Peru
SEASONINGS
Peruvian seasoning and spice combinations are quite distinctive, with several key elements that make them unique:
AJÍ PEPPERS are the most defining element – particularly ají amarillo — yellow pepper, ají panca — dark red, smoky pepper, ají rocoto — spicy red pepper, and ají limo — very hot pepper. These give Peruvian food its characteristic heat and depth that’s different from other Latin American cuisines. While some dishes can be spicy, Peruvian food generally has a balance of flavors, including sweet, sour, salty, and spicy.
Unique herb varieties from coasts, mountains, jungles:
HUACATAY – black mint, an Andean herb that’s neither quite like mint nor basil, but has its own complex, slightly anise-like quality.
EPAZOTE – Used in the Andes for soups and stews
MUÑA – Andean mint used for altitude sickness and cooking
CHINCO – a native herb essential for pachamanca preparation, it has aromatic, anise-like flavor
Peruvian cuisine has less emphasis on dry spice blends compared to other Latin American cuisines and a strong focus on fresh paste-based seasonings rather than dried spices, extensive use of lime in coastal cuisine, and integration of fermented ingredients like chicha de jora — corn beer, or pisco — grape brandy, in marinades and sauces. Many of these seasonings, especially the native peppers and herbs, are difficult to substitute.
Interestingly, garlic and onions, while not native to Peru, are used in such large quantities that they’ve become fundamental to the cuisine’s flavor profile. They often form the base of dishes along with ají peppers.
Cumin, oregano, and black pepper were introduced by Europeans but are now used in distinctly Peruvian ways – in marinades for anticuchos and in meat dishes. These spices are used more subtly than in other Latin American cuisines.
Unique seasoning combinations emerged from cultural fusion. For instance, the use of soy sauce was introduced by Chinese immigrants and created new flavor profiles.
SAUCES
LECHE DE TIGRE – Though technically the marinade for ceviche, it’s often served as a sauce or even drunk on its own. Contains lime juice, fish juice, chilies, garlic, cilantro, and other seasonings.
HUANCAÍNA SAUCE – A creamy, spicy yellow sauce made with ají amarillo, queso fresco — fresh cheese, milk, saltine crackers, and garlic. It’s famous as the sauce for Papa a la Huancaína but is used widely.
OCOPA SAUCE – A sauce from Arequipa similar to huancaína but distinctly flavored with huacatay — black mint, and ground peanuts, often including evaporated milk and crackers.
AJÍ VERDE – A fresh, spicy green sauce made with cilantro, jalapeños or ají amarillo, lime juice, and garlic. It’s commonly served as a table condiment and used particularly with grilled meats.
SALSA CRIOLLA – A fresh sauce/relish made with sliced red onions, lime juice, chilies, and cilantro. It’s served with many dishes, particularly grilled meats and anticuchos.
CHALACA – A fresh condiment of diced onions, chilies, corn, and lime juice.
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.
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.