Wolfert

very good question. Don't do it with the souss or the riffi tagines.. My tagra which is for fish can take a much higher temperature. You are in unknown territory, so here is what I would do: Cook the potatoes, onions, and tomatoes for a much longer time at 300;then nestle in the shad roe; and continue baking at 300 until it tests done. Don't forget to make the charmoula without any kind of lemon or vinegar. You'll add it later on.

Here is what I would do. Following the recipe on page 177: Marinate the shad roe for about an hour in half of the charmoula. Meanwhile, rinse and dry the thin-sliced potatoes (red bliss). Oil the inside of the tagine, sprinkle with a bit of the charmoula, layer onions, potatoes and tomatoes twice, adding a little charmoula here and there. Set the tagine on the middle oven rack, turn the heat to 400 F and bake for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender. Remove the tagine to a wooden work surface. Use a flat spatula to turn the potatoes, tomatoes and onions once. Nestle the shad into the center. Return the tagine to the oven to bake for 10 minutes. Raise the oven heat to broil. Baste the shad with some of the oily drippings and finish the cooking under the broiler, about 2 minutes. Serve directly from the baking dish with some lemon wedges.

In the book the shad roe is deliberately overcooked at low temperature in earthenware to achieve a certain melding of components. When you overcook the shad itself, it passes through stages of toughness and then becomes soft again. YOu might not like the roe that way. I would test midway for doneness, remove the pan from the heat, and let it finish cooking in the reduced heat.

Once the clay tagine is hot you can boil down liquid. If you're worried then by all means transfer to another pot. I'm in love with my simmer mat for all my claypot cooking. I finally can walk out of the kitchen for a couple of hours without worrying about spill-overs or too fast reductions. It is worth the money. Fantes.com and chefscatalog.com sell them on line. Interesting you didn't need any liquid at all. I've found that fatty meat throws off liquid then reabsorbs it during the first part of the cooking. I've never busted a tagine in 40 years. It is important to follow the rules of not putting hot on cold or visa versa. Quail, guinea hen and partridge are all used in tagine cooking. I've seen recipes for duck in tagines, but never saw a duck for sale in the market when I lived in Morocco.

Good point. The type of clay, the shape and the size of the tagine make a difference. The Souss tagine is very round at the bottom and will hold a different amount of liquid than the Riffian tagine. I remember that there was always too much liquid when I 'played' back my recipes in Morocco. That is why every recipe in the book suggests the option 'by way of boiling, reduce to a napping consistency'

My editor once told me, "the reason the book has remained in print since 1973 is that you didn't make any compromises." She forgot that I adapted every recipe to be used in a regular casserole because earthenware tagines were not available at that time. What you did was perfect for cooking in an earthenware tagine. Always start cold and slowly come up to temperature. I assume the wok stand worked perfectly. How low did you keep the heat? By the way, grated onion plays a large part in developing' a rich sauce as well as tenderizing the meat in Moroccan tagine cooking. The only other country where I have found grated onion used as a 'bottom layer' in making a braise is Turkey. Keep in mind that cooking in an unglazed pot develops a certain "chee" Each time you use the pot, the dish (same or another) will taste better than it ever did before.

What brought about the change of direction in your life?

The more stalk you use, the better a dish will be. Use the stalk and the whites in risotto, along with pancetta. In Spain the stalks are chopped and used to flavor all sorts of rice dishes as well as a light and delicate egg tortilla.

Rancho Gordo: Sorry, I got the name wrong. One of the great things about cassoulet is that employs ingredients that have traditionally complemented one another and that, when combined, create a flavor different and more pleasing then when served on their own. I think the Tarbais bean is the bean of choice for a great cassoulet. Now that I'm experimenting with your beans, I'm enthusiastic about trying the Jacob's Cattle next time I make this great classic dish of SouthWest France Busboy:You might want to try this method: Simmer the sheet of skin or rind in water until supple, about 20 minutes. Then roll up the sheet into a bundle, fasten with string, and cook it along with the beans and pork ragout. You should end up with a very soft rind which you can cut into pieces and line the cassoule or final baking dish for the cassoulet. Some of the rind, if it is very soft, can be set aside and finally pureed along with cooked and uncooked garlic, and other bits and pieces of seasoned pork to make an addition to the beans during the final baking.

