chefzadi

Quick answer, yes.

I generally do not get into these sorts of discussions. I will mention that there are more cookbooks in Arabia than the rest of the world's cuisines combined. I'll find the quote. I think that the earliest cookbooks sweep through the Islamic world. The amount of trade and travel was vast, one almost feels like they traveled almost at the speed of the internet. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia= Magrhebi cuisine and it is certainly grand as well as simple. The range of techniques, aside from the fussy knife cuts exceeds that of French techniques. The range of dishes is astounding. And this ole boy is codifying Magrhebi cuisine online with the help of other Magrhebis. I'm working on things for the home cook, professionals and a curriculum that can be used in schools. EDIT: There is alot more, much much more published on Magrhebi cuisine in Arabic and French. There's just not much in English. But that doesn't mean texts don't exist.

=R= ← He makes some good points in the interview Excuse me, didn't his show glamourize it? Go through boot camp with a staged restaurant and win a big prize. Fantastic that celerbrity chefs say things like that, including Bourdain. I hope some of it is tongue in cheek. Actually I know it is.

I was thinking that. Really I was. But I was concerned that people might take things too personally.

No one here is saying that your experience is false or not legitimate or whatever. I've always enjoyed reading your posts about traveling. Milagai and Nadia made some excellent points about women who had no choice but to work and live in such ways. And these women do not post on food forums about their experiences, they are not heard. And some of us just want to bring that up. It's not an attempt to make anyone feel guilty or bad. We just love our grandmothers, aunts and mothers and want to share their experiences. Of course I do it too. The old days weren't all bad, it's not either or.

Looks delicious Elie. I will give a try sometime this week. Minus the tahini I am very familiar with the preparation.

I usually forget about that because Setif is landlocked and when I'm cooking for real friends I making Setifienne. Hundreds of years ago things were different in North Africa, not perfect (as if things are now ), but there was a long period of relatively peaceful co-existence. We can of course argue about "relative". (I used the emoticons per gifted gourmet's instructions. )

Some say that one reason for the kashrut laws are to keep Jewish people from sharing food with non-Jews. If you can't share food, it's hard to form strong relationships. You then can't date people of a different faith so it will prevent intermarriage. Marrying somebody of a different religion could mean the loss of traditions and eventually, the religion will die out. If you keep to the Jewish laws concerning foods (I'm not going into non-food points here), that means you keep the religion going. This is just one of the reasons behind religious dietary laws I studied in my 12-year Jewish school education. Another of course is the health issues already mentioned. And don't forget that one that goes "keep these laws because g-d said so" - no explaining necessary. ← Pam- Kashrut and Halal were not that different in North Africa and Moorish Spain as far as I know. It never seemed that complicated to me with my North African Jewish friends. I just don't make a meat and dairy combo dish. I don't mean to oversimplify Kashrut, I'm just saying that in another part of the world I had different experiences.

Correct spelling? Anyway, it seems to me that Mr Wright answered the question you initially asked which is what does "samak" mean. FISH. So if it's a "samak sauce" I'll echo what he said "who knows what's happening in Trinidad" Maybe it means "sumac" but we can't even begin to conjecture untill we see the recipe. Can you post the recipe? That would help.

You are correct. We started going off topic into other threads and other issues. I trust your associations were mulit-cultural.

I think this phenomena has been occuring for a long time. Even before Marie Antoinette had milking sheds built in the gardens of Versailles. And et in Arcadia ego still sells a lot of 'rustic' themed cookbooks I guess. Not a bad thing in moderation. It tend to be where I go on holidays anyway.. ← Is it really that hard to figure out that Behemoth and I are talking colonialism and war in different areas? And the hardships of working land that is in danger of being taken away (again the context of many different coutnries) and looking at our mothers, aunts or grandmothers work and work untill they have thick calloused hands and aching backs all the while having baby after baby after baby with little or no modern health care? Epidurals back then? Nope. Back to working in the fields and kitchen with a babe in arms and toddlers in tow...

I think that is exactly the problem I have with such statements. What most people think of as simple times are in fact usually not so simple at all. I myself have written lovingly about walking through the souks with my grandmother and the amount of time she spent making eveything from scratch and all that...but the fact of the matter is, she was pulled out of school at a young age for financial reasons, married off to a guy who was much older than her, had ten kids over the years and basically channeled all her restless energy and sharp wit into a few odd hobbies and (as Almass can surely attest) culinary experiments that took her far afield from the local cuisine, just to escape the drudgery of it all. I would hate to give up the time I spent with her growing up, but I often wonder what choices she would have made, in a different time and place. Anyway, Farid is right about the olive oil. We grind our own, on a stone mill. It is a thick and opaque green and no matter how much money I have been willing to spend in gourmet stores, I have never found anything that comes close. Probably easier to find in California than on the East Coast though... ← I wonder how many people who romanticize this have actually lived it? I'm going write about village/rural life in France in Ya Rayi and about Algeria in my other blog which be ready for public viewing in about 2 weeks. I will simply describe it and leave it to the reader to decide if it's so simple afterall, especially for the women.

