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what is shami spice?
when i first started cooking, one time i called my sister back home and asked for her maqloubeh recipe - maqloubeh is a rice dish that's made in palestine and the levant (or bilad al-sham in arabic), and iraq - so she sent it to me and mentioned that she uses "baharat mshakaleh”, which translates to mixed spices.
so I ask her what the spices are. she says “I don't know, I just go to the spice guy and buy it”. this spice mix is what our shami spice is modeled after. it's as central to levantine cuisine as ras el-hanout is to north african cuisine, or as garam masala is to indian cuisine. its our go-to spice mix that we add to most dishes.
bilad al-sham is what the levant is called in arabic, so we chose to name shawarmaji's version 'shami' (of the levant) to signify that it comes from this region, although back home it's just called bharat (spices) or bharat mshakaleh (mixed spices).
every spice store back home would have their own blend, but it follows the same general and primary recipe, which is a derivative of lebanese seven spice. think of it as a seven spice but with a few more added in the mix, and these additions are what change from one spice vendor to the next. so our specific mix is unique to us, but is very similar to other spice mixes you can find in the region.
the main seven spices are:
1. allspice
2. black pepper
3. clove
4. coriander
5. cumin
6. nutmeg
7. cinnamon
we also add our own blend of additional spices that distinguishe the blend from others:
3. clove
4. coriander
5. cumin
6. nutmeg
7. cinnamon
we also add our own blend of additional spices that distinguishe the blend from others:
1. anise seed
2. fennel seed
3. white pepper
4. cardamom
5. caraway
6. ginger
3. white pepper
4. cardamom
5. caraway
6. ginger
how we use it
well, rice dishes and stews are the main areas we add this spice mix, as well as our stuffed dishes. arabs love to stuff all kinds of things and we use this spice mix in the rice and/or meat stuffing. some of my favorites are:
maqloubeh - literally translates to 'flipped' or 'upside-down'. this is one of the classic dishes of the region, one of my favorites, and it has an interesting history.
it’s a dish that's basically spiced rice cooked with fried vegetables and meat in a pot that's later flipped upside-down once served. originating in palestinian, it has been known as the ‘nasir’ or 'victory' dish, as the name goes back to salahuddin al-ayoubi (known as saladin in the west), who was the first sultan of egypt and syria and the founder of the ayyubid dynasty. it has been said that after salahuddin liberated jerusalem from the crusaders in 1187, the palestinian people offered him this dish, which he described as ‘the inverted meal’, or maqloubeh in arabic. it was originally called eggplant because that was the main ingredient of the dish, but then changed after its introduction to salahuddin. his introduction to it was probably the reason it then found its way into the rest of the levant and iraq where it's still a main dish to this day.
traditionally, there are 3 versions of this that follow seasonality of ingredients:
1. the first is what i like to call summer maqloubeh, the original, which is made with eggplant, tomatoes, and lamb - this is also my wife's favorite.
2. my favorite, and what i call winter maqloubeh, is made with cauliflower and chicken. i like to also add carrots and potatoes to this one.
3. the last which we call “rabi'ieh” or the “spring one” is made with lamb and green fava beans.
nowadays people mix and match with the first two versions and each family has their preferred combo, but all of these use a version of shami spice mix as the main spices for the rice.
lamb stew dishes - we make a lot of stews with lamb and some kind of vegetable like okra, green beans, cauliflower, amongst many others, and we always like to put a touch of spice in them. not too much, because we don't want the spices to over-power, but just enough to provide a subtle undertone.
stuffed meats - we make a rice called “hashwa”, which translates to stuffing. it's usually made of short grain rice with ground beef and onions, and is heavily spiced with shami spice. we use it to stuff everything from pigeons to lamb and everything in between. the spice is used to spice the meat itself as well.
mahashi or stuffed vegetables - like I said, arabs love to stuff things. when it comes to vegetables, the main one is summer squash or zucchini. but we also stuff eggplant, onions, peppers, carrots, turnips, and even cucumbers. we also stuff leaves, like grape leaves, cabbage, chard, and in egypt they even stuff lettuce leaves! all of these are stuffed with a mixture of raw rice and other vegetables and seasoning, but all use shami spice as one of the main ingredients. they're then cooked in broth until the veggies and rice are tender and cooked through.
musakhan - this is one of the national dishes of palestine and we all know that the main spice in this dish is sumac. but we also use shami spices for the chicken, and that combo of spiced roasted chicken and caramelized sumac onions is what dreams are made of!
thank you to every one of you who continually support our small family business, allow me to share my musings, and give me the opportunity to live my dream by serving our community the food that i love (and live) to eat.
peace, love, and toum,
chef mohammad abutaha
