Thursday 9 November 2006

gold·en ras el han·out

There is a food and wine shop here in Wellington that I absolutely love to visit : Truffle. And luckily for those of you not in Wellington and unable to visit in person they now have a website complete with an online shop.

One of my favourite purchases of late has been a jar of Golden Ras el Hanout, a fabulous spice mix, which translates as 'House Blend'. This particular mix is listed as turmeric, chili powder, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and ground ginger. The label mentions that ras el hanout may contain rose buds and Spanish fly. Apparently it is the Spanish fly that makes this version golden, and apparently Spanish fly is not something you would list on the ingredients even if it did contain it - very exciting!

We have used a spoonful or two of Ras el Hanout in many a dish including a chicken and cauliflower stew and kitcheri, and rubbed it on several pieces of otherwise unadorned meat.

The lamb back strap in the photo above was rubbed with the Golden Ras el Hanout and roasted in the oven at 180°C for 12 minutes. We served it on some steamed silverbeet with roasted yams : a lovely, simple, delicious and interesting meal.

Truffle Food & Wine
1/22 Garrett Street
PO Box 11-770
Wellington 6011
New Zealand
Ph +64 4 385-2802
Fax +64 4 385-2801
truffle@xtra.co.nz
http://www.truffle.net.nz/

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How funny. We had lamb backstraps for dinner last night. (Bought online from Meat Cuisine). I just quickly fried them on both sides in a really hot pan, added a splash of verjuice and a couple of spoons of merlot jelly for a yummy sauce. They were delicious. I think I'll order some more and try your version next.

Emma said...

And I think I'll try it your way next time too, Barbara! By the way I get my meat from Cambrian.
Bron - imagine what it is like in the shop - I have to be honest with myself that I am going to spend money whenever I go there. They have great cheeses in the shop that you can't buy online. Yum!

Anonymous said...

the name of the market itself sounds delicious, emma. great to have a local shop which you love to visit.

Julie said...

That looks like a really lovely meal. I did click on the link you gave for Spanish fly. Very interesting...I'd heard of it, but really had no idea what it was. You're absolutely right, it certainly wouldn't be on the ingredient list, if the product did not indeed contain it. Cheers to adventurous eating!

Unknown said...

I have the pleasure of tasting the food prepared by this wonderful enthusiastic young gourmet - it is just suburb. I understand that it runs in the family of foodies and that her God-father has the touch also, but his God daughter is continuing on the family tradition and improving the favorites. I would not estimate this young woman. She is supreme.

Bernie