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ras el hanout

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ras el hanout

Postby Hickybank » Tue Oct 06, 2020 3:44 pm

to buy ready made or mix your own, think I remember a post a long time back on this but cannot find it, what do you do.
If you make your own any chace of the recipe please :thumbsup

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Sakkarin » Tue Oct 06, 2020 4:00 pm

Here's what Dena had to say on the old board - it sounds as if it's not really feasible to do a homemade version.

http://carta.co.uk/foodforum/viewtopic. ... 711#p21711

There wasn't a standalone "Ras el hanout" thread there, although if you search "hanout" there are three pages of results.

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Hickybank » Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:04 pm

Thanks or that Sakkarin, just checked & my local Morrisons stock it, I just wonder sometimes how near the real thing they are.
I will give it a try.
Saw this Utube recipe & thought it sounded nice, so want to try it.
Thanks
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ra ... &FORM=VIRE

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Sakkarin » Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:29 pm

No rose buds or lavender in the Schwarz brand - the main ingredient seems to be yellow mustard seed :o

https://www.schwartz.co.uk/products/her ... -el-hanout

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Suelle » Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:38 pm

If you look up recipes for the spice mix, they are all very different, and don't bear much resemblance to bought brands either.

It doesn't seem worth making you own until you know whether you like the flavour of a bought brand, and that you like the recipe you want to try and are likely to make it again. Or use the spice in other dishes, if you like the flavour - such as tagines.

I use Bart's brand, but probably only because it was the most convenient one to buy when I last needed to.
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Re: ras el hanout

Postby slimpersoninside » Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:59 pm

My problem with a lot of pre made spice mixes/pastes is they are far too hot! If I make my own I can adjust the heat.

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Hickybank » Tue Oct 06, 2020 6:08 pm

This is Morrisons list of ingredients
Black Pepper, Coriander Powder, Ginger Powder (14%), Smoked Paprika (14%), Allspice, Cardamom, Mace, Nutmeg, Turmeric Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Clove Powder, Rose Petals (2%)
Features

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Suelle » Tue Oct 06, 2020 6:44 pm

Hickybank wrote:This is Morrisons list of ingredients
Black Pepper, Coriander Powder, Ginger Powder (14%), Smoked Paprika (14%), Allspice, Cardamom, Mace, Nutmeg, Turmeric Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Clove Powder, Rose Petals (2%)
Features


That looks the same as the Bart's blend - at least, the same spices in the same order. My old tin doesn't have percentages in the list, apart from 1% rose petals. I don't think you'd need to worry about it being too hot, if that was a concern for you.
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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:23 pm

They do vary quite al lot - most of the bought mixtures I've had have been OK, except not Seasoned Pioneers - blow your head off hot, and one I didn't buy that had bouillon powder as a major ingredient but looked very authentic, with a label with Moroccan decoration

The milder and sweeter ones seem to me more like the one I brought back from Morocco, Steenbergs looks good and you will notice contains no form of chilli at all, I currently have the Spice Shop one
Paprika, Cumin, Ginger, Coriander, Cassia, Turmeric, Nutmeg, Orris root, Fennel, Allspice, Cardamom, Dill Seed, Galangal, Clove, Black Cardamom, Caraway, Chilli, Mace, Cubeb Pepper, Rose Petal, Bay, Saffron

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Earthmaiden » Tue Oct 06, 2020 8:18 pm

That's odd. I like the one I buy from the Seasoned Pioneers range. I am not keen on vast amounts of heat and find it quite inoffensive and fragrant (and minus cumin which is always a bonus for me).

The ingredients are: Galangal, Rosebuds, Black Pepper, Ginger, Cardamom, Nigella, Cayenne, Allspice, Lavender, Cinnamon, Casia, Coriander, Mace, Nutmeg, Cloves.

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Hickybank » Tue Oct 06, 2020 8:54 pm

Hi Suelle. not worried about the heat more trying to find an authentic mix, although there does seem many variations on this
Some tasty treats on your blog BTW might be trying some of those
Terry

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Oct 06, 2020 9:38 pm

Earthmaiden wrote:That's odd. I like the one I buy from the Seasoned Pioneers range. I am not keen on vast amounts of heat and find it quite inoffensive and fragrant (and minus cumin which is always a bonus for me).

The ingredients are: Galangal, Rosebuds, Black Pepper, Ginger, Cardamom, Nigella, Cayenne, Allspice, Lavender, Cinnamon, Casia, Coriander, Mace, Nutmeg, Cloves.

Maybe they've changed it - I bought it once, a long time ago, and it was so bad I complained - and they were rude, essentially telling me I didn't know what I was talking about

This is the one I decided not to buy having read the ingredients -al'fez

https://www.alfez.com/ras-el-hanout/

INGREDIENTS:
Vegetable Bouillon (Sea salt, Potato Starch, Maltodextrin, Yeast Extract Powder, Onion powder, Celery powder, Carrot Powder, Rapeseed Oil, Sugar, Garlic Powder, Parsley, Fenugreek, White Pepper, Celery Seed Extract, Flavouring, Lovage root extract), Coriander, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper, Cassia, Pimento, Rose Petals, Green Cardamom, Galangal, Clove, Lavender, Mace, Nutmeg, Natural Flavourings.

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby KeenCook2 » Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:14 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:This is the one I decided not to buy having read the ingredients -al'fez

https://www.alfez.com/ras-el-hanout/


I don't think I'd have bought that either!

