Mediterranean Recipes - The Foodie Kitchen

MAHA Recipes

Is Olive Oil a Seed Oil?

Olive oil is not a seed oil. It is pressed from the olive fruit, not a seed. Here is why it differs from canola and vegetable oil and how to use it in seed oil free cooking.

Mediterranean Recipes

What Is Saffron — How to Buy, Store and Use It in Cooking

Saffron is the world's most expensive spice — the dried stigmas of the Crocus sativus flower, harvested by hand. This guide covers how to buy genuine saffron, how to bloom it correctly, and which recipes use it.

African Recipes

What Is Ras el Hanout — Morocco's Master Spice Blend

Ras el hanout means 'top of the shop' in Arabic. It is Morocco's most complex spice blend — up to 30 spices assembled by the merchant from their finest stock. This is what it contains and how to use it.

Mediterranean Recipes

Do You Need a Tagine Pot? Complete Buying Guide for North African Cooking

An honest answer to whether you need an actual tagine pot for Moroccan cooking — and if you do, which one to buy. Emile Henry vs Le Creuset vs clay tagine vs Dutch oven for bastilla, harira, and lamb tagine.

Mediterranean Recipes

Persian Lamb in Ghee and Saffron — Slow-Braised Khoresh

Khoresh is the Persian braise — lamb slow-cooked in ghee with saffron, dried limes, and walnuts until the sauce is deep and fragrant. Served over white rice with a crispy tahdig. Iran's great cooking tradition.

Mediterranean Recipes

Iranian Tahdig — Crispy Butter-Bottom Saffron Rice

Tahdig is the most coveted part of Persian cooking — the golden, shatteringly crispy rice crust that forms on the bottom of the pot during the long, covered steam. Made with butter, saffron, and patience.

Mediterranean Recipes

Moroccan Ras el Hanout Lamb Shoulder in Olive Oil

Ras el hanout is Morocco's master spice blend — a complex mixture of 20-30 spices bloomed in olive oil before lamb is added. Slow-roasted until the meat falls from the bone. Fragrant, deeply spiced, unforgettable.

Mediterranean Recipes

Mediterranean Saffron Pilaf in Butter

Saffron rice pilaf cooked the Mediterranean way — onion softened in butter, rice toasted in the same butter, stock added, and saffron stirred through at the end. Simple, fragrant, golden.

Mediterranean Recipes

Colombian Arroz Con Leche in Butter — Rice Pudding

Arroz con leche is Latin America's beloved rice pudding — short-grain rice slow-cooked in full-fat milk with butter, cinnamon, and condensed milk until thick, creamy, and perfectly sweet. The ancestral dessert.

Mediterranean Recipes

Yemeni Zhug — Fresh Herb and Chilli Paste in Olive Oil

Zhug is Yemen's incendiary fresh herb sauce — coriander, parsley, garlic, and green chillies pounded with cardamom and cumin, emulsified in olive oil. Used across the Levant as a condiment for everything.

Mediterranean Recipes

Turkish Advieh Rice in Ghee — Persian-Spiced Pilaf

Advieh is the Persian spice blend for rice — dried rose petals, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, and coriander bloomed in ghee before the rice is added. Fragrant, subtly sweet, and completely different from plain rice.

Cookie Recipes

Italian Biscotti — Twice-Baked in Olive Oil and Butter

Cantucci — the original Tuscan biscotti — are twice-baked almond biscuits made in olive oil and butter, not butter alone. The twice-baking creates the dry, hard texture designed for dipping in vin santo.

Never Miss a Recipe