Cooks in the Middle East often turn to the Baharat blend to add spice and a little heat to ground meat dishes, vegetables, couscous, and Tunisian egg tagines. The flavorful and subtly exotic taste of this Arabic spice mix are great for Mediterranean cooking, or a simple way to spice up plain dishes like rice and meatballs.This baharat spice is hand mixed from: Paprika, pepper, coriander, cumin, cloves, chiles, cinnamon, cardamom.
I add Baharat when I make Chinese or Thai-based dishes to give them a more western-asian flavor. I add it to curries to do the same. I add it in my spaghetti and my chili. I add it on egg whites with some pesto for breakfast. Baharat extends my flavor palette range, and makes everything work together. It is my "silk road" secret ingredient.
A bit too clove-y for my taste, so I do add some spices to balance out the flavors when I use this Baharat spice mixture. I added some garlic salt, good quality red pepper flakes and added brown sugar and olive oil and left some chicken to marinate with it--yum! We love adding some pico de gallo and sour cream and throw the stir fried chicken in a flour tortilla(don't even add oil to the pan, the chickies marinated in olive oil so just reuse that gorgeous sunset orange oil mixture to brown the gals in the pan). So much to do with Baharat, blends incredibly well with chicken and tofu.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I've been cooking more! And choosing recipes that usually require ingredients I have in the pantry or can easily find at the neighborhood store. For some reason when I came across a spicy ginger shrimp recipe that called for baharat, I decided to find some of this new seasoning. Online searching led to the usual sites plus The Spice House. I was impressed with the website and the descriptions of the herbs and spices and also with the free shipping of items in flat pack bags. The baharat arrived quickly and we absolutely LOVED the taste of the particular blend in the spicy ginger shrimp recipe. I haven't used it in anything else yet but imagine adding it to soups I create with 'what's in the fridge' and maybe even a frittata in the future.
This spice mix is a really warm and delicious blend. Several years ago a recipe called for baharat- it means “spice” in Arabic and when I went to my local Middle Eastern grocery, they led me to the spice section and I was very confused since I knew I was looking for a mixed spice. After going online, I found Spice House and ordered baharat. It has become a staple- especially in certain tomato-ey dishes- and it is essential for shawarma. Even the smell of this spice is evocative and delicious!
The flavors in this spice blend are wonderful! It brings back memories of world travel and if you don't have memories of world travel, it will take you there!
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