Feel like putting something a bit different on your table aside from the standard salt and pepper….and some special olive oil perhaps….?

In Morocco they put small bowls of cumin salt out for guests to help themselves, sprinkling over anything and everything from oiled bread, salads, grilled fish or meat, soups, tagines, broad beans, slow-roasted lamb, baked aubergine and fried eggs. You can use it in the cooking of most of these dishes too.

It will keep for about six weeks, but it’s so easy to make it’s better to produce small quantities – this will keep you going for a week or so. Alternatively make slightly more, put it in a small jar and give it as a present.

For more about cumin, follow this link.

For more about salt, follow this link.

Recipe for Moroccan cumin salt

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp sea salt (Maldon would be good)

Method

1. Dry fry the cumin (go here for more about dry frying).
2. Crush roughly in a pestle and mortar.
3. Mix with the salt and put in a pretty, small bowl, an egg cup, or an espresso cup.

For more ideas about Moroccan food buy:

• Orange Blossom & Honey: Magical Moroccan recipes from the Souks to the Sahara by John Gregory-Smith

or

• The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert