Taste Of The Place Spice Journal - Ras El Hanout

If you are anything like me, then you love to experience new places and new cultures

and you especially love to try out the amazing foods that make a place unique

And you know what? You can do that without ever leaving your kitchen

My name is Julie Coburn, and I have made it my mission to discover as many flavors and dishes from around the world as I can

and show you how to recreate them in your own kitchen. So join me, won't you, as we experience a taste of the place

Ras el Hanout. What the heck is Ras el Hanout? Ras el Hanout is a Moroccan spice blend that

means head of the shop or top of the shop. In other words, the best spice blend that a particular

spice merchant is making. And many consider Ras el Hanout to be the defining flavor of Moroccan

cuisine. It's very earthy, a little bit sharp, definitely aromatic, and it has a

really nice warm undercurrent Now what is in Ras Al Hanout What makes up this blend Well the really cool thing about it is that there is not just one recipe In fact

Ras al-Hanout can contain anything from 15 to over 100 different spices. Even so

there are some basic spices that are used in most Ras al-Hanout blends. It

includes a combination of spices that we tend to think of as being more sweet

along with spices that we tend to use with more savory dishes and an undercurrent of heat created

by chilies or paprika. Those sweeter spices are often nutmeg and cinnamon and the more savory

spices might include cumin, coriander, black peppercorns, and a whole bunch of other stuff

So where can you get Ras al Hanout to try it at home? Well you can of course make your own Ras al

There are a bazillion recipes online. Just do a quick search and find one that appeals to you

And if you go that route what I recommend is that you actually buy the spices that you going to use buy them whole and then toast them and grind them right before putting your mix together And I guarantee you you will have a phenomenal ras el hanout

It will be amazing. Now, what I like to do is actually buy my ras el hanout from a quality spice merchant

Now if you don't have a good spice shop in your town, don't worry, you can buy it online

are lots of really good quality places to buy your spices online but if you go

this route buying a pre-ground blend then what you want to do is make sure

that you don't buy too much remember with all ground spices they're going to

lose their oomph in a very short amount of time so you want to buy it just

enough to last you a couple of weeks or a couple of months at the most okay once

you have your ras el hanout at home what do you do with it traditionally in

Morocco, this spice blend is used to season tagines, which are kind of like a

stew made with vegetables and meats. So along those lines, what I like to do is

add just a pinch to vegetable soups and stews and you can also use it as a rub for different kinds of meats including fish But here the important thing to keep in mind the first few

times that you use it. This spice blend has a lot of flavor so the first time you

try it out use just a little bit then taste your dish see how it tastes and if

you need a little bit more add some in then. Okay that is it for this episode of

the Taste of the Place spice journal. If you have enjoyed, then please hit the

share button and send this on to all of your foodie friends. Until next time

Look at that movie. And many consider Raza Hedin. Is that there is not just one recipe. There..

there is not just one recipe every is that there take two please take two