Hi thereA friend who recently visited Morocco returned with the gift of a cookbook of authentic food from the region. Some of the methods and recipes go back thousands of years long before the birth of Christ or Mohammed. From the cradle to the grave, ancient traditions accumulated down through the centuries - one example being where newly weds are given a dish for their breakfast consisting of a dish of rice cooked in milk and a steamed sheep's head. The bride "pure as milk" will thenceforth be able to run her household while "keeping her head about her".....
Obviously this is not a dish for the dinner party my friend is hosting on Saturday evening. Her email read "Never cooked Moroccan – what would be some examples? Want to keep very simple. Going to the races on Sat – won’t be home till about 5pm. Not that it’s an issue really – I rarely start cooking till about then anyway."
Ten essential ingredients
Spices and Herbs
Cinnamon - added to soups and tagines or used combined with sugar to dust pastry.
Cumin - used frequently in soups and tagines or combined with other spices such as Paprika in "charmoula" (coating on food before cooking.) Saffron and Tumeric add colour and pungency, with Ginger, Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper adding fire or piquancy, Flat leaf Parsley and of course, Coriander, Almonds chopped or flaked, Chick-peas, Couscous, Honey, used in sweet and savoury dishes, Olives, Harissa - hot chilli spice sometimes used, and Preserved Lemon .
You don't have to have all of those ingredients before the races, however, you might want to try your hand at the Chermoula coated fish or chicken or perhaps a Moroccan Leg of Lamb.
Chermoula is a marinade for cooking fish etc, which includes garlic, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, fresh parsley and coriander, white wine vinegar, lemon juice and oil. (Or for days when you are going to the races, you can buy a readymade Moroccan Seasoning, say Masterfoods, which will do the trick when you add some herbs. Sprinkle generously over beef, lamb or chicken before grilling, BBQing or baking, after coating food with oil and rubbing with crushed garlic. Add a little Apricot jam to the gravy.)
Roast Vegetable Salad and a Couscous Salad with Flaked Almonds and Olives, would be great to accompany the lamb - recipes to follow tomorrow.
Orange and Date salad is one of my favourite desserts and good for this time of the year. Even the keys of my laptop are hot today.
