TRADITIONAL MOROCCAN TAGINE

The tagine, the Traditional dish of Moroccan cuisine

       

                     The first meeting of gourmet travelers in Morocco is that the tagine. Certainly, there's tons of confusion about what a tagine is or not. There are two definitions of the word tagine. First of all, it's a slow cooking stew. Second, it's the name of the container during which the food is cooked; A tagine is cooked during a tagine jar.

WHAT IS A MOROCCAN TAGINE?

 The tagine is both the name of a delicious Moroccan dish, a sort of stew supported meat or fish and vegetables, simmered for an extended time amorously and spices ... and therefore the name of the glazed or unglazed terracotta container, sometimes richly decorated, which is employed within the kitchen to simmer the stew!

The tagine (the utensil) resists very high temperatures and may be used on a kanoun to cook over a wood fire, or on gas or an electric hob, or maybe within the oven for more modern use.

Its manufacture responds to an area got to cook food without water (and without fat) to stay the maximum amount as possible its natural flavor. The steam from the food condenses inside the conical walls of the lid and falls right down to moisten the entire. Food becomes tender, fragrant, and tender.

Traditionally made in terracotta, it's solid, not very porous, and hardens even more with use. additionally, it resists thermal shock.


Before its first use, it must be soaked a minimum of overnight in water.
The decorated tagines are made for adornment. a true traditional tagine is usually glazed earth!

THE HISTORY OF TAGINE:

Tagine is an emblematic dish of cuisine within the Maghreb, especially in Morocco. it's originally a Berber dish: a sort of stew, during which vegetables and meat are stewed.

The word tagine designates the terracotta dish during which food is cooked. The pointed shape of the lid has been designed to permit cooking without water, thereby retaining all the flavors of the food. The steam from the food, therefore, condenses on the lid of the tagine dish, then falls on the food, which is thus moistened.

The result's incredible: the food cooked during this tagine dish is especially tender and attractive, to the delight of gourmets.

The word tagine, when pertaining to food, therefore designates the foods that are cooked within the tagine dish. There are a really sizable amount of various tagines, which contain meat, vegetables, and fruits (there are many sweet and savory recipes in Moroccan cuisine: tagine with olives, quinces, figs dates or apricots), all of this with lamb beef or maybe chicken: there's something for everyone! There are even vegetarian tagine recipes, as during this vegetable tagine recipe with olives.

HOW TO MAKE A TAGINE!

A misconception that folks have is that there's just one sort of tagine, although there are dozens. the maximum amount because the Tagine may be a dish, it more precisely defines a cooking method.

PRODUCTION:(for 3 people)

• Difficulty: Very easy
• Total time: 1h15
• Preparation: 15 mins
• Cooking: 1 h
• Total time: 1h 15mins

Recipe: Beef Tajine with vegetable

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pieces of a saddle of lamb or tender pieces of boneless
• 4 potatoes
• 1/2 zucchini
• 1 tomato
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• Green olive
• 1/2 glass of vegetable oil
• Cumin
• spices (including nutmeg, ginger, coriander, cinnamon ...)
• Yellow saffron (for coloring)
• Pepper
• Salt
• 1/2 glass of water

PREPARATION:

1. Pour 3/4 tablespoon of oil into the tajine dish directly on the warmth or the baking sheet.
2. When the oil is hot, brown the meat on all sides (about 10 min).
3. Lower the warmth touch and place the vegetables, washed and roughly cut, during a pyramid over the meat, from the firmest to the foremost tender (potatoes, then carrot, then zucchini, then onions), interspersed with cumin, 14 spices, salt, and pepper.
4. Drizzle with touch water, sprinkle with yellow saffron, to offer color and place the green olives.
5. Cover and cook over low heat for a half-hour.
6. At the top of this point, place on the cooked vegetables, the tomatoes dig pieces, cover and cook for an additional quarter-hour.
7. Serve hot, directly on the table, amid tea and matzo.

Recipe: Chicken Tagine with Canned Olives and Lemons

• Salt
• 1 large whole chicken, dig 8 pieces
• 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon real saffron
• 1/2 pound onions, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/4 pound gizzard, optional
• 1/4 pound liver, optional
• 1/4 cup mixed olives, seeded
• 3 small candied lemons

PREPARATION:

1. First, rub halite into the chicken pieces, then wash the chicken in wine vinegar and water. Leave to act for 10 minutes. Rinse and dry and place on a clean plate.
2. Combine vegetable oil, coriander, cinnamon, saffron, fine salt, 1/2 onion, garlic, cumin, ginger, pepper, and turmeric during a large bowl. Mix of these ingredients within the oil and mash the garlic and add touch water to form a paste.
3. Roll the chicken pieces within the marinade and let stand 10 to fifteen minutes.
4. Use a stoneware tagine (traditional Moroccan dish) or an ovenproof dish with a deep, heavy base for cooking. Heat the dish and add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the recent dish. Drop the chicken and pour over the surplus marinade juice. Add the onions, stomach, liver, olives, and remaining chopped lemons (without pulp).

NOTE:

How to taste it: traditionally, the tagine is eaten directly from the dish, by hand, by catching the vegetables using pieces of bread. When only the meat remains, the guests share it equally. This recipe comes from a Moroccan woman from the Atlas.
Now that you simply know everything about this dish (or rather about this cooking technique which then comes in multiple recipes and flavors), we are curious to get which of those tagine recipes for you'll cook tonight.