10 ready-made spice blends

Don’t fancy an overflowing spice cupboard filled with things you hardly ever use? Make life easy for yourself and go for ready-made spice blends, where everything has already been combined in the perfect proportions. We’ve listed some favourites.

Where ready-made blends used to mean Provencal herbs or Aromat, we now fortunately have access to blends from all over the world. You can even buy most of them at the supermarket. For a few, you’ll have to visit an Asian or Arab supermarket, but once you taste how much flavour a single teaspoon adds, you’ll know it was all worth it.

Recipe: creamy herring with potatoes

Ras el hanout

Ras el hanout can contain more than twenty spices, which we’re not going to list one by one, but the flavour is wonderfully spicy. Basically a kind of Arabic chicken seasoning, in the best sense of the word. Seriously, sprinkle this Moroccan blend over chicken thighs – perhaps with some onion and garlic as well – and slide them into the oven. Nothing more is needed for a sensational chicken dish. It’s also delicious for marinating beef or anything else you would prepare in a tagine. Or stir it into yoghurt for a tasty dipping sauce.

Dukkah

You’re increasingly seeing this Egyptian blend of nuts and spices on menus as a dip. Finely ground nuts, spices and sesame seeds are mixed with some olive oil. Add fresh pita and you have a delicious snack to enjoy with drinks. Bought some to keep at home? Be sure to sprinkle it over your fried egg in the morning, labneh (thick Arabic yoghurt), roasted vegetables or on your bread when you bake it yourself.

Five-spice

Rub this blend of cloves, star anise, Sichuan pepper, fennel seeds and cassia (a type of cinnamon) over pork and it will instantly taste Chinese. Or use it on duck for a quick cheat version of Peking duck. Chicken wings? Pop them in the oven with five-spice and some salt, then garnish with spring onion and you’ll have a dish everyone will be licking their fingers over. Thanks to the cinnamon, it has a hint of sweetness, which also makes it delicious in your chocolate cake.

Vadouvan

An Indian spice blend with French influences. Shallots, garlic, fenugreek, cumin, cardamom, turmeric and curry leaves (among other ingredients) are cooked at a low temperature until all the moisture has evaporated, leaving you with a fragrant powder. Sprinkle it over fried potatoes or marinate fish in it and then put it on the barbecue. It’s also delicious over spinach or stirred into your pea soup or scrambled eggs.

Garam masala

Add garam masala to your dish and you’ll instantly have the flavour of India. Definitely stir it into all your curries, but it’s also delicious sprinkled over roasted carrots served with yoghurt sauce. Or add it to the yoghurt sauce itself, to mayonnaise or over popcorn.

Shichimi togarashi

The Chinese have five-spice powder; the Japanese have seven-spice powder. Japanese cuisine is one of the few Asian cuisines that isn’t particularly spicy, with shichimi togarashi as the exception. This blend contains a generous dose of chilli, along with Sichuan pepper, ground ginger, nori (seaweed), orange peel, sesame and hemp seeds. Besides being spicy, the flavour is also fresh and almost sweet. Use it as you would chilli flakes: sprinkle it over noodle soup or fried rice at the very end, but it’s also delicious over salmon or chicken wings.

Furikake

Another Japanese favourite. It comes in many different varieties and sizes. It usually contains bonito flakes, nori and sesame seeds. If you walk into a shop with a good Japanese section, you’ll also find versions with wasabi, dried shrimp and even kimchi. Japanese people mainly sprinkle the blend over rice, which is also my favourite way to eat it. This recipe with rice, egg and furikake has saved me more than once when I’ve lacked the time, money and/or inclination to cook.

Old Bay seasoning

In America, this blend of celery salt, black pepper, chilli flakes and paprika is best known as a killer combination with Maryland crab. The seasoning is so popular that it now features in all kinds of dishes. Try using it to season your fries or devilled eggs, for example.

Berbere

Ethiopian cuisine isn’t the best known here, but with this spice mix you can give your dishes a delicious Ethiopian flavour at home. What’s in it? Among other things, chilli, garlic, ginger, basil, nigella seeds, fenugreek, korarima, rue and ajwain. Those last three are extremely difficult to find, so this spicy, slightly bitter ready-made blend is really the way to go. For example, make this chicken with berbere and Ethiopian lentils, or mix it with salt into butter for the perfect side to serve with your next steak.

Baharat

This smoky blend is widely used in Middle Eastern cuisine. Thanks to allspice, cloves and cinnamon, the flavour is wonderfully warm and perfect for marinating meat. You can really use it for anything: in dips or rice, or to make this aubergine with hazelnuts and tarragon.