Spice Wanderer

Journey with me to Israel…

Of all the spices that I own, cumin is my most used and most beloved spice. My spice cabinet has cumin from Israel, Morocco, India, and from a local grocery store. One can never have too much cumin! I tend to gravitate towards cooking Middle Eastern dishes and cumin is the star, in my opinion, when it comes to cuisine from that region of the world. With my eyes closed I can almost taste juicy lamb chops with a cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg marinade!

Cumin is an ancient spice that is said to have originated in the Eastern Mediterranean, most likely in Egypt. Thanks to the spice trade, cumin spread to India, other parts of North Africa, to the Iberian Peninsula, and across the Sahara. Today, many regions of the world cultivate cumin and it is a common ingredient in dishes found across the globe; from Mexico, to India, to Israel and many countries in between. Middle Eastern cuisine relies heavily on cumin and it’s no surprise that I fell in love with the beauty and culinary attributes of spices, most notably cumin, when I was in Israel.

Although my father is Israeli and I grew up eating Middle Eastern food at home, it was not until I was in my early 20’s that I finally made the journey to Israel. I still remember my first experience walking through the shuk (market) and seeing the mounds of colorful and fragrant spices. Until that experience, my spice collection consisted of common store-bought spices. Spices were used to make food tastier but they had never really meant anything to me as individuals. Opening the cap of a plastic spice container meant nothing other than an action necessary to add the spice to the dish I was making. In the shuk, my mind was instantly spinning as rich scents of cumin, cinnamon, and cardamom entered my body through my nose. The rich smell of spices were too tempting to resist so I bought some to take home with me. I don’t remember exactly what I bought on that first trip but I know that my love for spices was born in that moment at the shuk.

The best way to learn about a culture is to spend time in a community, making friends, eating meals together, and talking. I returned to Israel two times after that initial trip and lived there for six months after graduating from university. I enjoyed every meal I ate at a restaurant, in someone’s home, or on Kibbutz Yotvata (a collective community) where I was living. Falafel, shawarma, and shakshuka were some of my favorite dishes. It was on the kibbutz where a good friend introduced me to shakshuka, a Tunisian dish made of tomatoes and eggs. She had grown up in the United States but had learned how to make the dish from her father’s family who were originally from Tunisia but had immigrated to Israel. The tomatoes simmer with cumin, cinnamon, garlic and other ingredients and then eggs are cracked on top and soft boiled. When I wasn’t relaxing with my friends or making shakshuka, I was in class learning Hebrew, or in the kitchen. I worked as the salad chef in the communal kitchen that served the 600+ people who lived there. We didn’t use many spices in the salads but I learned to chop and found the repetitive action of chopping meditative. After six months, my time on the kibbutz came to an end and I left Israel in tears, grieving the end of my incredible experience. I returned to the United States heartbroken.

As I mourned the end of the “best time of my life,” I searched for ways to infuse the sounds, tastes, and smells that I had experienced in Israel into my everyday life in Los Angeles. The amazing sense of community I felt on the kibbutz couldn’t be recreated but the flavors and delicious meals I had eaten while I was in Israel could be! I soon found myself working in an Israeli restaurant. Hearing Hebrew and watching patrons scoop hummus with warm pita transported me back, just for a moment, to Israel. The free food was a great perk too. Food and aromas have the wonderful ability to trigger memories. Often it’s the spices that create such a fragrant aroma or powerful flavor and that’s what can transport you to another land.

Below are just a few of my favorite dishes that incorporate cumin. The cumin in your spice cabinet, or at your local grocery store if you don’t have any, might not be as potent as the cumin I have from spice markets in Israel, Morocco, or India, but the essential flavor is the same. Travel back in time to a meal you had while traveling or explore a region of the world you’ve never been by cooking a dish with cumin in it!

• Shakshuka – A flavorful North African breakfast dish with roasted tomatoes and eggs
• Hummus – A Middle Eastern chickpea dip
• Lamb Shoulder – Cumin and lamb go really well together and this slow-roasted lamb dish looks delicious

B’tayavon (enjoy your meal)