Arabic spices are one of the defining ingredients in Middle Eastern cooking. They give foods their unique character, and are found in everything from main dishes to desserts. No Arabic recipe would be complete without them. Most of the common spices are found at Arabic stores. On the shelves of supermarkets, they will be called by their Western names.

Arabic Spices Add Unique Flavors
Spice mixtures are responsible for the tantalizing pungency of Arab cuisine. Each dish has its own spice or spices that give it its distinctive flavor. Hummos, a dip made from chick peas and ground sesame paste, gets its taste from garlic. Lamb and mutton are often seasoned with allspice, sumac and parsley. Cardamom is used in drinks such as tea and coffee, and also in soups and rice dishes. Curry and red chilis give foods a fiery hot flavor.

Saffron is featured in rice dishes to give them a delicate color and flavor. Zattar, an Arabic spice mixture, combines thyme and sesame seeds for an all-purpose spice mixture that can be mixed with olive oil or rubbed on meat. Sumac is ground powder from a plant of the cashew family, reddish-brown in color and delicately tangy. Coriander and garlic are combined to make taklia, a combination of Arabic spices used for a variety of recipes.

Arabic spices have given Middle Eastern food their distinct flavor and aroma for thousands of years. Many of them are familiar to other cultures, but only in Arabic cooking will you find these unique combinations and applications. Whether you like your dishes spicy hot or delicately flavored, there is an Arabic spice mixture that will appeal to you.