419 replies to this topic

[etalanian]

Paula,

Thanks so much for the bread recipe. I will bake it this weekend and let you know how I did.

Eileen

[ChocoGrok]

This is a wonderful thread with yummy pictures


The tagine pot reminds me of the Chinese red clay (Yixing) teapot which ages with the tea drinker, developing a history as it is infused by the flavor of different tea leaves.

At the risk of committing a culinary faux-pas, i would like to ask if anyone has tried cooking tofu in a tagine? Tofu is a wonderful sponge for flavors. My family uses it often in braising.

Edited by ChocoGrok, 20 July 2006 - 05:12 PM.

[Abra]

Hurray, my rifi and the little condiment tagines I ordered finally came, a little over 4 months from when I placed my order.



Here's my beautiful new tagine family. Now to re-read all of the stuff on seasoning the rifi, and then on to the lovely task of deciding which dish to make to put it through its paces.

[andiesenji]

This is a wonderful thread with yummy pictures


The tagine pot reminds me of the Chinese red clay (Yixing) teapot which ages with the tea drinker, developing a history as it is infused by the flavor of different tea leaves.

At the risk of committing a culinary faux-pas, i would like to ask if anyone has tried cooking tofu in a tagine?  Tofu is a wonderful sponge for flavors. My family uses it often in braising.

I have not tried cooking tofu in a tagine. However I have used one large tagine bottom (top suffered a fatal accident) for clotted cream. It is the right size, perfect depth and will maintain the low heat needed.

[andiesenji]

Hurray, my rifi and the little condiment tagines I ordered finally came, a little over 4 months from when I placed my order. 



Here's my beautiful new tagine family.  Now to re-read all of the stuff on seasoning the rifi, and then on to the lovely task of deciding which dish to make to put it through its paces.

Beautiful tagine, Abra.
With what dish will you "break it in"???

[hathor]

Abra, your tagine family looks just beautiful!
Must be something the air, I bought a tagine on Friday, from a Halel butcher. Then I came home and read thru this thread to get advice on seasoning. Now, I'm worried...my tagine is glazed on the inside. Does that automatically mean lead? Let's say it's not lead, do you still rub olive oil onto a glazed surface?
This seemed like a 'practical' sort of shop, not a 'for show shop'. But between my bad Italian and the shopkeeper's bad Italian, who knows what got lost in the translation!
Anyone have any insight onto the glazing? It's a fairly heavy tagine, if that means anything.
Grazie mille.
(next up: where on earth will I find merguez?, or more acurately, "where in Umbria will I find merguez?)

[Abra]

Judith, you can make your own merguez without much difficulty. Let me know if you need a recipe.

After a soak overnight, and a good rubdown and bake with cherry wood ash and olive oil, my tagine looked...almost exactly the same as it did before! I've got it in the oven again now, a second ash amd oil rub plastered all over it.

[Wolfert]

Judith,

There are a few popular ways to cure a tagine Slaoui. My method is to soak
the bottom dish and the top in water for a few hours. Drain and wipe dry. Rub the unglazed side of the bottom with a cut clove of garlic. Fill the dish with milk or water to one-half inch below the rim. Place the dish on a flame tamer over low heat and slowly bring the liquid to a boil. Let the liquid boil down until only about one half cup remains. Cool slowly, drain and wash. Drain dry.
BTW: You don't need to cure the top.

Photo of a traditional tagine slaoui:
http://www.tagines.com/pd_beldi.cfm

Edited by Wolfert, 06 August 2006 - 09:29 AM.

[hathor]

Thanks Paula. I'll give the milk cure a try. I didn't think that rubbing oil on a glaze would do a whole heck of a lot.
Now it looks like I have to go make my own merguez! Messing around with casings first thing in the morning is always a little....disturbing...
Earthenware is pretty much my first choice to cook in, so I'm really looking forward to playing around with my tagine. It's even cool enough to light a fire and cook it in the fireplace. Who doesn't like a new toy??

[majkeli]

I've been loving my tagine. I cook in it at least once a week. One of my co-workers is Morrocan and he thinks the dishes I've been making (most from Paula) are exactly like the ones he grew up with, but maybe he's just being nice for the free lunch.

