World Box — North Africa and the Levant

Assemble the box yourself

Each product links to the best available merchant for this box. You assemble your box in one click per item .

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  Spice · Blend

  Ras el Hanout

  Made across the country, with signature recipes in Fès, Marrakech and Tétouan, Morocco

  Quantity 50g

  The Moroccan master blend — for tagines and roasted lamb

  Spicewalla

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  Spice · Blend

  Za'atar

  Levant, with distinct house styles in Beirut, Damascus and Nablus, Lebanon / Syria / Palestine

  Quantity 50g

  The Levantine herb-and-sumac blend — on flatbread and labneh

  Burlap & Barrel

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  Spice · Blend

  Egyptian Dukkah

  Cairo and the Nile Delta, where it is a street-food and home-pantry staple eaten with bread and oil, Egypt

  Quantity 60g

  The Egyptian nut-and-seed dip — with bread and olive oil

  The Spice Way

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  Spice · Blend

  Baharat

  Made across the Arab world, with distinct house recipes in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and the Gulf states, Levant & Gulf

  Quantity 50g

  The warm all-purpose blend — for kofta, rice, and stews

  The Spice Way (Amazon US)

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  Spice · Dried lime

  Black Lime (Loomi)

  Traditionally Oman, Iraq and Iran (Basra, Oman); the Burlap & Barrel single-origin powder is grown and sun-dried in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, Persian Gulf (traditional); Guatemala for the Burlap & Barrel jar

  Quantity 40g

  Dried loomi — the tart, fermented note in stews and rice

  Burlap & Barrel

The gift box in detail

Five things that open North African and Levantine cooking without the supermarket "Moroccan seasoning" shortcut. Ras el hanout, the Moroccan master blend, carries a lamb tagine or a tray of roasted vegetables — every blender's is different, and a good one runs a dozen spices deep. Za'atar, the thyme-sumac-sesame blend, gets mixed with olive oil and brushed onto flatbread, or dusted over a bowl of labneh. Dukkah, the Egyptian crushed nut-and-seed mix, is the dip you didn't know you needed: tear bread, dip in good oil, then in the dukkah. Baharat, warm with allspice and cinnamon, seasons kofta, spiced rice, and slow stews. Black lime — loomi, the sun-dried fermented lime — brings the sour, almost funky depth to a Gulf rice or a braise: pierce one and drop it whole into the pot. A card gives the marinade ratios and the dishes for each. The catch: za'atar is mostly dried herbs and toasted sesame, so it stales fast and scorches faster — keep it sealed, and add it off the heat or as a finish, never early in a hot pan where the sesame burns.

Who & when to give it

Recommended recipes & pairings

• Lamb tagine with ras el hanout