As we travel south out of Turkey, we come to the Eastern Mediterranean nations of Syria, Lebanon and Israel. I have been to Beirut, but quite honestly, didn't find the foods there to be very different from those in Greece, Turkey and Iran. They do the stuffed grape leaves, hummus, tabouleh, grilled kibbeh meat kebabs and a lot of rice dishes with lentils, nuts and dried fruit.
One flavor I associate with Middle Eastern dining is the taste of cumin in their dishes. I've mentioned before in other recipes how much we love a chicken Shawarma spice mixture we used to buy at the Phoenicia Deli/Importer on Westheimer in Houston, TX. I believe the family that owned it was Egyptian, but not certain about that. My huge 1# bag of the spice was getting real low so I decided I better try to come up with my own version before it was totally gone and I would lose the capability to compare any trials to the flavor of the real thing! Houston is 3 hours away, so buying another isn't an option and they do not have a website for placing orders. 
So I took my almost empty container of this spice and studied it closely. First I went for visual clues as to its possible ingredients. I could clearly see black pepper in it. It had a yellow hue, so turmeric was there. I could actually see bits of coriander seed husk in it. Then I went for smell and taste. I could taste cumin for certain. I could definitely detect a little "bite" on my tongue, so I also included a wee bit of cayenne to the final recipe. At that point I was stymied and decided to just go for it. I mixed the few things I felt certain were present.
I usually start with equal amounts of spices when creating a blend, backing off a bit on cayenne, as I don't like things too hot, and their shawarma blend was not "hot" at all really. But when all was stirred and tasted, something was still missing. Seemed a bit flat compared to the original Phoenicia product. So I decided to spunk it up with a little onion powder and garlic powder. A little of those never hurt anything, right? Finally I was close enough to the original blend to just stop! Here's the final result of my endeavors. This one does NOT disappoint, folks.
INGREDIENTS:
3 T. ground cumin seed
2 T. ground coriander seed
1 T. turmeric
1 T. black pepper
1 tsp. cayenne
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
DIRECTIONS: Mix all on a paper plat. Curl/fold plate and pour contents into a lidded jar. Store spices in a dark cabinet. This is sprinkled on broiled chicken or chicken that you plan to grill outside for the famous Shawarma chicken sandwich wraps. I find I also like it on a plain cooked ground beef patty or broiled fish, on oven-roasted chicken and even roasted vegetables! I like it so much I always put 1-2 T. of it into a double batch of my homemade mayonnaise recipe. Mmm. That is good on all sandwiches and makes a great dressing for your meat wraps!
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 8 T. or 24 tsp. One tsp. contains:
7.2 cals, 0.27 g fat, 1.28 g carbs, 0.47 g fiber, 0.81 g NET CARBS, 0.27 g protein, trace sodium
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