Tagine . . . It's Good . . .

Finally, my friend Aicha taught me how to make one of my favorite Moroccan dishes. It's called tagine because of the type of container used to cook the meat and vegetables. On this particular day Aicha demonstrated beef and fish tagine. I've also had her lamb tagine and I've got to say . . . that was some good stuff too. (And I don't like eating lamb!) The steps for making the fish tagine are essentially the same for chicken which is probably what I will make when I make a go at it by myself. (I know Mom . . .big surprise.)


Aicha peels and chops 4 carrots in the same amount of time it takes me to do 1.



Adding yet another spice . . .



This is a tagine pot. Somehow I'm bringing one home to the states.



The onions begin adding to the liquid . . .



Renae thoroughly enjoyed the potatoes.




The finished products all ready to eat!

And what did Renae do while we cooked? She played with Aicha's son. They had a blast.

Renae enjoying a slice of fruit.

Incase you are wondering if you would even like tagine, here is what was in the beef dish:

• Beef (marinated in spices overnight)
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Peas
• Green and Red Peppers
• Seasonings (salt, garlic, parsley, cilantro, paprika, white pepper, cumin)
• Vegetable broth

Tagine is usually served with some kind of bread (Moroccans use a round flat bread) and often couscous. I would leave the recipe on my recipe page but I filled up almost 4 pages of notes trying to right down each thing she did. I would ask her how long she would let something cook and each time she said "I don't know, I just watch and I know when it's done." So when I finally do make my own tagine, you can bet it will not be as good as hers. Next up on Moroccan cooking lessons, pastela! Pastela has chicken almonds, cinnamon and other things stuffed into a pastry type shell. It is AMAZING.