Chermoula substitutes

Chermoula is a formula, not a product, and if you have the herbs you can have it in three minutes.

Best for

fish, prawns and fish tagine, roast carrots, cauliflower and aubergine, chicken and lamb marinades

For about half a cup: one packed cup coriander and half a cup parsley, two garlic cloves, one teaspoon ground cumin, one teaspoon sweet paprika, a quarter teaspoon cayenne, the juice of half a lemon, a quarter cup olive oil and half a teaspoon salt. Chop by hand or pulse briefly. Add a strip of chopped preserved lemon or a pinch of saffron if you have either.

The Italian green sauce has the same architecture: herbs, garlic, acid and a lot of olive oil.

Best for

fish and seafood, spooning over grilled vegetables, when a jar is already open in the fridge

Without the cumin and paprika it reads clearly Italian rather than Moroccan, so those two additions do most of the work. If the jar contains capers or anchovy, either fish them out or accept a saltier, more savoury sauce and cut back on the salt elsewhere.

Parsley, garlic and vinegar, which is chermoula's shape with a sharper edge.

Best for

grilled meat and chicken, firm fish steaks, marinades

The vinegar makes it noticeably more aggressive and tangier than chermoula's lemon, and there is no coriander at all, so it tastes greener and more oregano-forward. The cumin pulls it a long way towards North Africa; a squeeze of lemon on top pulls it the rest of the way.

A Yemeni or Tunisian green chilli-and-herb paste, built on coriander like chermoula but far hotter.

Best for

people who want heat, fish and chicken, stirring through yogurt as a sauce

Use half as much and slacken it with olive oil and lemon juice, or the heat swamps everything. Zhoug is scented with cardamom and green chilli where chermoula is scented with cumin and paprika, so the dish tastes brighter, spikier and less earthy.

The least-bad thing already in most fridges.

Best for

a weeknight fish traybake, roast vegetables, when there are no fresh herbs in the house

It brings basil, hard cheese and pine nuts, none of which belong in chermoula, and the cheese makes it richer and less refreshing. With lemon and cumin stirred through it is a decent green herby marinade, but it is not chermoula and should not be sold to the table as such.

The swap people reach for most often, and the one that changes the dish most.

Best for

when harissa is the only North African thing you own, robust fish and lamb, cooks who want the heat anyway

Harissa is chilli and caraway; chermoula is herbs and cumin. So this gets you a red, hot, smoky sauce where you wanted a green, fresh, cumin-scented one. Add whatever chopped parsley or coriander you can find and a teaspoon of cumin, and it becomes a respectable marinade in its own right.

The honest fallback when the fridge has no herbs at all.

Best for

marinating fish or chicken, brushing on before grilling, store-cupboard cooking

Add half a teaspoon of ground coriander seed, a teaspoon of dried parsley and a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder. It seasons the fish properly and tastes right on the palate; the thing you cannot fake is the fresh green top note, so the sauce is flatter and less lively.