Flavors Flavors (September 10, 2004)

Cooking with a tagine

By Robert Rich

Moroccan cuisine counts among my favorites in the world with its delicate blend of warm and sweet spices, bright citrus accents and savory slow-cooked meats.

A little shop called Casablanca Market opened recently at 793 Castro St., across from Starbucks, selling Moroccan cooking supplies and decorative items. It sells an assortment of handmade ceramic casserole dishes called tagines, with cone-shaped lids that allow moisture to drip back into the pot.

A tagine (tah-ZHEEN) works like a miniature oven on the stove. It can get hot enough for frying, allowing you to brown meats before adding broth and spices. You then lower the heat and cover the pot to allow flavors to merge in the steamy atmosphere.

Casablanca owner, Katia Essyad, provides recipes with her tagines. She also sells select imported foods like preserved lemons and harissa (a spicy condiment) from North Africa. You can find other ingredients down the street at Rose Market, a Persian grocery that carries produce, spices and halal meats. (Halal meats have been butchered in the manner specified by Muslim law.)

Here's a sample recipe for chicken with lemon and olives from Essyad, which I modified slightly. Serve on a bed of couscous or fava beans, making a meal for four.

Grind together a spice mix with 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground ginger, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, 1 tsp. coriander and a pinch of salt. Mince one large onion and two cloves garlic. Thinly slice one preserved lemon. Remove pits from 1 cup Moroccan green olives.

Cut apart one whole chicken, or use four legs/thighs or half-breasts. Pre-heat two cups chicken broth, then add a generous pinch of saffron to the broth to infuse for a few minutes.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in the tagine, then fry the chicken parts until they start to brown. Add the onions, garlic and spices, frying for a few more minutes on high heat. Lower the heat, then add chicken broth, lemon slices and olives, and cover with the coned lid. Simmer for an hour or longer, adjusting seasoning to taste.

For a brighter flavor, you can add the lemons and olives toward the end, but I prefer to soften their acidity with longer cooking. The chicken should fall off the bone, as the aromas of saffron and sweet spices fill the air.

E-mail Robert Rich at flavors@rrich.com

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