roots, flowers… is inspired
from the recipe proposed by my friend Choumicha, a Moroccan culinary show host
and blogger who was a judge in my Gourmet Voice festival a while ago. Although I
adapted it a little bit, based on my preferences and availabilities of
products, as a whole, I followed it quasi-exactly. For instance, I didn’t put
coriander seeds and Cayenne, which I normally use to include in my ras-el-hanout
and which is generally used as well. This composition is just a base, and it is
up to you to adapt it, once again based on the spices you like and/or the ones you
have…
In the recipe below,
I indicate the ingredients that generally form the base of the blend are those
that I qualify as “relatively compulsory”: cinnamon, ginger, coriander,
cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, turmeric, clove, cumin… and those that are optional or can substitute to
others, such as mace, cayenne, paprika, white pepper, rosebuds (but personally,
I would make the latter compulsory as it brings some more than interesting flower
notes to the blend)... I generally use ground spices, but when I can have whole
seeds or roots, it is better as it gives more flavors although it requires more
preparation. For the quantity, my measuring tool is a teaspoon, representing
around 3 grams for most of ingredients. For the ingredients
that are not under a powder form, such as seeds, sticks, buds, roots… I use the quantity necessary to obtain 1 tsp.
after the possible drying and the grinding process. Although some ingredients
are obviously more difficult to find, I was able to order rosebuds, galangal
roots, long pepper corns… through Amazon.
Honestly, this is not a difficult preparation as soon as you have
the necessary ingredients. But before all, this is so much fun. I love to
handle, weigh, process, smell… all those flavorful spices. For a while, I am
walking through the souk Attarine, the spice market in the Fes medina… The power
of odors!!!
Levels of difficulty
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Cost
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Preparation
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Resting
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Cooking
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n
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$$
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30 minutes
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0 minute
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5 minutes
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Ingredients
Relatively compulsory
§
Cardamom
§
Saffron (< 1 gram)
§
Black pepper
§
Anis seed
§
Fennel seed
§
Cloves
§
Cinnamon
§
Nutmeg
§
Ginger
§
Curcuma
§
Cumin
§
(Coriander seed)
--------------------------------------
Optional
§
(White pepper)
§
Mace (i.e. dried
and ground nutmeg flowers)
§
Galangal root powder
§
Guinea pepper
§
Allspice (Jamaica
pepper)
§
Cubeb
§
(Fraxinus seed)
§
Long pepper
§
Dried rosebuds
§
(Black cumin)
§
Caraway
§
(Fenugreek)
§
(Cayenne or
paprika)
§
Etc.
NB. The ingredients into brackets are those that I didn’t have (Fraxinus
seed), decided not to put (coriander seed or Cayenne)… or forgot to include
(fenugreek)!
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Instructions
§ Except when mentioned, the measures are for 1 tsp. of each
ingredient under a powder form, i.e. around 3 grams. That said, you can adapt
based on your preferences, more cumin, less cinnamon, less anis/fennel seeds…
§ For the ingredients that you don’t have under a powder form
(which is obviously the most practical way, but doesn’t necessarily give the
more intense flavors), such as seeds, sticks, buds, roots… the quantity necessary to obtain 1 tsp.
after the possible drying and the grinding process,
§
As I don’t have an
adapted grinder, I simply grind the various seeds, the crushed cinnamon sticks
and the rosebuds in a high speed blender for an excellent outcome,
§
Regarding the
ginger, turmeric and any other roots, you need to dry them first. You can use
an air dryer or dry them in your oven at low temperature for 10/15 minutes.
As my roots were a bit old, then naturally air-dried, I just blend them separately
and gently sear them for 5 minutes in a cast iron skillet, before blending
them at high speed and obtaining a beautiful yellow powder with very intense
flavors,
§
Mix all those
powders together*,
§
Strain them first
in a classical strainer*,
§
Then strain them again
in a flour-type siever to obtain a nice, thin and flavorful blend, ready to
use for your future tajines and other Moroccan dishes…
* Don’t pitch the remaining mixture after the straining
processes. It will make a fantastic dry rub for a lamb leg or a whole fish…
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