Ras el hanout is a spice rack in itself.

A Moroccan spice blend, it often includes up to 40 different spices, including cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, allspice, cumin and cinnamon, with some blends claiming to use over 100 – making it perhaps the most complicated and diverse spice blend of them all.

There are no hard and fast rules as to how many spices ras el hanout should contain and which recipe to use. Each blend is unique to its region, family or maker. No two are the same. Some blends may add more exoctic and rare ingredients too, like ash berries, grains of paradise, orris root, dried rosebud, Monk’s pepper and Spanish fly.

Ras el hanout is Arabic for “head of the shop”, meaning “top shelf” and literally implies that they’re the best spices the shop or spice merchant has to offer.

This flavourful spice is rich, colourful and aromatic and used to season a number of savoury dishes, like tagines, meats, vegetables and stews.