Thanks you to everyone in this thread for turning me on to tagine cooking. If only I'd seen this thread earlier I could have saved a fortune on Le Creuset, All-Clad, and Falk Culinair purchases and just bought one tagine.

[peanutgirl]

So Abra... did you break in your rifi yet ?

Is there a tagine recipe equivilent to cleaning out the fridge? I threw this together for dinner tonight (chicken, onions, garlic, cilantro, preserved lemons, zucchini & yellow squash, red bell pepper, potatoes, salt & black pepper, cumin, ground ginger, and a handful of olives) . I'm sure it's not authentic by any stretch... but it tasted good. I snapped this picture about 30 minutes shy of being done.




Carrot Orange Salad



Tomatoes & Cucumbers


We skipped couscous tonight and just had pocketless whole wheat pitas to sop up the juices.

[Marigene]

Thank you all, for the information in this thread. After reading it, I had to buy a rifi........it's all cured and now I am breaking it in with a chicken. Let's hope it will be edible.

[Marigene]

The Moroccan style chicken was sooooo good! I used olive oil, chicken stock, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, red pepper flakes, cloves, garlic, fresh ginger, bay leaves, saffron, onions, lemon rinds, cilantro and green olives. Also made couscous with apricots, chives and pinenuts and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers as the sides.

Sorry the pictures aren't better.

[gmori]

Just found this thread and am very interested in trying out some of these dishes.
Does anyone know where I can buy a tagine in the Toronto area? I'm sure they're available here but I have no idea where to start my search. Thanks!

Jerry

[Smithy]

Just found this thread and am very interested in trying out some of these dishes.
Does anyone know where I can buy a tagine in the Toronto area? I'm sure they're available here but I have no idea where to start my search. Thanks!

Jerry

Hi, Jerry, and welcome to eGullet!

I don't know Toronto so can't help you directly, but I'll suggest is that you look around for a Moroccan connection in Toronto. Are there any Moroccan grocery stores in your fair city? What about Moroccan restaurants?

[peanutgirl]

Just found this thread and am very interested in trying out some of these dishes.
Does anyone know where I can buy a tagine in the Toronto area? I'm sure they're available here but I have no idea where to start my search. Thanks!

Jerry

Jerry, is this store anywhere near you?

There's always tagines.com... casablancamarket.com or even eBay.

Marigene... your chicken looks delicious. The pictures are fine .

[gmori]

Jerry, is this store anywhere near you?

There's always tagines.com... casablancamarket.com or even eBay.

Marigene... your chicken looks delicious. The pictures are fine  .

Yep, it sure is! Thanks for the info. Will get down there this week and pick one up. Thanks!

Jerry

P.S. Nancy, thanks for the welcome.

[Kim D]

My rifi arrived a few days ago. Lucky for me, I hadn't cleaned out my fireplace since the last time I used it. I think that was two years ago. So, after soaking the tagine in water for a couple hours, I drained it, wiped it dry, smeared it with olive oil and ashes, and baked it for 10 hours at 250 F. Twice.

I made Chicken Tagine with Honeyed Pears and Cinnamon from The Momo Cookbook.

I can't wait to make it again. The only thing I'll change is the amount of water. The recipe calls for 12.5 ounces of water for 1.25 kg of chicken and that seems to be more than it needs.

- Kim

[chezcherie]

i was given this vessel as a gift. it is glazed inside and out. am i correct that it is for serving only, and that i cannot use it to cook with on a stovetop? thanks very much!

[andiesenji]

Yes, it is probably a serving tagine. There are some cooking tagines with colored glaze, but unless they are specifically labeled for cooking, do not cook with them.

You should warm the tagine before placing hot foods in it. Simply run very warm to hot tap water into the bottom of the tagine (that will come in contact with the food) and allow it to warm completely then pour the water out just before you add the food. Just dry the outside.
This will keep the food warm longer also.

[sgreen0]

In another post, I mentioned that I was planning a Moroccan dinner for 8. Do I need to use several Tagines to prepare enough food? Or must I use a large modern pan and transfer to serving Tagine(s)?