The Ottoman Turks had their base in Algiers when the controlled Algeria. We have boureks. They are made with warka or something similar to fresh phyllo dough, puff pastry or pate brisee. For your catering company I suggest using spring roll wrappers, they make an excellent substitute for warka in certain applications and they are available pre cut into small squares. Some Middle Eastern brands of puff pastry are avaliable cut into small squares as well. If your frying use the spring roll wrappers, if you are baking use the puff pastry squares. If you want to get fancy and have the time use warka or fresh phyllo dough.

I'll post a recipe for you later. In the meantime I will add that the fresh semolina pasta is sometimes dried too. I'm making it later this week, when my new digital camera arrives.

There's an Algerian pasta dish that's like that. Sometimes cumin is added as well. I wonder if the texture of the pasta is such because it was freshly made from semolina flour? You mentioned the slightly smoky scent of the stove. Was it wood fired? That makes a difference in the flavor. Also olive oil, I suspect the Palestinians make it in small batches, in smaller stone mills like they do in rural Algeria. My relatives have olive trees on their farm and they cure their own olives and take olives to be mill in the village. There is no commercial equivilant. It's EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA virgin olive oil. Very thick and fruity.

I think the articles sited in this thread touch on some of the condescension that Behemoth mentions and there is a well thought out discussion about the points raised in those articles.

The burning question for me is whether or not a Phoenician can learn how to make a decent plate of hummus. I'm sure an Algerian-Lebanese American can. The boy is all of 16!

Yes, everything will be organized into categories. I also know professional translators who have offered their services.

I've added more photos from my friend Bachir. Also, I want to say that I've decided to publish my Algerian cookbook in the form of a blog. I just started a multi-author blog that writers such as Paula Wolfert and Rachel Lauden have signed up to be guest authors for and the content is already growing at a rapid rate and as well as the number of daily hits. I can't help but believe that publishing a cookbook in the form of a blog will reach a much larger audience than a book. I've never been concerned that much with the sales to begin with because of the support I would get from the school I teach at which is a recognized name brand throughout the world. I really feel a blog is an exciting new form, a living thing in a sense. Readers can comment, ask questions, photographs are inexpensive to download so I can do an entire photographed tutorial on how to chop an onion for instance. A pciture is worth a thousand words especially when it comes to cookery. There will be ads, I have a family to support, we gotta eat. But they will be just that ads and not ads disguised as product suggestions. And the upside to the reader is that it's free. I'll invest in some video equiptment to do video presentations as well. Feedback?

I'll get back to you after I've finished counting the pleats on my toque. I think there are double the recipes in North African cooking.

These photos of beautiful Algeria were taken by my friend Bachir, an Algerian brother. There are 27 more photos in Bachir's album on "Our Rai" a multi-contributor blog.

Okay, point taken -- but in terms of modern Moroccan cooking the question remains. If someone is making a tagine... do they use a pressure cooker in their homes? Would the average person own one and use it daily? I was under the impression that the tagine was still a key piece of equipment but perhaps not... ← I've mentioned elsewhere that it's not. Cooking a tagine in a pressure cooker really doesn't take away so much value from the finished that it can be a considered a great loss. Also on weekends, holidays, etc people will still use clay vessels. I'm sorry but sometimes I feel like people want to believe that North Africa is so quaint and cute and we live in huts and cook over an open fire. The history is very long in the Maghreb. This is a part of the world that seems to forget nothing. The monuments, ruins and foot prints of all the great civilizations that inhabited the area are still there. Tagine cooking wil survive, we're just not using it all the time. Modern life and all that.

I checked out a copy of Culinaria France, good book, but it jumps from homecooking to restaurant cooking without making the distinctions. The book is excellent in the sense that it functions as a documentary of a slice of French culinary history at a given time. Two pages of Maghrebi cuisine in France with an intro that emphasizes Algerian. The country was once 'considered' a part of France.

The Americans need a cultural/culinary ambassador like you in France.

You'd be surprised about all the other things French people know about and are interested in. Those two are very good forums, btw.