A complex Moroccan and North African blend, traditionally a spice merchant's finest mix, combining sweet, floral and warm spices; recipes range from a dozen to over thirty ingredients.
What it is¶
Ras el hanout (Arabic ras al-hanut, "head of the shop") is the most elaborate of the North African spice blends. The name implies the best the spice merchant has to offer, and traditionally each merchant guarded their own mix. It is warm, sweet and perfumed rather than hot, and is used to season meat stews, grains and pastries across Morocco, and to a lesser degree Algeria and Tunisia.
Because the name describes a status rather than a formula, ras el hanout has no fixed list of ingredients. Twelve to twenty spices is common; merchants in Fez and Marrakesh have been known to boast of thirty or more. What they share is a balance of the sweet (cinnamon, nutmeg, mace), the pungent (black pepper, ginger, grains-of-paradise) and the floral (rosebuds, lavender).
Origins¶
Morocco sat at the western end of the trans-Saharan and Mediterranean spice trade, and its cities had specialist spice souks for centuries. Grains of paradise, a West African spice, arrived by caravan across the Sahara; pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom came from Asia via the Arab trade routes. Ras el hanout reflects that access to a very wide range of spices.
Older accounts of the blend, including those collected by food writers in the 20th century, mention unusual ingredients such as ash berries, monk's pepper (chaste tree) and even cantharides ("Spanish fly"), a blister beetle credited with aphrodisiac powers. Cantharides is toxic, and its sale as a food ingredient has long been prohibited in Morocco; modern commercial blends do not contain it. Stories of hashish in ras el hanout also circulate, but are best treated as folklore.
What goes in it¶
A representative home blend:
| Spice | Role |
|---|---|
| cinnamon | Sweet warmth; the backbone |
| ginger (dried) | Clean, warm heat |
| Coriander and cumin | Earthy body |
| Cardamom | Floral lift |
| black pepper | Pungency |
| turmeric | Colour and bitterness |
| nutmeg and mace | Rich sweetness |
| allspice and cloves | Deep, clove-like warmth |
| Dried rosebuds | Perfume |
| Optional: grains-of-paradise, cubeb, lavender, galangal, aniseed, fennel | Complexity |
Flavour¶
Rounded, warm and faintly sweet, with a floral top note that sets it apart from baharat or garam-masala. It should not be dominated by any one spice; a blend that tastes mostly of cumin or cinnamon is an unbalanced one. Cheap versions often lack the floral elements and taste like a mild curry powder.
How to use it¶
- Tagines: 1–2 teaspoons per 500 g lamb or chicken, rubbed into the meat or fried with the onions before liquid goes in.
- Mrouzia: a sweet lamb tagine with honey, raisins and almonds, traditionally made after Eid al-Adha, in which ras el hanout is essential.
- Couscous: stirred into the butter used to finish the grain, or into the vegetable broth.
- Roasts: mixed with olive oil and garlic as a rub for lamb shoulder, chicken or squash.
- Pastries and sweets: a pinch in bastilla or in date and nut fillings.
💡 A little goes a long way
Floral spices turn soapy in excess. Start with less than you think and taste; you can add more to a stew, but not take it out.
Making it at home¶
About 6 tablespoons · 15 minutes
You need
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- Seeds from 8 green cardamom pods
- ½ tsp allspice berries
- 4 cloves
- ½ tsp grains of paradise (optional)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground mace
- 1 tbsp dried edible rosebuds (petals only)
Method
- Toast the whole spices (coriander, cumin, pepper, cardamom, allspice, cloves and grains of paradise) in a dry pan over a medium-low heat for 2–3 minutes, until fragrant.
- Tip onto a plate and allow to cool completely.
- Grind with the rose petals to a fine powder.
- Stir in the ground cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg and mace. Sieve if you like, and store airtight.
Variations¶
- Moroccan merchant blends: the most complex, often floral, sometimes containing twenty-plus spices.
- Tunisian ras el hanout: usually simpler, often with rose, cinnamon and black pepper, and used with lamb and in some sweet dishes.
- Algerian: somewhere between, often more cumin.
- Supermarket ras el hanout: variable; some are little more than cumin, coriander, turmeric and paprika.
Families and merchants each claim theirs is the real one, and they are all right in their own terms.
Buying and storing¶
Buy from a spice specialist or North African grocer where possible, and look for visible rose petals in whole or coarse blends. Rose and lavender fade fastest, so this blend loses its character sooner than most; three to six months is a sensible limit. Store airtight, away from light and heat.