List of Spices

Cuisines have fascinated man throughout history, and a lot goes into keeping the secrets of famous recipes shelved from outsiders. To the western world, anything eastern or oriental has been a topic of great curiosity and to satiate that kind of curiosity, history has seen travellers make their way into the deep unknowns of the orient. And add on the fact that historically the Middle East has been ruled by lots of different cultures – from the Egyptians to the Romans to the French to the current day Arabs; this makes the present day scenario over there very derivative of many centuries of variety. Traditionally and also according to western pop culture, what’s the word that comes to mind when someone says “spices”? For most people, and not surprisingly, it’s India. And it’s quite close to the truth as well – most of the spices did originate from the Indian subcontinent and through excessive trade along the silk route, they reached the Persian Gulf and China as well. So when one talks of spices in the Middle East, the topic actually boils down to Middle East, Indian and Chinese spices.
One of the main symbols of Middle Eastern cuisine is the use of Baharat, which is technically a mixture of currently available spices depending on wherever you are, which means that Egyptian Baharat would be slightly different from Iraqi Baharat, which differs from Turkish Baharat in some ways or the other. The word itself is derived from Bharat in Sanskrit, which means India. By definition, it is a mixture of some of the common spices available, like allspice, peppercorns, cardamom seeds, cassia, coriander, nutmeg, paprika, etc. But this combination is not so rigid. The main ingredient in Turkish baharat is mint, in Tunisia baharat is basically pepper mixed with rosebuds. The most popular form of baharat, called the Gulf baharat, dried black lime is added to a portion of saffron to make the food taste like the way it does. So after all these facts are thrown in, it is not surprising that baharat plays a key role in the cuisine over there and no wonder is the Swiss Knife equivalent of the Middle East, Indian, Chinese spices.
Being a key player in a Middle Eastern kitchen, the use of baharat has given birth to some of the best dishes in that region, especially in non-vegetarian cuisine. The Middle East is famous for its lamb dishes. Now some of the most popular lamb dishes like moussaka, ground lamb curry, shanks of braised lamb, mint dumplings in spring lamb stew, spicy shoulder of lamb use baharat in them. The list is endless, and just an article to list them all would be little short of showing disrespect to the history involved in these cuisines. So make sure you visit the middle east, or if that is not an option in the near future, at least go to the neighbourhood Arabian restaurant to try out all these dishes using Middle East, Indian and Chinese spices.