Morocco
SEASONINGS
Moroccan cuisine combines sweetness with savor and adds spiciness without overwhelming heat. Cumin, coriander, saffron, ginger, and cinnamon are the main spices that give a distinctive profile compared to more subtle Mediterranean cuisines. Dried and fresh chili peppers are used lavishly; mint, fresh cilantro, and parsley freshen up dishes; bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic prevail in aromatics; olives and preserved lemons bring a tangy kick. Orange flower, jasmine, and rose petals water infuses exotic aromas into desserts. In many stew or slow-cooked dishes, cooks frequently use raisins, apricots, prunes, almonds, pine nuts, and other nuts to create a sweet-savory contrast.
RAS EL HANOUT – a dried spice mix popular in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, blends from a dozen to 80 spices. The name means “head of the shop” – the best spices the seller has to offer. Each shop, company, or family may have their own blend. Common ingredients, though, include cardamom, cumin, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, dry ginger, chili peppers, coriander, black pepper, sweet paprika, fenugreek, and turmeric.
LA KAMA – a lesser-known but traditional Moroccan spice blend that includes black pepper, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Also popular in Moroccan cooking are:
Levantine ZA’ATAR – dried oregano, thyme or marjoram, sumac, sesame seeds, salt.
Arabic BAHARAT – black pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, paprika.
SAUCES
HARRISA, a hot chili pepper paste made from a variety of chiles, could be the baklouti, guajillo, anaheim, chiles de arbol peppers, along with garlic, coriander, caraway, cumin, and lemon juice (or preserved lemon) and olive oil and is widely used as a marinade, dip or sauce.
CHERMOULA is a marinade and relish used in Moroccan, Algerian, Libyan, and Tunisian cooking, it slightly reassembles the Latin American chimichurri. In Morocco its often used for fish. Frequent ingredients include fresh cilantro, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice or preserved lemon, cumin, paprika, chili peppers, salt. It can come in different hues and tones: green (without paprika and red elements, with red tone due to sweet paprika or harrisa and yellow tone due to turmeric (source).
Moroccan cuisine is exclusive with four distinct cooking styles that are both cooking techniques and flavor combinations on the same time: m’hammer (red), m’chermel (marinated), m’qali (fried) and q’dra (skills).
M’HAMMER is a classic way of preparing tagine in which roasted meat is doused in a sauce made of onions, paprika, and cumin. A generous amount of paprika is used, giving sauce a brownish red color, and the meat is cooked in the sauce, its later taken out, charred under the broiler (source) and put back.
M’CHERMEL is a cooking style that is characterized by marinating food in chermoula sauce.
After marinating, food can be cooked in any other style, but the term m’chermel describes the process and style of cooking with this particular marinade.
European tradition cooks usually pan-brown the meat in the beginning before stewing. M’QALLI method is vice versa – first, the meat is stewed, and when it absorbs the broth and becomes tender, is fried. Compulsory spices are ginger, saffron, and turmeric.
Q’DRA is also the name of deep cookware unique for this type of cooking. It involves cooking meat very slowly, until it becomes exceptionally tender. This will be considered the most casual cooking technique; literally what Moroccans will prepare almost every day. (source) A liquid yellow broth is made with saffron and turmeric, pepper, cinnamon, parsley, and smen, while paprika and ginger are never used for this style.
Tunisia
SEASONINGS
Tunisian cooking leans heavily on robust spices. Compared to other North African cuisines, Tunisian food is spicier with chili paste, harissa, at the heart of cooking. Harissa is made from Tunisian baklouti chili peppers (1-5k SHU), garlic, cumin, coriander, caraway, lemon, salt, and olive oil. This condiment can be used as a sauce, rub, or marinade, and is sometimes called ”the new sriracha” for its growing popularity. Tunisia is the biggest exporter of prepared harissa and UNESCO lists it as part of Tunisia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The next step is to balance heat and aromatics, combining hotter elements with warm cinnamon, fresh mint, and coriander; tangy preserved lemons. Saffron in Tunisian cuisine is used more subtly than in neighboring cuisines. Caraway is more important than in other Mediterranean cuisines. Olive oil is used liberally; it’s sometimes infused with spices. In stews, cooks frequently use raisins, apricots, prunes, almonds, pine nuts, and other nuts to create a sweet-savory contrast.
TABIL is a distinctly Tunisian seasoning, a fragrant mix of ground coriander, cumin, caraway, and black pepper. Variations also add dried garlic, chili powder, black pepper, bay leaves, ginger powder, dried mint, and salt. Earthy, tangy coriander is essential in this mix. Used to marinate meats, roasted vegetables, features ojja, usban, pastas.
QÂLAT DAQQA or TUNISIAN FIVE-SPICE – includes cinnamon, cloves, caraway, grains of paradise, and black pepper. Used for meats, marinades, pumpkin, or eggplant dishes.
RAS EL HANOUT – a complex blend of spices that reaches even 80 ingredients. It starts with cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, ginger at its core.
BAHARAT in Tunisia refers to a simple mixture of dried rosebuds and ground cinnamon, often combined with black pepper.
SAUCES
HARRISA – signature heat, depth, and smoky warmth found across many Tunisian dishes: dried chilies (especially baklouti pepper), garlic, coriander seeds, caraway, cumin, olive oil.
KAMMOUNIYA – cumin-based paste is primarily used in liver stews to add warm, earthy notes.
CHERMOULA is a marinade and sauce often used with fish, combining herbs like cilantro and parsley with garlic, cumin, coriander, and lemon juice.
