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Food and drink

Ras el-Hanout

Moroccan spice blend of varying composition, often with more than twenty spices. The name means “head of the shop”.

What it is

Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice blend whose composition varies; it is usually put together to suit the customer and can contain more than twenty spices. The name comes from Arabic and means “head of the shop”. The writer Saad Sarhane explains it by saying the blend is the very best the spice seller (attar) has in his shop.

In Fez, according to Sarhane, ras el hanout is sold in the spice sellers’ souk in the medina, which runs at right angles to the butchers’ and greengrocers’ markets, so that meat, vegetables and spices can be had side by side.

What it is made of

A traditional recipe can have up to fifty ingredients, among them dried flowers such as rosebuds and lavender, as well as cardamom, nutmeg, galangal, ginger, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric and hot chillies. Sarhane speaks once of three dozen and once of about forty spices and names, among others, clove, cinnamon, galangal (khdenjal) and long pepper (dar l-felfel).

When

Ras el hanout is used to season rice, couscous, tagines and slow-cooked stews. Sarhane names it as the spice of mrouzia, a dish made mainly of meat and raisins, with onions, garlic, oil and honey and topped with fried almonds.

Before Eid al-Adha, according to Sarhane, mothers bought ras el hanout in the spice sellers’ souk and made sure the blend was complete.

At a glance

Arabic
رأس الحانوت

Where it comes from

At home throughout the country, with no place of origin named by a source.

When you come across it

Eid

Goes with it

Food and drinkTagineA dish that shares its name with the lidded earthenware pot in which it is cooked and served. According to a study for WIPO and the Moroccan office OMPIC, chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemon is served at weddings, engagements and the feast that ends Ramadan.Food and drinkTanjiaMeat cooked in a sealed clay jar, the tanjia, in the ashes of a hammam’s furnace, a dish of the craftsmen and traders of Marrakesh. As early as the 17th century, the scholar al-Marghiti described its preparation in a poem.Food and drinkSaffron from TaliouineDried saffron threads, the stigmas of the saffron flower, from communes of the provinces of Taroudant and Ouarzazate around Taliouine. Since 2010 the saffron has carried the protected designation of origin (PDO) “Safran de Taliouine”.

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Last checked on 27 Oct 2026. 3 sources, 0 of them primary (authority, UNESCO, operator).

  1. Office québécois de la langue française, Grand dictionnaire terminologique: ras-el-hanout (Fiche von Stéphanie Bédard-Châteauneuf, 2006). https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/8351906/ras-el-hanout. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  2. Office québécois de la langue française, Grand dictionnaire terminologique: ras-el-hanout (Fiche von Stéphanie Bédard-Châteauneuf, 2006). https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/8351906/ras-el-hanout. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  3. Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 6 ـ .. بين أعشاب "رأس الحانوت" و"كليلة ودمنة" (30.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-6-%D9%80-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%A3%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD-559376.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  4. Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 6 ـ .. بين أعشاب "رأس الحانوت" و"كليلة ودمنة" (30.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-6-%D9%80-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%A3%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD-559376.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  5. Office québécois de la langue française, Grand dictionnaire terminologique: ras-el-hanout (Fiche von Stéphanie Bédard-Châteauneuf, 2006). https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/8351906/ras-el-hanout. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  6. Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 5 ـ .. "المروزية" أكلة موسمية تزين المطبخ المغربي (29.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-5-%D9%80-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%83%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%85-559151.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
    Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 6 ـ .. بين أعشاب "رأس الحانوت" و"كليلة ودمنة" (30.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-6-%D9%80-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%A3%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD-559376.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  7. Office québécois de la langue française, Grand dictionnaire terminologique: ras-el-hanout (Fiche von Stéphanie Bédard-Châteauneuf, 2006). https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/8351906/ras-el-hanout. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  8. Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 5 ـ .. "المروزية" أكلة موسمية تزين المطبخ المغربي (29.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-5-%D9%80-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%83%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%85-559151.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  9. Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 5 ـ .. "المروزية" أكلة موسمية تزين المطبخ المغربي (29.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-5-%D9%80-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%83%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%85-559151.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  10. Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 6 ـ .. بين أعشاب "رأس الحانوت" و"كليلة ودمنة" (30.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-6-%D9%80-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%B1%D8%A3%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD-559376.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.
  11. Saad Sarhane, Hespress: "ديوان المائدة" ـ 5 ـ .. "المروزية" أكلة موسمية تزين المطبخ المغربي (29.04.2020). https://www.hespress.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%80-5-%D9%80-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%83%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%85-559151.html. Checked on 27 Oct 2026.