Grains in the Kitchen

In Ghana and neighbouring countries, African cooks use generous amounts of the grains as an everyday seasoning. It goes into an incendiary blend of black and white peppercorns, cubeb pepper, chillies, allspice and ginger, used as a dry rub for grilled meats, as a table condiment, or as an all-purpose seasoning for soups and stews. Outside the region of production, the grains are one of many spices used in the complex Moroccan seasoning Ras el Hanout. They also feature in the sweetly pungent Tunisian five-spice seasoning Qalat Daqqa.