Also, does anyone know of a Moroccan store in LA where I can find spices and tagines? I know someonline sites...

Thanks.

Stephen

PS Any idea about Moroccan coffee??

[andiesenji]

These were doing business a couple of years ago.

Mediterranean market, on the corner of Colorado and San Fernando Road in Los Angeles. (east of the I-5)

Kabul on Reseda Blvd., in Reseda, in the Valley. She thinks it is close to Sherman Way. And Islamic Meat market is on Sherman way close to Reseda Blvd., in Reseda.

Fez Market on Vernon, between Crenshaw and Arlington, a few blocks east of the La Brea area.

See if you can get the phone numbers and call first to make sure they are still open.

And ask if they carry tagines. They may have to order them or you can buy online.

Edited by andiesenji, 12 October 2006 - 02:41 PM.

[etalanian]

I was in Morocco in May and shipped a tagine home. it arrived in about 100 pieces. I went to the tagine web site listed in this thread, and ordered one, but it still hasn't arrived. I ordered one a couple of weeks ago from Sur la Table - it's by Emile Henry, and I made a great-tasting tagine last night.

It's heatproof, so I can use it to cook on the stovetop. It worked really well.

Eileen

[sgreen0]

These were doing business a couple of years ago.

Mediterranean market, on the corner of Colorado and San Fernando Road in Los Angeles. (east of the I-5)

Kabul on Reseda Blvd., in Reseda, in the Valley. She thinks it is close to Sherman Way. And Islamic Meat market is on Sherman way close to Reseda Blvd., in Reseda.

Fez Market on Vernon, between Crenshaw and Arlington, a few blocks east of the La Brea area.

See if you can get the phone numbers and call first to make sure they are still open.

And ask if they carry tagines.  They may have to order them or you can buy online.

Thanks for the info. I'll check these places out and report back...

Stephen

[sgreen0]

These were doing business a couple of years ago.

Mediterranean market, on the corner of Colorado and San Fernando Road in Los Angeles. (east of the I-5)

Kabul on Reseda Blvd., in Reseda, in the Valley. She thinks it is close to Sherman Way. And Islamic Meat market is on Sherman way close to Reseda Blvd., in Reseda.

Fez Market on Vernon, between Crenshaw and Arlington, a few blocks east of the La Brea area.

See if you can get the phone numbers and call first to make sure they are still open.

And ask if they carry tagines.  They may have to order them or you can buy online.

Thanks for the info. I'll check these places out and report back...

Stephen

Well, I've had no luck finding a Moroccan market here in LA. Hard to believe. I did find a Moroccan Import store (called, surprisingly, Moroccan Imports!) that carried furniture and some household goods (tea glasses). I almost bought a fez to wear for the dinner, but...

I ended up ordering from tagines.com and zamourispices.com.

BTW, I found Moroccan wines at astorwines.com. I still haven't found a sources for Mahia (Mahya), a Moroccan (Jewish) eau de vie made from figs - though I did find a fig vodka that I got just for fun (Kleiner Feigling).

Stephen

[David Riley]

I received today the rifi tagine I ordered from tagines.com. I have soaked it, and it is now seasoning in my oven. I have never cooked with clay before: what do I need to do, have, or know prior to using this tagine on my gas stovetop? I've read through this thread and noticed several notes and tips - such as the use of a heat diffuser - scattered about; I find gauging the actual significance of these tips to be difficult. I am terrified that I will manage to break the thing within moments of my first attempt at using it. Could someone possibly throw out a beginner's list of sorts featuring some definitive do's and dont's concerning clay cookware?

[Smithy]

Here are some basic do's and don'ts, starting after you've cured your clay pot:

DON'T heat or cool it quickly. The clay is thick enough that if, say, you have it very cold and you put it on a hot stove, the exterior will expand faster than the interior, and you'll end up with a crack. Similarly, if you have an intense heat source you may be able to heat it up from the center too quickly for the rim to keep up. You can have just as bad effects from putting an intense source of cold into a hot pot. So:
- Don't put a cold pot onto a hot burner.
- Don't pour cold liquids directly into a hot pot.
- Don't put a large pot over a small, intense heat source.

