Moroccan chicken tagine served with couscous is a popular entree.
Tagine, or tajine, is cooked in a covered terracotta pot, which has the same name. The pot has two parts: a flat base and a cone-shaped cover. The cover seals in the condensation, allowing the meal to simmer and seal in the flavors. Tagine is a meat, chicken, fish or vegetable stew characterized by rich, complex sauces. Tagine is enriched with the flavors of local and international spices, which are usually individually ground and blended.
Meat Tagine
Meats used in Moroccan cuisine include beef, lamb, goat, rabbit and camel. The meat is diced and browned in olive oil along with onions. Enough water is added to cover the meat. Depending on the recipe, additional ingredients can be tomatoes, prunes, dates, pomegranate juice or lemon rinds. Traditionally, the spices added are freshly ground black pepper, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, ginger and saffron. Lamb recipes often include coriander and cumin seeds.
Chicken Tagine
Chicken tagine is traditionally made with lemons and honey, although ingredients such as olives, prunes, apricots or roasted almonds may be added. Lamb is sometimes mixed with chicken. Unlike the meat tagine, the chicken is usually cooked in larger pieces after being rubbed with minced garlic, black pepper and olive oil. Ginger and saffron are almost always used with chicken. Other spices could be coriander, paprika, cumin, whole peppercorns, chili powder and turmeric powder.
Fish Tagine
Edible Mediterranean and international fish used in tagine include halibut, plaice, shark, mahi mahi, sea bass, flounder or orange roughy. Whole fillets are usually cooked in water with onions. A spice blend called ras-el-hanout is made by mixing turmeric, coriander seeds, cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, cardamom seeds and cloves in a spice grinder. The ras-el-hanout is added to the stew along with cayenne pepper and cumin seeds.
Vegetable Tagine
A wide range of vegetables are used in a vegetable tagine; the traditional ones include cauliflower, onions, chickpeas, eggplant, zucchini, butternut squash, sweet potato and olives. Green cracked olives are preferred since their released juices will help thicken the sauce. Other ingredients may include tomatoes, lemons, apricots and honey. The most commonly used spices are cayenne pepper, ground ginger, ground coriander, ground cumin, cinnamon, ground turmeric and black pepper
Tags: black pepper, along with, cayenne pepper, cinnamon ground, coriander ground, cumin seeds, ground coriander