Oriental Vegetable Magic

Oriental Vegetable Magic from Altes Gewürzamt with Saffron

Oriental Vegetable Magic from Altes Gewürzamt is the festive seasoning for oven-roasted vegetables, featuring dried pomegranate seeds, saffron, and rose petals. Sprinkled over carrots, pumpkin, and eggplant, it transforms a simple side dish into the centerpiece of your table.

Oriental Vegetable Magic is a spice blend from Altes Gewürzamt with roots in the Orient, mixed in Klingenberg am Main. There are fourteen ingredients on the list, led by black pepper and pomegranate seeds, followed by mahaleb, cinnamon blossoms, orange peel, saffron, and rose petals.

Pomegranate, Rose Petals, and a Hint of Saffron

When you open the tin, it smells surprisingly floral, and that is due to the rose petals, which work more on the aroma than the flavor. When you open the tin, you smell the garden first and the spices only afterwards.

The dried pomegranate seeds taste concentrated, almost like a raisin with acidity, and are known as anardana in Indian cuisine, where they spice up doughs and chutneys. Together with the orange peel, they draw a fruity line through the blend, against which cumin and cinnamon blossoms provide their warmth.

Sugar follows in third place, acting as a mediator between the fruity acidity of the pomegranate and the heat of the pepper. Parsley, onions, and cloves fill the middle of the list, and at the very end are chili, saffron, and the rose petals in tiny amounts.

Hardly anyone in this country knows what mahaleb is. It refers to the kernel of a small wild cherry, at home in the Orient as "mahlab" in every festive pastry; it has an almond-like to marzipan-like tone, with a subtle bitterness in the background.

Over Roasted Oven Vegetables and in Couscous

Oven-roasted carrots, pumpkin, cauliflower, and eggplant take on the fruity-floral spice of Altes Gewürzamt particularly well.

Sprinkle it only over the finished, still-hot vegetables, because the sugar caramelizes well below the temperature required for a roasting tray, the rose petals lose their color during the process, and the volatile saffron would release its aroma into the oven air.

With roasted sweet potatoes, yogurt, and a few fresh pomegranate seeds, you create a dish that looks as festive as it tastes, and two teaspoons are enough for a whole tray. Stirred into melted butter and poured over hot rice, the saffron dyes the grains golden.

The spice also pairs well with lamb chops, in a carrot salad with lemon, stirred into yogurt as a dip, or sprinkled over hummus; in couscous, it only needs the hot broth.

Halloumi from the oven also likes this seasoning, and when sprinkled over cauliflower florets with olive oil, it colors the edges golden. A dollop of yogurt on the side catches the heat of the pepper.

Saffron, the Most Precious Ingredient in this Spice Blend

Saffron gives the powder its golden shimmer and is at the same time the most expensive ingredient in the recipe. Every crocus flower bears exactly three stigmas, which must be plucked by hand and then dried, which is why it is traded in tiny quantities all over the world.

Cinnamon blossoms instead of cinnamon bark are the second smart decision, as they have a more floral scent and are less overpowering. These are the dried, unripe fruits of the cinnamon tree, more tart and woody than the bark you know from gingerbread.

Where such ingredients are involved, shortcuts are out of the question. At Altes Gewürzamt, colorings and artificial flavors are deliberately avoided, which is why every single ingredient in the powder remains recognizable.

More from the kitchens of the south can be found in our International Cuisines collection, and behind that, the entire Altes Gewürzamt world opens up.