Moroccan-Blog.com

 It’s said that food can win hearts of people. The best way to impress some one is to, serve him yummy food and you can see that thanking smile on his face. If dishes are cooked in Tagine, anyone would love it.

 Tagine is a unique variety of clay or ceramic cookware that’s well-liked in North Africa. The bottom is circular and it is a broad, shallow bowl used for both serving and cooking. At the same time the apex of tagine is uniquely shaped into a curved dome or cone. Romans played a major role in the use of Ceramic or Clay Tagines in Moroccan cooking. Traditionally tagines are made of ceramic or clay. Nowadays some companies make tagines using other materials. The word “tagine” is associated to the slow-cooked tender dish in general. Moroccan Tagine is a rich stew of chicken, fish, meat, and frequently contains fruits or vegetables.

 Moroccan Tagine is a dish served in Marrakesh, these foods are slow-cooked stews boiled at very low temperatures and the outcome is tender meat with sweet-smelling sauce and vegetables.

It is conventionally cooked in tagine; the tapering cover has a latch at its top to make the removal easy. While bubbling, the cover can be picked up without the support of a mitten, which helps the cook to examine the key ingredients also mix the contents and add additional braising liquid or vegetables.

 Most of the Moroccan Tagine dishes involve slow cooking of economical meats. For example, best slice of lamb like shoulder, neck or shank are cooked till it falls off from the bone. Only few Moroccan tagines need initial browning. It can be consistently complete after the lamb has been cooked; the flesh has become very soggy and butter-tender. In order to get this done, the cuisine must have some fat, which can be soared off afterwards.

 Moroccan tagines is normally a combination of chicken or lamb with an assortment of seasonings or ingredients which includes prunes, quinces, pears, olives, apricots, apples, dates, etc with fresh or conserved lemons with or without honey and complexity of spices. Conventional spices such as pepper, ground cinnamon, paprika, saffron, turmeric, ginger, cumin, etc are added to give flavor to tagines. Some of the well-known Moroccan tagine dishes such as mshermel or mqualli (a blend of citrus fruits, olives and chicken) mrouzia (a mix of almonds, lamb and raisins) and kefta (meatballs with tomato sauce) are mouth watering.

Apart from way you cook Moroccan tagine, how you cook is important i.e., you are supposed to make it with care and love to ensure a yummy taste. It is pretty difficult to prepare tagines for a big group as they don’t hold much than sauce. So it is advisable to prepare a tagine dish for your family or a small group of friends circle. Some tips and tricks to enrich Moroccan tagine dish is to add butter instead of olive oil and large amount of chopped onions. Cook the chopped onions until they turn to the softest state as it helps to have a nice aroma to the sauce. Another secret is to garnish it with a touch of honey.