Chermoula and Green Herb Paste Construction
Chermoula is the herb-spice marinade paste of North African cooking — Moroccan in origin but present throughout Levantine cooking in various forms. Ottolenghi uses herb pastes extensively across Jerusalem as marinades, sauces, and finishing elements. The construction principle — raw herbs, spices, acid, and fat blended or pounded to a paste — is universal across Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking.
A paste of fresh herbs (coriander, parsley, or both), spices (cumin, coriander, paprika), garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil — pounded in a mortar or processed briefly. Used as a marinade (applied before cooking), a sauce (served alongside), or a finishing element (stirred into a dish at the end).
A good herb paste transforms a simple protein into something with place and identity. The freshness of the herbs, the warmth of the spices, and the brightness of the lemon work together to produce a flavour that reads as simultaneously complex and clean.
- The herbs must be fully dry before blending — wet herbs produce a watery paste that separates - Garlic must be pounded to a paste before the herbs are added — garlic chunks create uneven flavour distribution - Olive oil is added last and in a thin stream — this emulsifies rather than pooling - As a marinade: minimum 2 hours, preferably overnight — the acid begins denaturing the protein surface and the fat carries the aromatics inward - As a finishing sauce: add off the heat — heat drives off the volatile herb compounds
OTTOLENGHI JERUSALEM — Technique Entries OT-01 through OT-25
Common Questions
Why does Chermoula and Green Herb Paste Construction taste the way it does?
A good herb paste transforms a simple protein into something with place and identity. The freshness of the herbs, the warmth of the spices, and the brightness of the lemon work together to produce a flavour that reads as simultaneously complex and clean.
What dishes are similar to Chermoula and Green Herb Paste Construction?
Argentinian chimichurri (same construction principle, different herb and acid profile), Italian salsa verde (same herb-acid-fat paste logic), Thai herb pastes (same pounding principle, different flavo