My new friend Dukkah

One of the best things about owning a food store is talking to people about their food experiences and passions.  Several months ago, I had the pleasure of a young woman visiting from Australia, Annalise, (so sorry if I've misspelled!) and she talked to me about dukkah.  Annalise has done some traveling around the world and if she starts gushing about a particular food, I take note!  I put the dukkah on my list of things to try and promptly forgot about it, until another friend brought up the Annalise visit and dukkah.  Annalise's folks invited us for an authentic Australian supper last evening, so I thought it high time to try the dukkah recipe out and bring to share.

Dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend traditionally eaten with pita bread and olive oil.  Most references of dukkah are as a street food, warm pita or bread dipped in olive oil and a paper cone of spices for dredging or sprinkling.

I love that there are no hard and fast rules regarding your dukkah recipe, so you can feel free to use what you have on hand adding more of spices you particularly love!  I combined both seeds and a couple of the spices ground since I didn't want to make a trip to the grocery!  I think it turned out great!  So, feel free to experiment!

DUKKAH
1/2 cup nuts; pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts
1/4 cup coriander seeds (I used ground coriander)
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons cumin seeds (I used ground)
1 1/2  Tablespoon black peppercorns 
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Other delightful spice additions might be dried mint (I am SO trying that next time!), fennel seeds, cinnamon....

Put all spices together into a large saute pan over low heat.  Stir or shake often until nuts and seeds are toasted.  Let cool a few minutes and put into a food processor or use a mortar and pestle.  Grind until mixture is evenly chopped.  Take care to not grind too much or mixture will turn to paste.

Serve with chunks of warm bread and a separate bowl of extra virgin olive oil.  
Dredge bread into oil and then into dukkah, pop into mouth and sigh with pleasure.

Since I have a bit of the dukkah left over, I am going to sprinkle on a pork tenderloin before grilling, I am thinking it will be great!