Rose water is a popular dessert spice flavor in Eastern Mediterranean recipes.
The exotic spices and spice blends used in Eastern Mediterranean countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Greece and Egypt add distinctive flavors to the cuisines unique to each country. Heavily influenced from neighboring Middle Eastern countries, these flavors are used in various local recipes, from hot beverages to marinated and roasted meats to sweet and rich desserts. Eastern Mediterranean spices and blends are available globally to cooks who wish to prepare these regional dishes at various online vendor websites such as Spice Bazaar and The Spice House (see Resources).
Rose Water
Any diner who has finished a meal followed by a rose-scented pastry or cake, such as a Mediterranean rice pudding, has experienced the floral infusion flavor of its rose water flavoring. Lighter than rose syrup or rose oil, the essence of rose is extracted or distilled in a water base from the flower's loose, edible petals. Rose water is used especially in Turkish, Northern Greek and Palestinian recipes. It is a popular flavoring in yogurts, pastry fillings, delicate sauces, rice puddings or dessert couscous flavorings.
Cumin
Native to North Africa, cumin is used in all Eastern Mediterranean countries in meat and fish recipes, flavorings for vegetable couscous hummus and rice dishes and as a main ingredient in spice mixtures such as Arabian spice. The brownish carpal-shaped seeds from the small, wild cumin plant are also boiled in spice mixes as an aromatic to incense throughout a dwelling. Cumin's flavor is very earthy and nutty, and it emits a warm aroma when heated.
Cardamom
Cardamom is used in Arabic and Turkish hot beverages, such as chai teas and Turkish coffees, because of its lemony flavorings, which are developed when boiled or brewed in the base of the drinking vessel. The aroma creates a camphor- and eucalyptus-type stimulation when inhaled, and black cardamom is known as black lemon in some areas of the Eastern Mediterranean. Small, sticky brown or black seeds, which are scraped out of an enclosed pod on its wild plant and dried, are chewed when available as a sinus remedy in Turkey, Pakistan and Syria.
Saffron
Cultivated in the Middle Eastern country of Iran and and in Turkey, saffron is the world's most expensive spice. Introduced to Spain during the eighth century by Arab traders, the root of the name saffron is the Arabic word for yellow, which is zafaran, and indicates the bright orange-yellow hue it adds to Eastern Mediterranean rice and couscous dishes. Used across the entire Mediterranean region, only slight amounts of saffron threads, which are removed stigmas of the crocus plant, are necessary to flavor dishes with an bright and extremely tangy honey taste.
Clove
Cloves are immature buds of tropical tree flowers that are picked before they bloom and crushed to release fragrance. Initially traded by Arab traders, between the spice's indigenous home in the Spice Islands with points throughout the Eastern and Western areas of the Roman Empire, cloves add a mild and smoky licorice flavor. In small amounts, it is often paired with strong cinnamon or garlic in exotic flavored vegetarian dishes and in meat rubs such as lamb and chicken. Whole cloves, crushed or boiled, are used often in Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian and Turkish cuisines.
Tags: Eastern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Arab traders, Eastern Mediterranean countries, Mediterranean countries, Mediterranean rice, Rose water