Urf! Urf!

I love finding, assessing and using various herbs and spices in my cooking and it is always interesting to come across one you aren't familiar with. One of these, for me, is urfa biber, a Turkish pepper I came across.

With all of the enthusiastic and experienced cooks that hang out here I figured that some of you would know that spice and be able to advise on its use.

See https://www.foodandwine.com/lifestyle/e ... issing-out

Yes I have it and another unusual pepper both mentioned in Mourad's Moroccan cookbook. I would be of more help were I able to look at the notes I made in the book after trying both. As I recall it is somewhat moist and in flakes, not a dry powder with a definite edge of smoke and acid. I would refer to that cookbook if you have it as he has very definite recommendations for their use. I found his ideas for use of the other spices and spice mixes in his book very helpful. I've made nearly all of the mixes he has recipes for, a few contain the urfa and the other one which name I can't remember....the book is in Wisconsin and I am in Pittsburgh. Sorry not of more help

Just remembered the name of the other FWIW.....Marash and my memory of that is is even more faint as I went through my Moroccan phase a few years ago. I have a habit of stocking my pantry with ingredients I read about in unfamiliar ethnic cookbooks so as not to be frustrated when I get the urge to try something.

Thanks for the book reference! I shall pick t up at my library to see if I want to own it (we are running very short on cookbook space!)

[Jenise]

It's a great book, Bill. I love Mourad's ideas.

Thanks for the F&W article. I thought this sounded like something in the Aleppo family and so it is. I still have some Aleppo pepper: it is a little damp but just a very little, the bite is mild and smoky but there is also something tangy-salty-sour to it. I use it mostly sprinkle-on rather than risk spoiling the complexity by cooking it in.

We also use Aleppo and we use a fair bit of sumac as well.

Always interested in adding another element to the spice armamentarium.

...we use a fair bit of sumac as well.

I live in a Middle Eastern neighborhood so lots of foods with za'atar here.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Mourad a number of years ago when the book first came out and I was the host of The Kitchen Corner for the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library, when they were doing radio programming. I was new to north African cuisine at the time and the interview and his story was fascinating. Come to find out that a couple of recipes I had snipped from newspapers and magazines earlier were his recipes from when he and his brother owned their small restaurant (in San Francisco, I believe). That is when I learned about sumac and za'atar, and other spices unfamiliar to me at the time. They were harder to find back then, but I was on a quest. I love north African cuisine. I will look for this pepper. Thanks.

FWIW, a couple of years ago I discovered Japanese 7 Spice Blend (Shichimi Togarashi). The latest finds in the past year: beau monde seasoning and tajin.

Za'atar - yes, use it quite a bit.

Sichimi Togarashi I use all the time as one of our favourite veg sides is bean sprouts blanched, chilled and seasoned with sesame oil, sliced green onions, soy, toasted black sesame seeds. The spice is very hot so you have to be careful!

As a somewhat related aside here one of the features I like in ethnic cookbooks is a discussion of and recipes for spice mixtures. I never buy commercial spice mixtures and use my own whole spices to make the mix. Mourad has many that I continue to mix up when needed- dry harissa, Azziza curry, ras el hanout, berbere, vadouvan. I like the Palestinian and Israeli spice mixes in Balaboosta by Einat Armody and Levant and Olives, Lemon and Zaatar by Rawia Bishara. Zaatar is certainly quite varied depending on what herb in the oregano family is used. Of late I'm looking at east and west African cuisines which share a lot of similarities to the North African and Indian spice palate.
The Japanese mix that accommodates a lot of tinkering is Furikake.
I also like the sauce recipes in these books - chermoula, wet harissa, tahini pomegranate and others.

[Jenise]

Christine, I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about African spice mixtures as you are, but I'm reminded that I fell in love with a Za'atar I purchased from some spice-company-to-the-stars in West Los Angeles. Heavenly stuff that imprinted in my brain the one right way for Za'atar to taste. A year or two later I ran out and ordered more which was bland and dull and nothing like the first version--not even the same color. I'm kinda done with Za'atar now until I find something similar. It had the most interesting/unique aroma, slightly floral and super exotic.

I've run into the same kind of differences with berberes and ras al'hanouts. I haven't bonded with the latter--probably because I have yet to buy one that seems to make a case for itself to exist.

Furikake--on Maui, there's a supermarket known for it's furikake fried chicken. SO GOOD.

We have pretty good za'atar up here whenever the borders open. Have you been to Jamine Foods on Main?

Jenise: no middle-eastern grocers near you? I believe both Trader Joe's and Whole Paycheck carry it.

Zaatar is both an herb and a spice mix which contains zaatar, toasted sesame seed and sumac. The herb is in the thyme family but a variety that is not common in the US and thus the spice mixes vary dramatically because they contain domestic thymes or oreganos. The Middle Eastern thyme is very distinctive and grows best in hot dry climates. I searched seeds and tried to grow but not successful in Wisconsin.

[Jenise]

We have pretty good za'atar up here whenever the borders open. Have you been to Jamine Foods on Main?

No I haven't. My shopping for unusual spices hasn't ventured further north than Delta.

[Jenise]

Jenise: no middle-eastern grocers near you? I believe both Trader Joe's and Whole Paycheck carry it.

Yes, there is one, the owners are Lebanese. You're right that I should check out what they've got, but the larger problem is that obviously there's no one "it". Lots of variables such that they could all have different names because the mixtures aren't identical.

I bought za'atar at a Middle Eastern store and carefully checked the varying ingredient lists before purchasing. Unless samples are given, I don't know of any other way to ascertain which is best for you except to ask the store owner what's best or most authentic.

[Jenise]

Trouble is, I want one just like the first one I ever bought--if it doesn't taste like that, then for me it won't be good Za'atar. Favorite use: secured in a bit of mayo, rubbed on rack of lamb then crusted with a mix of panko and unsweetened coconut. Killer.

Jasmine carries at least three versions of za'atar. I'm down to a package of the Jordanian version (contains nuts) so have to stock up soon. They also have Lebanese and Palestinian plus a blend that includes za'atar with added Aleppo pepper.

Here - have fun browsing: http://jasminefoods.com/?s=zaatar&post_type=product

We sprinkle it on vegetables, chicken, flatbread, salmon...sometimes I just cut an avocado open, sprinkle it with za'atar and eat it with a spoon.

The other mix we use (enough that I am also out of it) is dukkah, a similar Egyptian blend.

Trouble is, I want one just like the first one I ever bought--if it doesn't taste like that, then for me it won't be good Za'atar. Favorite use: secured in a bit of mayo, rubbed on rack of lamb then crusted with a mix of panko and unsweetened coconut. Killer.

Long shot: If you remember the brand or remember what the container looks like, enlarge and examine the ingredient list on Amazon or elsewhere on internet and find a similar recipe on another product near you.

In better times we can do a tasting of the ones available here. They aren't very expensive - usually $3-6 for a quarter kilo tub. We can do three za'atars plus a dukkah or something. We've dome spice tastings before by putting a very thin smear of butter on a cracker so the dry spice doesn't fall off.

[Jenise]

Long shot: If you remember the brand or remember what the container looks like, enlarge and examine the ingredient list on Amazon or elsewhere on internet and find a similar recipe on another product near you.

I hear you, but the trouble is there's no brand. I bought it from The Whole Spice Company--they filled and sold jars with something they got God knows where. It's untraceable. All I can tell you is that it was yellow-ish, and a reorder bore no resemblance.