Ras El Hanout-Moroccan Spice Mix

After making my own chili powder I was curious what other directions for spice blends were out there in the recipe world. After a brief search I came across something called Ras El Hanout on Recipezaar. Ras el Hanout, meaning "top of the shop", is a spice mixture from Morocco that can contain anywhere from 10-100 different spices. This particular blend contains 14.I chose to test this spice blend out as a rub for grilled pork. Yes. Pork. I do know that there is something inherently wrong about using an Arabic spice blend on pork. I like to think of it as super special fusion cuisine.

So how did it taste? Pretty good. It was an interesting combination of savory and sweet spices unlike anything I've ever had before. The pork chops were very thin and so they got cooked quicker than expected. Subsequently, the meat was on the dry side. Mrblocko suggested they would be perfect with a piece or two of grilled apple slices. What goes better with pork chops than apples! We'll be giving that a try next time.

Ras El Hanout from Food.com
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix all the spices together. Store in an airtight container.