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Suelle » Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:35 pm

Hickybank wrote:Hi Suelle. not worried about the heat more trying to find an authentic mix, although there does seem many variations on this
Some tasty treats on your blog BTW might be trying some of those
Terry


Thanks, Terry. :thumbsup
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Re: ras el hanout

Postby ZeroCook » Thu Oct 08, 2020 4:10 pm

.


I've always understood that ras el hanout is a very piece of string type of spice mixture and by definition very variable though within certain general spice parameters so I took a look online for a diy recipe hoping that some very adept Moroccan cook might just have posted one. Voila. It looks good.

https://www.mymoroccanfood.com/home/201 ... pice-blend

I'm going to try it and make some :D
.

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby KeenCook2 » Thu Oct 08, 2020 5:18 pm

ZeroCook wrote:I've always understood that ras el hanout is a very piece of string type of spice mixture and by definition very variable though within certain general spice parameters

Yes, I'd always thought that too, ZeroCook, really depending on the taste of whoever is mixing it - I had a feeling that that's what it translates as and whan I checked wiki: "The name in Arabic means "head of the shop" and implies a mixture of the best spices the seller has to offer."

I have never quite worked out how much to use, whether teaspoon(s), dessert spoon(s) or tablespoon(s) :oops:

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby ZeroCook » Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:42 pm

teaspoon(s), dessert spoon(s) or tablespoon(s)

Yes :lol:

Actually I always feel thats that's it's a bit like using garam masala - to taste

.

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Oct 09, 2020 1:22 am

I think certainly in the UK we tend to feel that spicy food should be, well, spicy - like curry which is the spicy savoury food we are all used to. But in my experience in Marrakech and in eating in good North African restaurants in London and Paris the spices are used only sparingly as an accent, as in North European cooking we might use a grind of pepper or a grating of nutmeg or just a dash of Lea & Perrin’s

I have Arto der Haroutunian’s North African Cookery, which he researched in the field 40 years ago, he typically uses about a teaspoon or even a half of ground spice plus a cinnamon stick and possibly saffron in a tagine for 4-6 people

He also says that while a traditional ras el hanout contained 25 or so ingredients and was used for feasts, but that modern, more everyday blends are simpler

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Oct 09, 2020 9:25 pm

I had one of those days where I wasn´t tired at night (so stayed up until 12) and then woke up at 4am. :shock:
Soooo; I decided to do a web analysis of ras-al-hanout, and here are the results.
I analysed 15 different recipes, in English and in French. Most recipes used between 12 -20 different spices, although there were some which exceeded that number; one nutjob in particular used 36 different spices, including hemp seed, nori and Tasmanian pepper. the other more exotic attempts used things like lavender, nigella, mint, saffron, anise and star anise. Some put salt (or sugar) into their mixtures, but I discarded those ideas because I don´t think they´d add anything. the consensus is what follows:
Ras-al-hanout
1 1/4 tsps cinnamon
2 1/2 tsps coriander seed
1 3/4 tsps ginger
2 tsps turmeric
1 1/4 tsps black pepper
1/2 tsp cloves
1 1/4 tsps green cardamom seeds
3 tsps cumin
1 tsp allspice
1 1/4 tsps nutmeg

Half the recipes also added cayenne pepper; I´d have thought that with harissa available, this might be overkill. 30% used paprika or ground red pepper. Additional ingredients were mace, rose petals and white pepper.
Without ever having been in North Africa, there were other recipes which used some very exotic, local ingredients which are probably not found easily, but evidently, the spice mix is exotic and highly aromatic.
My personal experience with these spice mixes (I´d add curry powder, baharat, garam masala, BBQ rubs, etc.) is that the more items you put in, the less you detect them.

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Re: ras el hanout

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:55 pm

Genuinely Clive, I think that’s grossly over simplified
Here’s Arto der Haroutunian’s classic version - spice shops, and pharmacies, in Marrakech advertise that their mix has 21/22/23/24/25 spices
Arto wrote:A mixture of spice and herbs. This is theSpice of the feast of Aid el Kebir, of Mrouziya and many wintery dishes. It is used with poultry and most game dishes. It was also widely used as a medicine against colds etc. …
There were well over 25 herbs and spices involved in the preparation … Here for your edification I have listed the more important ones. If you mix approximately a tablespoon of each you can achieve a very good substitute.
Rosebuds
Belladonna berries
Cinnamon
Cassia
Cardamom
Clove
Cubeb
Turmeric
Wall broom grass (he’s not clear about this, says it comes from Sudan and is the fruit of an ash tree. Pink peppercorns would probably work - or Sichuan pepper?)
Lesser galangal
Ginger
Orris (iris root)
Lavender
Java almond (the dried fruit flesh)
Melageuta/grains of paradise
Black cumin
“Jamaican hot pepper” (allspice?)
Castor oil beans
Long pepper (piper longum)
Black pepper


That’s his list, but I’ve slightly updated his nomenclature, he was a cook, an artistic intellectual and a linguist who spoke several versions of Arabic but no botanist so he sometimes translated the names literally and added explanatory notes.

You can see why I chose to buy from a qualified herbal pharmacist! Who I trusted not to use belladonna, which is of course toxic (atropine) - my guess is sumac would be a safe substitute

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