What is Fatta Spice Mix?
Egyptian fatta is the first dish of Eid al-Adha: layers of toasted bread moistened with broth, rice with vermicelli, a garlic and vinegar tomato sauce, and boiled meat on top. Its success rests on a clear, fragrant meat broth and a garlic tasha fried in ghee and quenched with vinegar. In the Levant, fatteh means chickpeas with yoghurt, tahini and fried bread, seasoned with cumin, sumac and pine nuts; in Iraq, tashreeb is bread soaked in spiced meat broth; in the Gulf, fatta is served with meat seasoned with black lime. Fatta Spice Mix brings together the sweet broth spices and the coriander and cumin needed for the tasha and sauce, giving the dish its full aromatic character from a single pack.
Composition and the role of each ingredient
A typical blend has two complementary parts. The broth spices are cardamom, mastic, cinnamon, clove, allspice, bay leaf and black pepper; the tasha and sauce spices are dried coriander, cumin, dried garlic and a touch of chilli. Cardamom and mastic clarify the broth and remove the gamey smell of the meat; cinnamon and clove give the sweet depth that marks Egyptian broth; coriander and garlic create the tasha aroma that fills the house; cumin ties the tomato and vinegar sauce together. The Levantine version leans on cumin, sumac and allspice; the Gulf version adds black lime and turmeric. Proportions are approximate and our formula is confidential.
| Variant | Character | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Egyptian fatta blend | Cardamom, mastic and cinnamon for the broth; coriander and garlic for the tasha | Eid fatta with meat, rice and toasted bread |
| Levantine style | Cumin, sumac and allspice, no mastic | Chickpea and yoghurt fatteh, aubergine or chicken fatteh |
| Iraqi and Gulf style | Black lime and turmeric with the broth spices | Meat tashreeb, Gulf meat fatta |
What makes a good blend
A good blend smells first of cardamom and cinnamon, then coriander, and is freshly ground from whole spices, since cardamom and clove lose their volatile oils quickly after grinding (good cardamom typically carries 3–8% volatile oil before grinding). Avoid blends padded with salt, starch or flour, coloured with excess turmeric, or made with mastic adulterated with synthetic gum. The grind should be uniform and free of foreign matter. Seasoning mixes follow the general spice requirements: moisture no higher than about 10% for ground blends, total ash around 8–10%, acid-insoluble ash up to 1.5–2%, freedom from insects and foreign matter under the ASTA and ESA specifications, and aflatoxin and residue limits under Codex and the Egyptian Standards for spices and seasoning mixes. These are typical guide ranges.
How to use it
- Boil one kilogram of lamb or beef with an onion and one tablespoon (about 10 g) of Fatta Spice Mix per litre of water, skim the foam, cook for about an hour and a half until tender, then salt.
- Toast baladi bread in the oven and moisten it with a little hot broth in the serving dish.
- Cook rice with vermicelli in the same broth and spread it over the bread.
- For the tasha: fry six garlic cloves in two tablespoons of ghee with one teaspoon of the blend, add half a cup of vinegar then two cups of tomato juice, and simmer for five minutes.
- Pour half the sauce over the rice, arrange the meat on top, and serve the rest with the broth alongside.
Other uses: meat soup and Iraqi tashreeb, boiling country chicken for chicken fatta, and seasoning the minced-meat filling of roqaq.
Storage and shelf life
Keep the blend tightly sealed in a cool, dry, dark place away from the hob, because mastic and cardamom suffer from heat. Typical shelf life is 12 months sealed and 3–4 months after opening. Buy the pack a few weeks, not months, before Eid. Finished broth freezes for 3 months.
The Sheikh Al-Attareen range
- Fatta Spice Mix
We select whole green cardamom, genuine mastic, high-oil cinnamon, and coriander and cumin from Egyptian farms. Every batch is tested in our Mansoura laboratory for moisture, cleanliness and volatile oil before grinding and packing in small runs. The blend is available at our branches in Egypt, Iraq and Syria and online, and we increase stock ahead of Eid al-Adha to guarantee availability.
FAQ
Do I use the blend in both the broth and the tasha?
Yes, it is designed for both: a tablespoon in the meat broth and a teaspoon with the garlic in the tasha.
Does it suit Levantine chickpea fatteh?
Yes, in a smaller amount with added cumin and sumac, since Levantine fatteh does not want a strong mastic and cinnamon profile.
Can I leave the vinegar out of the tasha?
Vinegar is what defines Egyptian fatta, but lemon juice can replace it for a gentler acidity.
Does the blend contain salt?
No. There is no added salt, so you season the broth and sauce yourself.