Ras el Hanout, or “top of the shop” in Arabic, refers to the best combination of spices a vendor has to offer. Since one vendor's stock might differ from the next, each blend of Ras el Hanout is slightly varied. The blend I used in this recipe (Mustapha’s Moroccan Ras el Hanout) includes coriander, white pepper, black pepper, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, anise, saffron, piment fort, long pepper cardamom, rose petals, nutmeg, mace, fennel and grains of paradise. It has an irresistible fragrance that is hard to describe, kind of a woodsy-cinnamon-ginger nose with a spicy, yet mellow, floral background. I used it to make brittle and thought it would pair nicely with a salad of shaved fennel and apples. The warm spices coax out the sweetness of the fennel and apples, making them taste candied, while mint provides a bright herbal contrast and the almonds give the salad texture. A shower of flaked sea salt rounds everything out and makes it difficult to stop eating.

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