TAJINE- COMFORTING, DELICIOUS and ECONOMICAL.

My first encounter with tajine occurred in Morocco a few years ago. In a restaurant, waiters were carrying clay containers with elongated and tipped covers to various tables. When the covers were lifted, the aromas wafting were heavenly and enticing.

I quickly ordered one, and after a while the waiter served it. I now order tajine whenever and wherever possible. Tajine is a North African specialty that is comforting, friendly, inexpensive, forgiving, delicious, and fragrant. It requires a glazed clay pot with a tight fitting lid. It is easily obtainable in morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and even Egypt. In North America specialty stores may stock it, but charge extraordinarily high prices. You can substitute the authentic tajine pot with an enamelled cast iron pot, or even use a dark roasting pan. The word is derived from Greek tegonon (frying pan).

Greek traders of antiquity introduced this cooking technique in the region when they roamed the Mediterranean Sea, east to west and back. Tajines are easy to prepare but require long cooking tie. If your timing is off and you forget it in the oven, do not worry! Tajine is very forgiving.

Here is a recipe you ay want to try.

1 kg lamb shanks
4 tbsp olive oil.
2 onions sliced
1 cup beef stock
1 28 oz can peeled plum tomatoes
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 14 oz can chickpeas
125 grams sun-dried mango’s trips (may be omitted or substituted with other dried fruits i.e apricots, apples etc)
bunch of mint
bunch of coriander
Heat the oven to 160 C

Sear shanks on oil (a) and place in casserole. Cook onions in the same pan and pour over shanks. Add stock to pan, and dissolve clinging meat pieces. Add tomatoes, spices to casserole and bake covered for 1-½ hours. Mix drained chickpeas with mango slices. If desired add, ½ bunch mint and ½ bunch of coriander and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.

Serve with couscous, crusty bread, plain rice or whipped potatoes.

Bon appetite !

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Although Morocco is far from Scandinavia I have found a couple of restaurants that serves it:

http://www.casablanca-svendborg.dk/
http://www.restaurantmarrakech.no/
http://cafebeirut.monalisahuset.no/

Feel free to add to the list if you know of more places!

Morten Pedersen

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Tags: Morocco, Recipes, Tajine

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 06:00 and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. Jennifer L Price February 5th, 2009 at 08:42

   I’m off to Morocco next week and will be taking a cooking class there, so this is perfect timing. I’m sure I’ll be posting something on my blog about the class, so you’ll have to check it out in a couple of weeks. I’m definitely looking forward to trying this dish! Jennifer L Prices last blog post..Krakow, Poland Day Trip: Wieliczka Salt Mines

2. Morten Pedersen February 5th, 2009 at 08:45

   I will check your site out and I don’t want to miss it. Lucky you !!

3. DCRose March 14th, 2009 at 03:02

   I just can’t tell you how much I want to make this amazing recipe right now, but because I am fasting for lent it will have to wait for Easter. It sounds simply delicious! Thanks for another wonderful recipe. Your friend, DCRose DCRoses last blog post..Why a Cake Fails

4. Morten Pedersen March 15th, 2009 at 10:12

   We are going for a holiday to Denmark in the Easter, so we are holding back on the budget here. I do hope to bring a lot of pictures and recipes back home and share with you all. Thanks for the comment DCRose.

5. Morten Pedersen March 15th, 2009 at 10:16

   You can all read more about Tajine/Tagine here: http://journeysandadventures.today.com/2009/03/02/morocco-cooking-cuisine%E2%80%A6and-of-course-couscous-with-some-moroccan-recipes/

6. Dave Metz July 22nd, 2009 at 22:54

   I have always wanted to delve into Moroccan cuisine and master the implementation The Tangine. I was given a book by Robert Carrier (A Taste of Morocco) about 13 years ago with some very enticing recipes. I believe Robert lived in Morocco for most of his adult life and he managed to master a great many of the countries famous dishes. This Post has drawn me back into wanting to experiment in Morocco cooking and although I do not posses a Tangine I think I will make do with a good casserole dish. I presume this would be the next best thing for this type of dish. .-= Dave Metz´s last blog ..Planted Tropical Aquariums =-.

7. Lara July 24th, 2010 at 07:07

   The traditional tagine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or blazed. Recently, European manufacturers have created tagines with heavy cast-iron bottoms that can be heated on a cooking stove to a high temperature. This permits the browning of meat and vegetables before cooking.

8. Jilu Filipino August 25th, 2010 at 13:12

   Thanks for sharing about the history of Tajines. I’ll try cooking the Tajine Recipe that you’ve recommend.

9. Air Force One August 29th, 2010 at 02:28

   Fantastic post thanks. Especially interesting topic, will bookmark your website to see if you write more about in the future.

10. Clara August 31st, 2010 at 03:58

    Wew..Great recipes. I wanna try it home. I learn about the history of Tajines here thanks

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