Villa Jerada Ras El Hanout

1.76 ounces - Morocco/Seattle

Fragrant and exotic
Ras el Hanout

This iconic Moroccan spice blend brings complexity, depth, and beguiling flavor to your cooking.

In Moroccan, Ras el Hanout means “head of the shop.” (It’s actually pronounced “Ras ha’-newt,’” without the “el.”) Traditionally, the mix is a mélange of the best spices a merchant has to offer. And since Ras is a gentle, slightly sweet blend, it doesn’t contain edgier, more aggressive flavors like cayenne or cumin.

In Morocco, you never get exactly the same mixture twice. In the States, we also find many variations of Ras el Hanout, but far from top-of-the-line ingredients, these mixes tend to be bottom of the barrel. So when Mehdi—a native Moroccan, who now calls Seattle home—came to us and said he was bringing the flavor of Ras el Hanout from Morocco, we were thrilled! It’s taken him nearly two years to find the best purveyors and perfect his recipe (you’d think he’d traveled the original Spice Road in that amount of time), but it’s been well worth it!

To create the ultimate Ras el Hanout mixture, Mehdi went to his source: his mother, Fouzia. Together the two created the perfect combo: a mixture of familiar Moroccan spices, like grains of paradise, saffron, rose buds, and orris root.

Mehdi sources each individual ingredient himself and there are 12, from farms and suppliers from around the world, to be sure he finds the best quality spices.

The secret is to begin with whole spices, lightly toasted to deepen their flavor and aroma. These spices are then passed through a secret, special burr grinder to ensure that they end up identically sized. If you run your fingers through it, it feels soft and granular, like a slightly grainy, fibrous powder. This method creates a feel much closer to hand ground.

Mehdi grinds his spices on demand, usually twice a week for his Chefs, and for us he will grind-to-order, so you can be certain your order is just-ground and always at its peak intensity and flavor.

Use Ras el Hanout in traditional Moroccan dishes like tagines and stews. Or introduce a Moroccan Nights exoticism to your cooking by incorporating Ras el Hanout into rich fall squash soups, braised lamb dishes, dust it on top of sugar cookies, or even brew it into coffee. Think of it as perfect for slow cooking in a tagine or your slow cooker. Of course it is the perfect and natural seasoning for lamb, and if lamb is not your thing, try beef.

You can’t go wrong with this one! Delicate to the nose, it is unlike any other!

Ingredients: saffron, rose petals, grains of paradise, fennel seeds, monk pepper, galangal, orris root, white peppercorns, anise star, lavender,ginger, cinnamon,nutmeg, mace, cardamom, all spice

Made in a facility that processes nuts and wheat products.

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