Alexandra's Dukkah - Piquant product reviews

I can still remember the first time I tried Dukkah, as a kid on a trip to the Middle East. It wasn't anything amazing at the time, very traditional but also quite bland - more ground-up nuts and seeds and less of the herbs and spices as I recall. Still, it was interesting. Fast forward to about 10 years ago at a regional market show and there was a stand offering some various home-made dukkahs for sale. They were a little more to my liking, but they were mostly sweet varieties with things like mint and cardamom seeds.

When I saw a Piquant version was still available, I decided to give it a go - piquant = spicy, and I like spicy! As a dry-dip for bread and olive oil, it wasn't really my thing. There wasn't the level of spiciness I was hoping for and the nuts are quite a strong flavour. However, I got the idea to try it as a crust with some finely chopped and fried crispy bacon bits on cheese balls. It took a bit of hunting online to find a recipe I liked, and had the ingredients for, but once I did it was a simple matter to whip up the mix, roll spoonfuls into balls and coat them in the mix. I gave them a very quick fry in shallow oil just to finish off the bacon and release some of the extra flavours from the dukkah.

The experiment was a great success and while I doubt this dukkah will be on my every-week shopping list, it's one I will have as my go-to when I need to whip up a plate for taking to a social gathering of when I invite people over for a BBQ here.

Overall, quite an intriguing product and one that could potentially have a wide range of uses for those with a creative mindset and broad palate.

I have never heard of Dukkah or Piquant before, but I generally put my hand up for products that class themselves as "spicy". A quick Google search explained that Dukkah is used in conjunction with oil as a dip for breads, so it seemed a product that would perhaps broaden my horizons (food-wise) a little, while still remaining a safe bet that I would enjoy it.

Having received a few vinegars in the same batch of review items, It seemed the be the perfect time to do a little tasting dish. I managed to get 12 ciabatta buns "bread rolls?" from the supermarket for around $5 and simply sliced these into dipping pieces, plating them with a selection of vinegars (with canola oil), and the dukkah. Note that there is a lot of oil with the vinegars in my photo, but that's because I used the same oil for the dukkah. When doing an oil and vinegar dip, you need very little oil added or your bread wont get any vinegar at all.

So using dukkah is as simple as dipping bread in an oil and then dipping in the dukkah. Not dissimilar to coating an icecream in sprinkles, or crumbing a chicken breast. The product itself is a small packet, but it will last well and is incredibly easy to use. The dukkah itself is a mix of fine and coarsely ground spices and nuts (I say coarsely ground, as there were some chunks nearly 1cm in length). I liked the flavousr, and it reminded me a little bit of curried or spicy lentils and chickpeas, which is a new flavour to provide to breads.

I love the product, realising now how easy it is to provide such easy dips and spreads when entertaining, this is definitely going to be the new go to, when entertaining guests. As long as it lasts long enough for other people to get a chance to try it (I ate all 12 ciabatta rolls on my own in the last 12 hours...).

I really love dukkah, and I had never had a piquant style one so I decided to give this one a try. I was interested to see how hot it would be, as it promised some heat with the paprika and chili in the mix. Reading the packet, at our gathering our friends were a bit nervous about it too.

I served this dukkah with olive oil and pieces of sour dough. One of our friends was surprised by the piquant dukkah. He said that although it was similar to the traditional, it was not as fragrant to him. He expected it to be a little gritty but it wasn't at all. He did think that it tasted more nutty than the traditional one. I wondered if that might be because the heat was helping to bring forward the other flavours.

I personally found this dukkah to be a great flavour. It was not as hot as I expected it to be. But this was a positive. Any more heat and it would have disrupted the complex flavours of the other spices, nuts and seeds. The paprika and chili were present without taking over and they elevated the dukkah in my eyes.

I love how versatile this product is. I used this on some garlic butter wraps. I cut the wraps into wedges and then brushed on some olive oil. I scattered some dukkah on the wedges and also some cheese on a few. These made a delicious snack and even my kids who weren't interested in the dukkah and bread, loved it on these wedges.

I added some of this into a stir fry recently as well. I pre-coated the strips of beef with some olive oil and dukkah. I made a quick stir fry sauce with soy sauce and honey, and added vegetables and noodles. The flavours in the dukkah added an extra dimension to our usual quick and easy stir fry, without too much extra effort. It would be great as a meat rub on a roast lamb or chicken too.

I've been wanting to try Dukkah for ages so I was really excited when I saw this product up for review. This particular blend smells very strongly of coriander upon first opening but the flavours are nicely balanced with just a hint of chilli to warm the mouth and add a bit of zing.

For my first time I wanted to try it the traditional way as a dry dip with bread and olive oil. I thought it was really delicious and I loved the added texture and crunch from some of the nuts which had been left a little chunky compared to the rest of the herbs and spices. It's also a fabulous blend to sprinkle over a poached/fried egg to jazz it up a little and I even enjoyed it sprinkled over some pumpkin soup.

My original idea was to use it as a seasoning on my favourite homemade crackers but they have a lot of flavour and texture themselves so I decided to try something a little bit different... Dukkah crusted Brie. I came across the idea while browsing Pinterest and I was really intrigued by it. It was delicious. The Dukkah gives a wonderful texture and subtle flavour to the deliciously soft and oozy cheese center. My partner and I greatly enjoyed it and I think it would make a really nice dish to serve at Christmas time or even a fancy dinner party.

Dukkah is quickly becoming a staple in my pantry and I'll definitely be trying some of the other variants when we finish this lot - a little goes a long way.

I have tried many kinds of dukkah and always eaten them in the conventional way, with hunks of bread dipped in oil and then in the dukkah mix. I tasted this variety straight from the packet and found it was quite intriguing - there were several distinct flavours and textures coming through and I felt they might be lost if used as a simple dipping garnish. So I thought about other ways of using it, and came up with a couple of variations which were met with enthusiasm by my tasters - on this occasion, four teenagers who happened to call in with their parents.

The first trial was with a feta and pine nut salad. Instead of topping it with a dressing, I sprinkled some of the dukkah on top and served aioli separately. Personally, I prefer my salad with no dressing at all, so this suited me perfectly. I ate my share dry with just the dukkah as flavour, but the others added the aioli. I asked if they liked it and the response was that they did, but that the dukkah spiciness was diluted by the oil.

Secondly, I tried sprinkling it on some steamed fish which was being served with mashed potatoes and cooked greens. This went down a treat; everyone liked it and said it made up for there being no batter. (Well, we ARE talking teenagers!) I found it a little dry, but the others thought it was acceptable. There again, some of them went on to smother their potatoes in bottled tomato sauce, so there is no accounting for taste.

The most successful variation was when I put some on poached eggs. This was a delight. The dukkah melted slightly into the egg and gave it a wonderful, slightly smoky flavour. You could really taste the coriander. It was so nice that I had to restrain myself from scraping the plate clean so as not to lose any. I often put finely chopped nuts or sesame seeds on top of poached eggs to make them more interesting, but the dukkah has the added benefit of adding a spicy element that really complements the blandness of the egg.

We did try some of the dukkah the conventional way with Turkish bread and lemon-infused olive oil and that was nice too. It is just that there are so many possibilities for using this product. I am sure that I will be exploring lots of other ways of including it over the next few weeks. Even after four different uses, there is still more than half the packet left, so it has the added bonus of being very good value for money.