Moroccan Spice Blend: Ras El Hanout

"Ras el hanout" is a spice blend of varying combinations originally from Morocco, but also common in Algeria and Tunisia. Some recipes for "ras el hanout" can contain 2 or 3 dozen different spices! It is commonly used in these North African countries to season lamb, chicken, fish, rice and couscous (a type of pasta of small granules of semolina).  

Easy to make, as you're simply adding various dry spices to a container and then mixing them together. I kept the spices to the more easily obtainable types, but some types of ras el hanout in use in North Africa or imported into other countries may contain some truly exotic ingredients like "grains of paradise," "orris root," "dried rosebuds,'' and others. 

Ingredients (makes 1/2 cup spice mix):

2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet/mild Spanish paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper, like cayenne
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Use a jar, can or other container with a lid. Add all ingredients to the container, make sure to break up any "clumps" of spices with a fork or the back of a spoon, put the lid on and shake the container very well to mix. Shake the container each time before using the spice mix.   

WORD HISTORY:  

Magazine-This word goes back to the transliterated Arabic verb "khazana," meaning, "to store, to collect or amass." This produced a noun "makhzan," meaning "storehouse, warehouse," and its plural form was "makhazin." Italian borrowed the word as "magazzino" (1300s?), meaning "warehouse," which then expanded in meaning to include "goods stored in a magazzino." French took the word from Italian as "magasin" (likely reinforced by French contact with Arabic in North Africa), along with the meaning "warehouse," which then expanded to include "military materials' depot." English borrowed the word in the late 1500s with the meanings, "warehouse, storage facility for ammunition." The meaning of "collection of written articles" comes from the 1730s, but the idea "seems" to date to about a hundred years earlier when lists were made of items in "magazine storage facilities." Circa 1870 saw the spread of rifles capable of holding multiple cartridges, the gun's chamber being called a "magazine."