Skewered Street Food Around the World

Moroccan Spiced Lamb Kebabs is the newest addition to the Skewered Street Food series.

With ingredients in this recipe like aleppo peppers, cinnamon, cumin, lemon, paprika and black pepper it gives a glimpse of the influence of spice traders of 700 AD to 16th century on the northern African continent.

In the recipe for Pinchos Morunos (Moorish Skewers) we discussed how the Moorish spice trade had influence on the cuisine of Spain and Portugal during the 700-1500 AD. At its peak, the Moorish Empire had grips across the mouth of the Mediterranean. The empire reached across the Strait of Gibraltar. Al-Andalus or Andalusia, encompassed land that is now Spain and Portugal.

The Moorish empire had experience with trading. As their empire not only crossed the Mediterranean sea but spread across the north region of Africa. Arabic traders introduced new spices that came back from trade routes. The flavors of Morocco encompass a variety of ingredients that develop a complex depth of flavor to the cuisine.

The Silk Road Heads West

The Silk Road Spice Trade began when Arab explorers traveled to southeast Asia. Trade route stopd in India, Pakistan and southeast Asia. They found new and wonderful spices along the way. Explorers returned with a plethora of new flavors that hadn’t been experienced before. As the Arabs expanded their reach west in the 700s, they brought with them these spices introducing them to Morocco and the Moors.

Aleppo Pepper

Aleppo Pepper originated in the eastern Mediterranean region, named for the city in Syria just south of Turkey. The city of Aleppo was a major stop on the silk road trade route. The ground pepper is popular in the Turkish, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines of the region.

You may be more familiar with the other names for the pepper – Pul Bieber (pul meaning flake & bieber meaning chili) in Turkish, Halebi Biba in Armenian, Aleppo in Arabic or Halaby Pepper. Halaby is the Arabic name for the city of Aleppo. Similarities in the names of the pepper carries over between countries and languages.

The pepper ripens to a deep red to a dark burgundy color. Traditionally, the peppers are semi-dried, deseeded (but some brands contain seeds) and crushed or ground to a coarse texture. Also, they contain a higher oil content than other peppers. Thus giving the ground Aleppo peppers an oily look.

The Mediterranean climate of eastern Mediterranean allows for the peppers to be sun dried. This process of drying allows for the flavors of the peppers to develop into a more complex spice.

The flavor of the dried Aleppo pepper has notes similar to Ancho chile, mild fruity complexity with sun dried tomato similarities. The slow drying process similar to sun dried tomatoes or raisins help build these flavors and leaves a spice that comes on slow and lingers for a short time. Producing lingering flavor notes of cumin earthy notes with a citric fruity tang. The spice pairs well with other ingredients in this recipe, even elevates their flavors.

Finding Aleppo Pepper

The Aleppo pepper is mostly used ground and is rarely sold as a fresh chile. The drying process allows the pepper to be shelf stable for a long time.

Heavily used in the Syrian and Turkish communities of the U.S., that being said, it was introduced in the 20th century. Give this spice a try, I think you will like it.

Siskiyou Seeds located in Southern Oregon sells Aleppo Pepper seeds for you to grow yourself! Check it out!

The spice blend in this Moroccan Spiced Lamb Kebabs will leave you wanting more! Give this recipe a try. Spice mix would work well on beef too! Enjoy!

Try grilling the skewers on a Kamado Joe with Charcoal. The flavors will amaze you!