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EveryMasala

Regional blends

Tagine spice mix

A home blend of ginger, turmeric, saffron and cinnamon for slow-cooked Moroccan stews.

A tagine is both a conical clay pot and the stew cooked in it. Cooks in Morocco usually combine ginger, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon and saffron, with cumin and paprika, then add preserved lemon or dried fruit as the stew requires.

What goes in

Ginger: 19%19%Turmeric: 19%19%Cumin: 19%19%Paprika: 13%13%Cinnamon: 13%13%Black pepper: 13%13%Saffron: 6%16parts

Parts by volume of the whole spice. The ring shows each part's share.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Ratios and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional-style way.

  1. Step 1: Infuse Crush the saffron threads and soak them in a spoon of warm water.
  2. Step 2: Toast Toast the cumin lightly and grind it.
  3. Step 3: Grind Grind the cinnamon and pepper.
  4. Step 4: Blend Mix with ginger, turmeric and paprika.
  5. Step 5: Rest Rub the mix over meat with oil and let it rest.
  6. Step 6: Bloom Add the saffron water to the tagine as it simmers.
  7. Step 7: Store Store the dry mix in a jar.
  8. Ginger: 19%19%Turmeric: 19%19%Cumin: 19%19%Paprika: 13%13%Cinnamon: 13%13%Black pepper: 13%13%Saffron: 6%
    Finished Tagine spice mix, by share.

The mix

Ginger and turmeric give the golden colour, which is a sign of a classic tagine. Smen, aged butter, or olive oil is used. There is no single set; cooks use what is in their pantry.

Sweet and savoury

Lamb with prunes, chicken with olives and lemon and fish with chermoula are among the many. Spices go in with the meat and onions at the start, and low heat does the rest.

Where it is used

Lamb tagineChicken with olivesVegetable tagine

The spices in it

SaffronThreads.TurmericColour.GingerWarm.GingerThe pungent rhizome of a flowering plant, widely used as a spice and folk medicine.CuminThe dried seed of a small parsley-family herb, used whole or ground in many world cuisines.PaprikaA red powder made from dried Capsicum annuum peppers, used to colour and flavour dishes across Europe and the Middle EasCinnamonThe dried inner bark of Cinnamomum trees, prized for its sweet warmth and essential oil.Black pepperThe dried fruit of a climbing vine, the world's most traded spice.

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Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryMasala desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are an illustrative, traditional-style ratio, not a standard: every family and maker blends differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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