Libya
SEASONINGS
Libyan profile is warm, aromatic, peppery. Dishes start with a base of olive oil, onions, garlic, tomato or tomato-paste, bell peppers. This base builds savory depth. Then they layer in spices — either individually – cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, or via spice blends. These add warmth, complexity, and North African-style. Saffron, though less common, appears in some special dishes, with its touch of luxury. Parsley. mint, preserved lemons or floral waters contribute freshness. Tahini, a creamy paste made from sesame seeds, is popular in dressings for its smooth texture and nutty taste. For many dishes, gravies simmer slowly, giving time flavors time to meld and deepen.
BZAAR is a fundamental spice mix in Libyan cooking, similar to other North African spice blends like ras el hanout, which include cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, and black pepper. It is used to season meats, stews, and rice dishes.
HARARAT is a special Libyan blend of five spices (or seven spices, depending on the recipe): cinnamon, cumin, coriander, red chilies, and allspice. It is also universal and flavors soups, stews, rice dishes, and meats.
HAWAIJ – this spice mix, though more common in Yemen, is also used in some Libyan dishes. It includes black pepper, cumin, cardamom, cloves, and coriander.
SAUCES
HARRISA PASTE – chili peppers along with garlic, cumin, coriander, and often caraway, mixed into a base of olive oil.
PILPELCHUMA – a fiery chili-garlic paste originating from the Libyan Jewish community, known for its intense heat and bold flavor, and is very versatile for salads, marinades, legume and rice dishes (also beloved in Israel). It is made from a blend of roasted or dried peppers, garlic, cumin, caraway, olive oil, and lemon juice.
SHARMOULA (CHERMOULA) is a marinade and sauce made from a blend of garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander, olive oil, lemon, and sometimes saffron. Used to marinate fish and meat or served as a dipping for grilled dishes.
Ethiopia
SEASONINGS
Ethiopian food is spicy, but that’s not really the point. The heat comes layered with cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, and fenugreek, so it reads as warm and complex, not just hot. There’s a faint smokiness, too. And there is the sour. Injera is fermented, and that tang runs through every bite.
Ethiopian flavor logic is fat, aromatics, spice, and time. In that order.
Dishes start with niter kibbeh. This is spiced clarified butter, and it’s the fat base for almost everything. You’re infusing butter with onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, fenugreek, black cumin, and Ethiopian cardamom, korarima. This is a less sweet, less floral, and more earthy spice, with a slightly smoky edge. That fat carries all of it deep into whatever you cook next.
Onions are hugely important in Ethiopian food, used in almost every dish and simmered into sauces.
Then there’s berbere, the master spice of meat dishes, lentil dishes, bean dishes. A dry spice blend, but complex, using from 13 to more than 20 spices. Chili, fenugreek, coriander, rue, korarima, black pepper, allspice. Some families toast whole spices and grind fresh; the ratios are personal. Spices bloom in the fat.
BERBERE — a foundational spice blend built on chili peppers, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, korarima, cinnamon, and cloves. It gives Ethiopian food its signature heat, depth, and slightly smoky edge.
MITMITA – A finer, fiercer blend built around bird’s eye chili, cardamom, cloves, and cumin. Hotter than berbere and used as a finishing spice, sprinkled at the table over kitfo (raw minced beef) and other meat dishes. Unlike berbere, it typically includes salt.
MEKELESHA – Ethiopia’s finishing spice mix, stirred into stews in the last few minutes of cooking. The blend consists of seven hand-roasted spices: korarima, nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, timiz pepper, and cloves. The name means, more or less, “to make tasty.”
SAUCES
AWAZE – A traditional sauce or spice paste, made by combining berbere and mitmita with tej (Ethiopian honey wine) and oil. Served with meats and is used as an all-purpose table condiment.
DATTA (also called qotchqotcha) – a fermented condiment used similarly to awaze, mainly in the southern part. Its aromas and flavors stem from microbial fermentation of a vegetable-spice mixture. Spices include garlic, ginger, sweet basil, rue, cinnamon, clove, Ethiopian caraway, and Ethiopian cardamom. Tangier and more herbal than awaze, it’s a regional alternative.
