The key to a tagine, in my view, is the Chermoula. If possible make it the day before; marinade whatever meat you’re using in the chermoula in the morning and give it a first cooking that evening so that the flavours can develop overnight. Preserved lemons and ras al-hanout as flavourings are very important and nigh on impossible to replace. I used flat parsley and mint instead of coriander, in this case because I didn’t have any coriander, but I also find mint a more Maroccan taste. The tagine recipe is from Neil Perry and is very good. There are, of course, a legion of good tagine recipes to check out among which I very much favour those of Claudia Roden but, recommendations aside, I repeat, the chermoula is the key. The cous cous itself is another deal. I make a broth flavoured with similar spices to the chermoula. Firstly I heat the spices in the base of the couscousiere with olive oil. Then I add roughly chopped onions as well as chunks of carrot and potatoes and cover with a good water or a good vegetable stock like Swiss Marigold. Let this broth bubble until the vegetables are softening and then add some chick peas (at this point in the cooking they need to be tinned chick peas or ones that you have previously prepared). You can season the broth with a spoonful of intense tomato sauce or even a spoonful of curry paste. The cous cous grains are cooked in the steam over the broth. First put the cous cous grains in a bowl and add a glass of cold water. Leave the grains to absorb the water for about 10 minutes, then put them in the steamer, with a lid, above the broth. Cook for 15 minutes and remove from the heat. Stir in some butter and cook for a further 15 mins. Then serve cous cous in one bowl, vegetable broth in another and the tagine in its pot. Making a Maroccan flatbread, like one from “Casa Moro”, is a move that you won’t regret.
That IS a pretty tajine! And what is that African-looking double boiler thingy? I want one.
That is my precious couscousiere that I got from a Maroccan taxi driver in London some 30 years ago. The bottom holds the broth, and top has holes to steam the grain, I lost the lid but saucepan lids fit it:)
I NEED that!
🙂
That couscousiere is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while…I’m wracking my brain to try and figure out how to make a fake one. I’ll never find anything like it here!
(Ouch….can one pull a muscle by thinking too hard?)
I’ve looked hard in France to find a replacement. I think the only source would be a market in Fez or somewhere like that:)
An amazing piece of equipment, I would imagine that a double boiler would work just as well. Thanks for posting the recipe Roger, I have added it to my ever-growing to do list.
Thanks for the comment. As they say, a little pot goes a long ways:)
This recipe looks wonderful. I tried making tagine last year as well. I think it turned out pretty ok. I didn’t have the tagine pot, though. And your couscousiere is one little curious contraption, I’ve never seen one before. Does it make a huge difference making couscous than when you use ordinary pots?
Anyway, this is a lovely post and I’m glad you shared it with us.
I think it makes a difference, It may be just that I cook with it like an old friend and it produces great flavours for me:)
Excellent and King Richard will give you a knighthood for the red cross bun accompaniment 😉
I might mention this to Fergus – they really should do a red cross bun!
That would be so great to see:)
Perct – and you know you could always go into business selling couscousieres as we all want one now!
It’s on my mind – trust me:)
This is a great recipe, Roger. I doubt if I could get anything more authentically prepared at a Moroccan restaurant. I bet the tangine really gives the flavors a chance to fully meld, creating a wonderful dish. Now you’ve got me wanting Moroccan food … at 11:00 PM … I’ll settle for a cocktail instead. 🙂
(On a lark, I searched Amason for a couscousieres. Lo and behold! They had not one but 4 different sets!!!)
I think the cocktail was a good move:)
EXCELLENT I am going to search as well then.. c
Good on you:)
I’m joining the lot above.. I would love to have that couscousiere.. although my kitchen is overflowing with gadgets and pots, I think I’d have to place it out on my counter at all times for the attention it’s due:) Lovely little pot, great recipe, thanks for having the recipe typed out for us! xo Smidge
Delighted that you like it. If I could find a manufacturer to produce that little pot I’d be onto a good thing:)
I have never tried streaming my cous cous so I will do it this way next time I make it. I love the idea of the chermoula with mint:)
Glad you like the tastes:)
Thank you for this recipe, Roger, I love tagine, especially lamb tagine, with dried apricots or plums ..
That’s a top combination:)
I love the double broiler!
It’s among my favourite utensils:)
Stunning collection of tastes, I like how you build a relationship between all the different components of the dish and then serve them in separate bowls.. I think i like the word couscousiere it has a wonderful sound and i am baffled as to how you managed to buy it off a taxi driver, i mean how does that come into a conversation in a taxi! It could almost be the opening scene of a one act play! c
It was a troubled period in my life. The taxi driver was called “CousCous” and he happened to be the only driver in the Covent Garden area who was willing to transport me and my hallucinating mind from studio to home. In the course of one of these journeys I must have asked him for a couscousiere. I remember the receptionist at the studio ringing up to my office with the message that a taxi driver had left some tin cans for me:)
I have never made this, Roger: and now I think I must 🙂 Can’t wait to have a go, I love cous cous. Did enjoy the incidental story of Cous Cous the taxi driver and his passenger.
It’s worth the effort, Kate:)
Sounds positively fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe Roger! (I don’t have the special steamer for couscous…some say they’re “essential” to a good couscous…but couldn’t I improvise with a steamer lined with cheesecloth or some other Rube Goldberg contraption? Mostly I just bake in the oven, dotted with butter, in an earthenware pot after soaking in water. Yours sounds so good. ) And this tagine, (with its chermoula!) I’m making for sure!!
With your cooking skills, you could do it in anything you chose. Amazon has a good range of couscousieres and tagines by the way:)