Berbere
Spice
Top 10 pairings
Berbere is the foundational spice blend of Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking — a deep brick-red mixture built on dried red chilli and rounded out with fenugreek, ginger, garlic, korarima (Ethiopian cardamom) and a warm chorus of cinnamon, clove, allspice and nigella. It is the soul of the slow-simmered stews called wat, lending them their fiery colour and layered, aromatic heat.
Picking a good onedrag
Just milled, brick-red and loud - chilli, clove and korarima all speakDull brown dust, the aromatics gone, smelling of almost nothing
Sealed and redEveryday jarStill the blend you want. Keep it airtight, dark and off the stove-top, and rub a pinch before each use to check it still speaks.
Crush and smellClearly berbere, but you rub a pinch between your fingers before the warm spices come forward
ColourStill red, a shade browner, the tone flattening where the light has reached the glass
Feel and flowMostly loose, with a few soft lumps that crumble to powder under a fingertip
Form and labelA sealed pack from a shop with turnover, chilli named first and fenugreek and korarima close behind