How long doyou store freshly ground paprika and dried peppers in the freezer in order to destroy the lavae ?

Thankyou for your very kind words. I think we all have something to learn about North African cooking. Personally, I am learning lots from your series. Please continue..... And, I always learn something fascinating when reading Clifford's works.

[]Here is the third and the most important reason: 3. Develop a wonderful mature, husky flavor by aging . Yes, but take it out of the bag immediately. ] No, not safe yes and no. You would obtain a great texture, but you would still need enough fat to pot it down No, not at all, you have to start somewhere

I thought the manicure was a cleanliness issue. Am I wrong?

The book you might want is Vegetarian Table : North Africa by Kitty Morse, Deborah Jones (Photographer)

I didn't want to detract from chef zadi's fabulous on-going forum on Algerian cooking, but he suggested the following description and above posted photos might be of interest to everyone. So here goes:Close to the Algerian border inTunisia in the town of Jendouba , I photographed the production of the very bread dish ChefZadi described upthread. A ten layer bread known as chakhchoukhet is made then torn apart to make a very similar dish with a savory stew poured on top. I watched a woman make a semolina bread dough working in extra water until it became elastic and smooth, then dividing the ball of dough into three smooth cylinders. She took hold of the first cylinder and squeezed it until a perfect apricot-sized ball of dough popped out between her curved forefinger and thumb. She continued to produce balls of the same size until all the dough was used up. With oiled fingers she created a series of 8-inch flat disks of dough. She then placed the first on a heated earthenware griddle to cook. After half a minute she flipped it. Having, meantime, flattened a second ball, she laid the second uncooked disk on the first cooked disk, waited a few minutes, then flipped the two together. This continued until 10 disks were cooked creating in effect a ten layer bread. She set it aside in a skillet (see the second photo) while finishing two more stacks. After creating all 3 stacks, everyone in the family goes into action, while the bread is still hot to the touch. We proceeded to tear apart each stack into little 1-inch pieces, which we tossed into a bowl . The cook then poured a savory stew of chicken and tomato, flavored with garlic and spices on top. It was wonderful.

Faustian Bargain: This recipe is from my Slow Med Cooking, it is especially successful when served with an acidic salad made with shaved raw rhubarb, slivers of cucumber and leaves of arugula and mint. Serves 4 1 pound thick center cut salmon, preferably sushi grade, skinned and pin bones removed Season with salt and refrigerate for l hour Meanwhile, heat 2 1/2 cups olive oill along with some sliced garlic and a sprig of thyme in a cazuela or some other wide pan that holds heat steady. Heat the oil to 155 F. Remove the garlic and herb. Rinse the salmon, pat dry and slip into the oil. Bring the oil back to about 145 F and poach the salmon for 12 minutes. Remove the cazuela from the heat. the fish will continue to cook in the receding heat. The salmon is fully cooked when the flesh flakes. It will look amzingly rare but will be fully cooked. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with pepper. Let the salmon rest for 5 minutes, then cut into 4 slices. Serve warm with a salad. The Mallorcan chef who taught be this recipe told me that because the oil never rises above 155 F it can be reused again and again including in fish salads and for poaching more fish. The oil will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. In another of my books, Mediterranean Cooking, revised edition, I confited lamb shanks in olive oil in a 300 degree F oven for 3 hours along with lots of garlic. Hope this helps.

I've poached salmon in olive oil at about 70 degrees celsius The timing seems a little short for the lamb. You can try it.