DO keep your temperature changes gentle, for the reasons stated above. Here's what I do:
- DO heat the pot gently over a burner - for instance, when I crank my electric coils up to about medium heat I do it in stages. I start with about 3 (out of 8 or 10) on the burner, let the rifi and its contents come up to temperature, then crank the burner up to 5 or 6 (depending on burner)
- DO keep temperature changes gentle when you're adding ingredients. Liquids can change temperatures quickly. If my pot is hot, I add liquids slowly, and only by pouring them onto something large in the pot instead of directly onto the clay. Dribbling the liquid onto pieces of chicken, instead of in between the pieces of chicken, is an example of what I mean. I also generally heat the liquid first - say, bring it to a simmer over another burner - before adding it.
- somewhere around in these threads is a bit of Paula Wolfert wisdom that goes along the lines of "add hot liquids to hot clay and cold liquids to cold clay". If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed with my wordiness, just remember that bit of wisdom and you're home free.
- If you have a diffuser, use it on your burner until you get a feel for how quickly or slowly your pot responds to changes in heat source. I started out using a diffuser, faithfully, until I got that feel for my clay pots over my burners. In my (electric coil) case, the burners go low enough that the diffuser isn't necessary.

- Most folks will tell you not to clean your pot with detergents, since the clay is porous and may take up flavors from the detergent. They'll say to instead scrub it and let it dry, or at most use baking soda and water to scrub, then rinse and let it dry. I admit, I've been known to use a solution of a little mild detergent and a lot of water, but I never soak the clay in that. I tend to cook stuff that leaves heavily-coated spots that I can't get loose with just scrubbing. I do not use the Approved Method of cleaning.

- Don't figure on heating the pot and browning the meat, then deglazing with liquid, as you'd do with a good skillet. The reasons are stated above. What you do instead, most of the time, is cook the ingredients, get the meat done, then start cooking the liquid down, and then (if necessary) brown the meat. (ETA: you can brown the meat first, but you can't deglaze with a rapid application of liquid.)

- Do figure on using less liquid than the recipe suggests, unless you're using a recipe designed for clay pots. It's really strange to see how much less liquid is needed for clay, but there it is. I don't know why. Several of us discussed it at great length last winter (or was it the winter before?) and I'm still not sure we arrived at the answer.

Those are good basics. I'm sure someone else will chime in with more. Have fun!

...and welcome to eGullet!

Edited to add the info about browning meat first instead of at the end. I hope I made it clearer.

Edited by Smithy, 28 October 2006 - 05:57 AM.

[Wolfert]

Smithy. that about sums it up for unglazed tagines!
The only other piece of advice: If you cook poultry or meat in your tagine it might be a good idea to avoid cooking fish in it.


Welcome to Egullet.

[Smithy]

Smithy. that about sums it up for unglazed tagines!
The only other piece of advice: If you cook poultry or meat in your tagine it might be a good idea to avoid cooking fish in it.

Wolfert, thanks for chiming in!

I've been wanting to ask you about the heat source. How long does it take to cook a meal in a tagine using the original clay brazier and coals instead of over an American-style stove? How much coal goes into the brazier that's intended to heat the tagine? Does coal have to be added as the cooking goes on, or is one batch of coal enough for a meal?

Finally: over the charcoal fire on the brazier, is overheating and cracking of the tagine still a potential danger?

[Wolfert]

I've been wanting to ask you about the heat source. How long does it take to cook a meal in a tagine using the original clay brazier and coals instead of over an American-style stove?

Chunks of lamb neck and shoulder take about 3 hours, that is one more hour than over a stovetop.

How much coal goes into the brazier that's intended to heat the tagine? Does coal have to be added as the cooking goes on, or is one batch of coal enough for a meal?

It depends on the size of the brazier. I remember our brazier as being half filled with embers.

Finally: over the charcoal fire on the brazier, is overheating and cracking of the tagine still a potential danger?

I think you should wait for the charcoal to die down to embers before adding the tagine.