Thankfully there is an answer and it’s not a surgically injected flavour syringe (don’t laugh – they sell well in the USA). Dukkah is a type of Arabian dry rub much beloved by the Arabs from Cairo to Casablanca. But this is not a new fad, it is an ingredient as old as time – or at least as old as sesame seeds have been around and that’s quite a while.

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Dukkah, or more accurately ‘Duqqa’ derives from the Arabic word meaning ‘to pound’. The pounding in this case creates a coarse powder of roasted coriander, cumin, hazelnuts, almonds and sesame seeds.

We tasted ours courtesy of Olives Et Al (http://www.olivesetal.co.uk/) a North Dorset based company that kind of straddles that ethereal middle ground between new-age deli and slightly hip Bohemian backpacker cool. Their online store is an epicurean treasure trove of products and the Moroccan Blue Dukkah, while it’s not cheap at £4, is well worth a try.

It’s almost more of a ‘sprinkle’ than a rub and is apparently superb on wild game or even plain old supermarket chicken. It can also be mixed with olive oil to make a dip, but take my advice and spread this mixture onto split open pitta breads and pop them in a warm oven to lightly toast for a heavenly Arabic aperitif nibble.

But if you will indulge me, here’s the best way to eat Dukkah. Having lived in the Middle East for nearly five years, I spent part of my time in Cairo where I would eat and drink at an arts café for journalists and socialites called Le Grillon on Kasr El Nil street (you can look for it – it’s still there). With our Egyptian Stella beer and peanuts we would order plates of hoummus, stuffed vine leaves and chicken liver skewers flavoured with Dukkah.

I recreated the Arabian ambiance of a hot night in Cairo for the purposes of this review by donning a traditional Arabic dish-dash or jalaba robe (I keep one in the loft for these occasions), asking my wife to turn the television to Al-Jazeera news and lighting a few incense cones. Once we had the barbeque suitably fired we roasted some livers in Dukkah and felt the warm wafts of the Nile’s breeze on our necks. OK so maybe that’s pushing it for Surrey in February, but it tasted great anyway.

Olives et al also produces a range of sauces, marinades, olives (of course!) and flavoured nuts and snacks. All of which are attractively packaged and Moorishly moorish.