Bob, I realized right after I posted a reply to you yesterday that I didn't address the chamba. The chamba saute pan is beautiful for small sautes . Look somewhere in the clafoutis (France) thread for my posting of a cherry clafoutis. It is stunning, I think. Nutierra.com also sells an oval two-handled pan which would stand in for the tagra and you can gently fry in it as well. When you call Nidia, ask her for details on the one I just bought. The bean pot\braising pot that Judith and Fifi have is not for tagines. It is for stews . The sides are too high for a traditional tagine. By the way, you don't need to ash and oil to make chamba look stunning. Just keep it oiled. Peanutgirl: Maybe something w/ potatoes, carrots, olives, onion, garlic, cumin, cilantro, eggplant, zucchini + the traditional spices... or am I straying too far? I want to try to stay true to new cusines I try... but my experimental side usually prevails I have a few vegetable tagines in my book. There is one with okra and another with potatoes. I noticed you purchased the Kitty Morse cookbook. Kitty wrote a book on vegetarian tagines as well. That one will keep you busy for a long time.

So far, i've come up with the fact that I want an unglazed Tagine and that I want a Tagra and either a Chamba casserole, Souss or Rifi Tagine. First item of business is where can I get the Tagra you posted HERE? I am sure Sami at tagines.com has tagras for sale. Ask him. He can bring them in if he doesn't have any in stock. It's great looking and I've been looking for a gratin dish too so this is perfect. BTW, would there be a transfer of flavor or aroma from cooking fish to a gratin? Fish might leave an odor. You know you can't wash unglazed pottery with soap. You use baking soda which is fine, but odors are hard to get out of the pores of some clay pots. Second round of quick questions is are there any notable differences between the remaining three choices above other than cosmetic? One stronger/heavier than the other? Advantages/disadvantages? I'm assuming they'd pretty much perform the same, correct? With the Souss only being available in 10" The souss is very strong and heavy, deep and will hold the same amount of food as the 12 inch riffi. The souss is a bad choice for an electric stove. and the Rifi in 11", 12 or 13, what would be the ideal size for cooking for a whole chicken either intact or in pieces on a standard electric stove? The 12 inch should do hold a 3 pound chicken Last question is in regard to heat diffusers. I've never used one. At this website, what would be the better choice for Tagine cooking? I really like the new simmer mat.. It takes slow and low to new depths. Hope all this has been helpful.l

Hi Smithy, there are better things to do with the breast than put them through the processing of confit. Just marinate them in a herb salt mix for a night and grill them just the way you would do a steak. The legs are better when braised or simmered in fat as for confit If you do my sousvide method (with the help of nathanm) with the peking I think you won't need any extra fat but be sure to cook it at 180 degrees for about 8 hours and then immediately ice the packet down. If you need more hand holding don't hesitate to ask.

Looks like you are a seasoned Moroccan cook from the beautiful rendition of the tagine. You only soak it the one time. The application of ash and oil is simply cosmetic. Do it until you get the 'look' of an aged tagine. The lemons are easy to do and if you run out, there is a recipe for a quick one in my first book on Moroccan cooking.

Do it until you like it. It really isn't important except to you. I did it a few times and was happy with the results. Richard, your tagine looks great as is. It was just an after-thought. As for the bottom of the bottom. I rubbed the bottom with oil and placed it under the broiler to lightly 'char' it in places. This was just a cosmetic touch and totally to your own taste. You'll find as you cook in it it will get darker on the bottom anyway.

The answer is yes to all the queries. It is totally cosmetic to tint the clay. By the way, the souss tagine doesn't take to the ash-oil treatment as well as the riffi one does. This is a difference between the two clays.

Richard, here is something to do: Put on some thin plastic gloves; rub the ash with some olive oil into the clay; bake it on low heat for a couple of hours; wash off the ash; and oil again. You can even broil the oily parts on the bottom of the tagine in small sections to give it a used look. I think this will move it back another generation.

I think you aged it about 20 years. I think it looks great. Don't you?