duqqah

دقة

duqqah

Arabic

The Egyptian spice blend whose name just means 'to pound.'

Dukkah comes from Arabic دقة (duqqah), meaning 'to pound' — describing how the nuts and spices are crushed together in a mortar. It's an ancient Egyptian condiment.

Traditional dukkah contains hazelnuts or sesame seeds, coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper. Each family has their own recipe, passed down through generations.

You eat dukkah by dipping bread in olive oil, then in the dukkah. The combination of fat, crunch, and spice is addictive. Egyptians have eaten it this way for millennia.

Western chefs discovered dukkah in the 2000s. Now it appears on avocado toast and in fine dining restaurants — a 4,000-year-old condiment made trendy.

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Today

Dukkah has traveled from Egyptian village tables to Brooklyn brunch spots. The name still just means 'pounded' — describing the simplest cooking technique.

Somehow, 'the stuff you pound together' became a gourmet ingredient. The word carries no pretension.

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