Mojo Seasoning: The Dry Blend, the Cuban Sauce and the Canary Island Original

Mojo means three related things: a family of chile-and-vinegar sauces from the Canary Islands, the garlic and bitter orange sauce of Cuban cooking, and a dry, jarred blend built to taste like the Cuban one. The word itself comes from Spanish mojar, to wet. Mojo seasoning is that dry version. It tastes garlicky and citrusy first, then peppery and warm, and in one maker’s blend, orange and lime juice powder stand in for the sauce’s bitter orange juice. Below: what goes into each, how they differ, and how to use the jar.

At a glance

Three kinds of mojo

Canary Island mojo. The Real Academia Española defines mojo picón as a spicy sauce typical of the Canary Islands, made mainly with oil, garlic, chiles, cumin, salt and paprika.² Maricel Presilla, writing in Saveur, contrasts Canary mojos, which lean on chiles and vinegar, with the Cuban version.³ The word comes from mojar, to wet, per the RAE. These are sauces, not dry blends. We couldn’t find a source that dates the Canarian sauces or traces how mojo got to Cuba, so the usual story of a Canary Island origin is plausible, but we haven’t been able to document it.

Cuban mojo. Presilla describes Cuban mojo as a fragrant garlic-and-herb sauce whose signature tartness comes from bitter orange juice. It’s used as a marinade for pork, beef or seafood, or passed at the table.³ Two named recipes show the range:

Bottled mojo marinades follow the same idea. Badia says its mojo marinade is made with grapefruit, orange and bitter orange juices.⁵

Dry mojo seasoning. The jarred blend turns the sauce’s flavors into a powder. Spices, Inc. lists the ingredients of its Mojo Seasoning as garlic, black pepper, orange, onion, lime juice powder and cumin. It describes a tan powder flecked with black pepper, garlic flakes and orange zest, with a peppery, citrusy and savory flavor.¹ That’s one maker’s recipe. Others may add oregano or salt, so check the label.

Flavor and the compounds behind it

The dry blend tastes garlicky and citrusy first, then peppery and warm. As for the individual ingredients:

• Cumin. The main compound in cumin oil is cuminaldehyde, 20 to 72% of the oil according to PROSEA.⁶ Cumin is especially popular in Latin American cooking, among others.
• Citrus. In the sauce, bitter orange juice brings the tartness. In the Spices, Inc. dry blend, orange and lime juice powder stand in for it.¹

How to use it

Marinades. Mix the dry blend with citrus juice, olive oil and fresh garlic for a quick marinade in the spirit of the Cuban sauce, which Presilla uses on pork, beef and seafood.³ Luz Garcia uses her family’s mojo for her father’s holiday lechón, the roast pork.⁴ Proportions are up to you.

Rubs and finishing. Rub it on chicken, pork chops or fish before grilling, or sprinkle it on fried plantains, boiled yuca or roasted vegetables.

Not sofrito. Mojo seasoning isn’t part of Cuban sofrito. Saveur’s Cuban black beans build their sofrito from onions or scallions, garlic and green peppers, with cumin added separately.⁷ See Cuban spices for how sofrito and mojo each fit into Cuban cooking.

We found no source for regional US versions of mojo with tomato or avocado, or for mojo as a common base for barbecue sauces in Texas, Florida or Louisiana.

Buying and storage

Check the label for salt. The Spices, Inc. spec lists none,¹ but other blends may include it. Store the dry blend like any ground seasoning, airtight and away from heat and light. Once the citrus smell fades, it’s lost a lot of what makes it mojo. We didn’t find a shelf-life figure from a regulator or standards body.

Health

The health-benefit lists you’ll see for mojo seasoning, from preventing heart disease to protecting against cancer, go well past the evidence. Most of that research is on garlic supplements, not seasoning. NCCIH’s summary says garlic supplements may lower total and LDL cholesterol a little in people with high cholesterol, and limited evidence suggests a small effect on blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. It says eating garlic doesn’t seem to reduce the risk of stomach cancer, and very little research has been done on garlic and colds. Garlic supplements may raise the risk of bleeding.⁸ A sprinkle of seasoning isn’t a supplement dose, and we’re not making health claims for it.

Related pages

• Cuban spices and Spanish spices
• Adobo seasoning and sazón
• The ingredients: garlic powder, garlic, cumin, black pepper, onion powder, lemon pepper, oregano
• Too much garlic powder and too much cumin