Ras el hanout

[BeeZee]

Mom brought me a gift from Morocco,  some ras el hanout. It looks like it has a fair amount of turmeric, the color is dark gold. I know I could use it to marinate/season chicken, but what have you used it for (I saw Liuzhou’s posts in the dinner thread)? Also got some really nice saffron, for that I have future plans for paella (she shopped with a local guide to ensure she didn’t buy garbage).

[JoNorvelleWalker]

29 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

Mom brought me a gift from Morocco,  some ras el hanout. It looks like it has a fair amount of turmeric, the color is dark gold. I know I could use it to marinate/season chicken, but what have you used it for (I saw Liuzhou’s posts in the dinner thread)? Also got some really nice saffron, for that I have future plans for paella (she shopped with a local guide to ensure she didn’t buy garbage).

 

@Wolfert has many recipes in her Moroccan books, and possibly some suggestions or recipes on eGullet.

 

[BeeZee]

thanks for the suggestion, will look for one of Paula's books in my local library. Recipegullet has a chicken tagine recipe and two using lamb, which I don't eat. I need to find some non-traditional uses since it is a fairly large packet and I want to use it before it gets stale.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

22 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

thanks for the suggestion, will look for one of Paula's books in my local library. Recipegullet has a chicken tagine recipe and two using lamb, which I don't eat. I need to find some non-traditional uses since it is a fairly large packet and I want to use it before it gets stale.

 

I have a pound of the stuff from one Moroccan source; and several additional varieties, most recently from Spice Trekkers of Montreal as yet unopened.  I understand Spanish fly is no longer legally an ingredient.

 

[EatingBen]

Use it not just on chicken but in sauces as well. It’s a fantastic addition to gravy it goes well in any kind of braise and depending on what’s in it can go really good with roast vegetables.

 

You can do tagines with chicken or beef and pork as well. Find yourself some salted lemons (they have a name I can’t think of it right now) which goes well with chicken tagine too and beef if you eat it. 

 

Pretty much anywhere you would use spices of any kind you can use Ras el hanout (well, excluding sweet dishes I suppose)

[kayb]

It's really good on roasted carrots. I know this because I used it by mistake one time.

[BeeZee]

I think that sounds good, and makes me think about roasted butternut squash, too.

[pastrygirl]

3 hours ago, EatingBen said:

Pretty much anywhere you would use spices of any kind you can use Ras el hanout (well, excluding sweet dishes I suppose)

 

Depends on the blend, but isn't it mostly 'sweet' spices?  Cinnamon, ginger, clove, cardamom ... I'd put that in cookies!  As long as it's not overwhelmingly cumin-y or something.

 

http://thetastyother.com/2015/02/ras-el-hanout-cookies/

 

If it's good on carrots, how about in carrot cake?

Edited October 7, 2019 by pastrygirl (log)

[EatingBen]

45 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Depends on the blend, but isn't it mostly 'sweet' spices?  Cinnamon, ginger, clove, cardamom ... I'd put that in cookies!  As long as it's not overwhelmingly cumin-y or something.

 

http://thetastyother.com/2015/02/ras-el-hanout-cookies/

 

If it's good on carrots, how about in carrot cake?

 

I’m definitely gonna need to try a few other blends... I wouldn’t use mine in a cookie but I could see with a few adjustments it would be good

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Depends on the blend, but isn't it mostly 'sweet' spices?  Cinnamon, ginger, clove, cardamom ... I'd put that in cookies!  As long as it's not overwhelmingly cumin-y or something.

 

http://thetastyother.com/2015/02/ras-el-hanout-cookies/

 

If it's good on carrots, how about in carrot cake?

 

 

In Food of Morocco @Wolfert says she purchased ras el hanout in Fes, unground, and had it analyzed.  The spices were allspice, ash berries, belladonna leaves, black peppercorns, cantharides, cardamom pods, wild cardamom pods, cayenne, cassia, cinnamon, Ceylon Cinnamon, cloves, coriander seed, cubeb pepper, earth almonds, galangal, ginger, gouza al asnab, grains of paradise, lavender, long pepper, mace, monk's pepper, nigella, nutmeg, orrisroot, rosebuds, and turmeric.

 

 

What is commendable of Spice Trekker's is that they supply their ras el hanout ready to grind and they list all the ingredients on the can:  nigelle, kentjur, cumin, poivre de Guinee, poivre, piment, gingembre, cardamome, masic, mustade, rose, cannelle, clou de girofle, curcuma, lavande, menthol, boutons de casse, cubebe, reglisse, safran.

 

Or in Quebecois English: nigella, kentjur, cumin, Guinea pepper, chile, ginger, cardamom, masic, nutmeg, rose, cinnamon, clove, turmeric, lavender, menthol, cassia buds, cubeb, licorice, saffron.

 

The astute and bleary eyed may note the lists don't quite add up.

 

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

The astute and bleary eyed may note the lists don't quite add up.

Not really surprising since as I understand it the name simply means the best spices that the merchant has to offer.  So there are likely as many combinations as there are people who can combine them.  Much like garam masala, no two are alike. 

[liuzhou]

18 hours ago, Anna N said:

Not really surprising since as I understand it the name simply means the best spices that the merchant has to offer.  So there are likely as many combinations as there are people who can combine them.  Much like garam masala, no two are alike. 

 

 

Indeed, and the same vendor's offering this week may be different from next week's. The best I've had was some my sister brought back from Algeria years ago after she mistakenly married another husband. She had certain problems getting it through UK customs.The staff confused it with another popular Moroccan product.

Edited October 8, 2019 by liuzhou
typo (log)

[heidih]

Like curries and masala - why we go to our known vendors that make it "as we like". One of the joys of "real" markets as opposed to "super markets"

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 hours ago, Anna N said:

Not really surprising since as I understand it the name simply means the best spices that the merchant has to offer.  So there are likely as many combinations as there are people who can combine them.  Much like garam masala, no two are alike. 

 

Very well; however how do you explain two different spice mixtures in the same tin?  If you need a hint the English ingredient list left out pepper.  I'm tempted to write the company and let them know.

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Very well; however how do you explain two different spice mixtures in the same tin?  If you need a hint the English ingredient list left out pepper.  I'm tempted to write the company and let them know.

 

My apologies. I missed that!  Goes to show you should always gas up with caffeine before risking making an ass of yourself. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I had forgotten that Spice Trekker's ras el hanout was "ready to grind" till I pried the lid off the can tonight.  The contents were strikingly beautiful and they smelled heavenly.

 

The problem as I see it is when grinding a small amount of a mixture of twenty* spices, how do you obtain the appropriate proportion of each spice?

 

Anyhow, not to be a tease, the recipe is @Wolfert's lamb tagine with quinces.

 

 

*nineteen if you read English.