Baharat simply means ‘spices’ in Arabic, and although all variations generally use allspice, black pepper, coriander and cumin, there can be well over a dozen different ingredients used in each blend, and there isn’t one canonical combination.

The terms ‘Lebanese seven spice mix’ and baharat are sometimes used interchangeably. The two are actually slightly different, with seven spice mix (or sabaa baharat) being just one subtype of baharat. And, despite its name, sabaa baharat that doesn’t have to have seven ingredients. Lebanese seven spice is also different from Japanese shichimi togarashi, whose name also roughly translates to seven spice.

Baharat can be used at almost any stage of the cooking process – as a spice rub, in a marinade, cooked down with onions or sprinkled on a dish to finish it. It’s a great spice mix to make at home, as you can tweak it to your own taste.

Although Persian cuisine is rightly known for its abundant use of herbs – with many recipes using herbs by the pound – it also has a distinctive spice blend called advieh. As with baharat, advieh can be made with a wide range of different spices and simply means ‘spices’, when translated from Persian. Advieh is mostly used in Iran and in Persian cuisine in general, and comes in variations for specific dishes, such as khoresht or pollo. It frequently contains cumin, cardamom, nutmeg and rose petals.

Ras el hanout is a North African blend of warming spices such as cinnamon, cumin and ginger as well as rose petals and black pepper. Although its roots are thought to be Moroccan, this blend is used across Algerian and Tunisian cuisine as well. It is traditionally used in savoury dishes like tagines and couscous, but is occasionally used in sweets. Ras el hanout contains an above average amount of spices for a spice blend, with numbers ranging from around thirty spices to over a hundred. The exact ingredients of ras el hanout are often kept a secret by spice merchants and North African home cooks, and the large numbers of spices used makes it difficult to discover exactly how each blend was made.

Za’atar is the name for both a zesty herb in the thyme family and its eponymous spice mix. The za’atar spice mix also generally contains sumac, salt, oil and sesame seeds. Its mild flavour makes it suitable for a wide range of applications, but it is generally used as a finishing spice, rather than as the base of dishes. We love it in this Ottolenghi leek and egg dish, as well as simply sprinkled over flatbreads.

Despite its name, this French spice blend often uses more than four spices, but typically contains nutmeg, cloves, peppercorns and ginger and/or cinnamon. There are two varieties of quatre épices: a savoury one used in sausages, terrines and stews and a sweet one used in pain d’épices and biscuits.

Berbere is an Ethiopian and Eritrean spice blend used in lots of different delicious recipes such as sambusa and misir wot. It is generally pretty spicy, and made by sun-drying wet ingredients (onions, ginger, fresh chillies etc.) which are then mixed with dry spices. Traditional recipes use lots of Ethiopian chilies, besobela (the dried flower buds of a relative of holy basil), korerima seeds (grains of paradise) and tena’adam (Ethiopian rue). However, pre-mixed versions available outside of Ethiopia often omit these traditional ingredients as they can be difficult to source, and they are generally made with dry spices instead.