The New York Times writer Seth Sherwood has written a great article about my favorite cuisine and marked Morocco as the culinary destination of the year.
The foods are notable for their unique blending of friuts, nuts, and spices usually found in pastries. The flavor levels are complex and exceptionally satisfying. Cinnamon, ginger, mint, and anise are common seasonings, but unexpected in savory dishes in North Amarican cooking.
The slow cooked stews called tagines are well worth learning. They are economical, using tougher cuts of meat which tenderize during the simmer an incorporate different combinations of the above ingredients. This recipe for chicken with olives and preserved lemons is particularly good, and I’ve enjoyed another version using dried apricots and almonds. On the same page as the chicken recipe you will find a link to Piri-Piri chicken. There are many varieties of these south African dishes , too. They are a bit more fiery.
Basboosa served with fresh fruit and minted yoghurt is a true summer delight and was very popular on my menus. It’s easy to prepare so give it a shot.
Global Gastronomer offers lots of links to further your exploration of African cooking – scroll down past the map.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Lionel Tandy // Jan 14, 2009 at 9:56 am
You’re right; the combination of fruits, nuts and those warm spices such as cinnamon, ginger and clove that we often think of as “dessert” ingredients used in savory dishes is exactly what makes Moroccan cuisine so interesting both to cook and to eat. To the diner, the flavors are familiar but the mind is intrigued because the application of the flavor is savory instead of sweet. Because of this comfort level with the ingredients, most diners are eager to explore this flavorful cuisine.
One of the easiest ways to explore this juxaposition of sweet and savory is the following condiment that is wonderful served with grilled meats:
Thinly slice red onions, toss them together with olive oil, ginger, salt, black pepper, cinnamon and a little sugar and let it sit for a couple hours to draw out the onion’s juices. Place in a casserole dish, cover with foil and cook in a slow oven until the onions are very tender then remove the cover and let the top of the onions caramelize.
2 Loving Annie // Jan 14, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I’ve never tried any of that type of cusine… Guess there is a first time for everything
Happy Wednesday to you, Paul.
3 Chris Gait // Jan 16, 2009 at 7:26 am
Moroccan cuisine has been a family favourite for as long as I can remember and now is part of my professional repertoire. Moroccan cuisine also has been a huge influence in Spanish cookery with emphasis in the south of the country, an area occupied by the North African Moors for 800 years or so.
Main ingredients for a Moroccan chicken (casserole) are: onions, tomatoes, flaked almonds, pine nuts, dried apricot, sultanas (beware of the seeds) dried dates, lemon peel, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom seed, ground turmeric, chicken. And rice or cous-cous as a staple.
The combination of the bitter sweet of the fruit, the nutty favours with the hint of spices is a real taste bud treat!
We are often asked for the vegetarian version of this dish, I replace the chicken with courgettes and aubergines (zucchini and eggplant).
It also goes very well with fish: sea bass and black bream.
Give it try,,,enjoy
Chris
4 Brandon Wilborn // Jan 28, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Finally Morocco is starting to get some recognition! I’ve been cooking this cuisine for around 7 years, and I can’t really get anyone else into it. The complex flavors that come from really simple preparations and techniques produce pretty much the most interesting food of North Africa.
The spice trails were quite lengthy, and places where you wouldn’t expect to see flavors originating from India, (like Iceland!) meshed with the dominant culture and produced the original fusion cuisine.
There are some great books on Modern Moroccan cuisine available, those by Gillie Basan are especially good in blending Western palates with North African cooking.
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