Mesir Macunu

The spices are infused into the syrup and then strained out again, so what sets is clear of grit.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains honey.

Ingredients

the syrup

• 900 g granulated sugar
• 200 g honey
• 500 ml water
• 2 teaspoons citric acid

the spices, tied in muslin

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon bark, broken
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon cardamom pods, cracked
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon aniseed
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon ginger, sliced
• 1 teaspoon galangal, sliced
• 1 teaspoon liquorice root, chopped
• 1 teaspoon black cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon orange peel, dried
• ½ teaspoon saffron threads
• ½ teaspoon mastic, ground with sugar

Method

1. THE SPICES ARE INFUSED INTO THE SYRUP AND THEN STRAINED OUT AGAIN. All of them are tied into a muslin bag, simmered in the syrup for half an hour, and then lifted out and squeezed and discarded before the syrup is taken up to setting point. Nothing granular is left in the finished paste. That matters because the spice list is long and includes barks, roots, peels and whole seeds, and any of them left in would be unpleasant to bite in a soft paste -- and because the paste has to set smooth and glossy, which particles prevent.
2. THE SPICE LIST HERE IS A NAMED SUBSET AND NOT A DEFINITIVE ONE. The documented ingredient lists for this paste run to dozens of items and vary between makers, and some ingredients that once went in are no longer used at all. The spices above are drawn from those documented lists; this is not a claim to be the complete or correct formula, and anyone adding or dropping three or four of them is working within the normal range.
3. THE BAG GOES IN BEFORE THE SYRUP IS CONCENTRATED. Into the dissolved syrup while it is still thin and watery, and simmered half an hour. A thick syrup near setting point is too viscous for infusion to happen at all -- the extraction needs water to move through the spices.
4. THE SYRUP IS THEN TAKEN TO A THREAD. After the bag comes out, boiled up to about 118°C. The test without a thermometer: a little dripped from a spoon should fall in a fine continuous thread rather than in drops. Short of that, the paste never firms and stays a runny syrup.
5. THE HONEY GOES IN WITH THE SUGAR AND SOME OF ITS AROMA IS LOST. Two hundred grams. It is there for body and a rounder sweetness; its finer floral notes do not survive to 118°C and there is no point using an expensive one.
6. THE SAFFRON AND MASTIC GO IN THE BAG WITH THE REST. Saffron gives colour that passes into the syrup, and mastic contributes its resin as it melts. Both would be wasted added at the end -- the saffron needs the long simmer to give up its colour.
7. IT IS SPREAD THIN AND CUT SMALL, AND IT IS EATEN IN TINY QUANTITIES. Into a lightly oiled tray to about a centimetre, set, and cut into small squares or rolled in paper. It is dense, strongly spiced and very sweet, and a portion is a mouthful.
8. All the spices TIED INTO A MUSLIN BAG, loosely.
9. The sugar, honey and water heated, swirled, until the sugar dissolves.
10. The MUSLIN BAG lowered into the thin syrup and simmered 30 MINUTES.
11. The bag LIFTED OUT, SQUEEZED against the side of the pan, and DISCARDED.
12. The citric acid stirred in.
13. The syrup boiled on to about 118°C.
14. TESTED: a little dripped from a spoon should fall in a FINE CONTINUOUS THREAD, not in drops.
15. Poured into a lightly oiled tray to about 1 cm and levelled.
16. Left to set at room temperature 3 HOURS.
17. Cut into small squares, or rolled in squares of greaseproof paper.
18. TESTED set: it should be firm, glossy and completely smooth with no grit. Runny means the thread stage was not reached.
19. Keeps 3 months wrapped.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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