Wolfert

QUOTE Back in the 50' 60' and 70's, a Moroccan wouldn't be served an alcoholic drink if wearing traditional clothes! chef zadi: But he could get hashish. At that time it was legal to smoke hashish, but not to buy it or sell it. I don't know what the law is now. My point was that alcoholic drinks and kemia or mezzes were not part of the culture at that time . Small bites with a drink before the meal simply didn't exist in traditional homes. I know these two items just skipped your mind--- olives and olive oil.

These are artisanal products so they don't all look alike. I have one that has that bottom shape as well and can use it stovetop with a heat diffuser+ instead of a wok stand. Either will work. Each time you use your tagine the food will taste better than the time before. I can't explain why but that is the one of the main reasons claypot cooking survives alongside all the expensive pots and pan cooking. Remember clay breaks easily so be careful. By the way, the simmer mat reduces the cooking temp 10 to 15 degrees. For example, my heat diffuser slows down the cooking of food to about 185 degrees on low heat. The simmer mat allowed me to reduce the heat by 15 degrees to 170. . Sackville: you are so lucky to have cumin of that quality.

Earlier you mentioned Touggourt as another date producing area. I have a wonderful original photograph taken in this town during claypot market dayin 1924 by Lehnert and Landrock. Notice the couscous bowls with their huge holes!. The spelling of kemia probably could be kemya as well. YOu know these transliterated words can drive one crazy! As for the Tunisian kemia (kemya) table, you can't get any smaller than olives, nuts and a few slices of mullet bottarga. I haven't been to Morocco in some time, but the kemia\kemya practice was unknown years ago. If you arrived early for a meal you usually were given sweets and tea! Back in the 50' 60' and 70's, a Moroccan wouldn't be served an alcoholic drink if wearing traditional clothes!

I am just loving this foodblog. This isn't just good, it is magnificent!

No, I never have. I have not even seen Moroccans beloved cumin roasted. The only time I ever saw coriander seeds toasted was in Tunisia. The cook took some barley kernels along with coriander seeds and toasted them together on a flat griddle. These were then mixed with ground spices to make a special morning soup base called bsissa. This may surprise some egulleteers: I recommend buying certain spices such as allspice, caraway, coriander seeds and cumin finely ground. Of course, spices keep best when purchased whole, but if you buy these pre-ground spices in small amounts, you will save a lot of time. These particular spices do not grind finely enough in home electric spice mills; they will keep up to 6 months, stored in atightly closed jar kept in a dark drawer. One of the best places to find freshly ground spices in the US is at The Spice House in Evanston, Illinois (part of the Penzey family).

I think just taking the air out of a ziploc would help keep the cassoulet OK for 2 or 3 days without the sterilizing, icing down, etc. This season was the first time I ever froze a gallon of cassoulet . I was amazed how good it turned out.I simply reheated the defrosted beans with just a sprinkle of broth in a 225 F oven for an extra two hours. I did use tarbais beans :frenchselections.com and chefshop.com have fresh stock right not. Mind you, these beans are not cheap. Rancho Gordo was over the other day to taste the Tarbais beans. He said the Jacob's ladder beans came closest in flavor. .

Carswell is absolutely correct. I would add that the success of wonderful civet of hare relies on : (1) cutting the hare properly so that the flesh will not dry out during cooking (2) slow cooking, which inhibits toughening of the flesh; (3) using plenty of pork fat to lubricate the flesh; (4) using a good, full-bodied red wine, solid enough to hold its flavor during the long, mostly unattended cooking; and (5) enriching the sauce with the hare’s blood and liver which will give it a strong, earthy taste.

Do you have access to a food saver? If so, you can vacuum pack portions in individual boilable pouches, then simmer the pouches for about 10 minutes before iciing them down for 30 minutes. This allows you to store the bags in the fridge for about a week or so. If, for any reason, a pouch begins to swell in the fridge, dump it. B'TW: The avatar shows my cassoulet straight from the freezer to the cassole to the oven and finally in front of the fireplace for a 'photo op.'

I agree with you about the drying out of the flesh especially for this dish. I always serve it just as you did the other night. On the other hand, chicken tagines with fruit and nuts or with strong spicing benefit from a crisping of the skin.

In central Turkey, I have tasted bread made from whole ground durum wheat . Semolina, I believe, is part of durum wheat . Am I correct? In the window of an appliance store in the town of Konya in central Anatolia, I saw gas-fired domes (saj) on sale foruse in apartment living, along with washing machines, refrigerators, and electric stoves. I was told that villagers from the countryside were willing to move into city apartments for better jobs, better schooling for their children, etc, but they didn't want to give up their breads ma]de on the saj.

I'm thrilled you liked that version of chicken with lemon and olives. It is one of my favorite chicken tagines as well! In Morocco, that particular tagine is served just as you prepared it without browning the skin. In answer to your other questions: If you like crispy skin, you can brown it. I serve that tagine with a well reduced sauce (1 1/2 cups) and accompany it with Moroccan bread. Once the earthenware is warmed up, you can slowly boil liquid in it. Just remember not to move the tagine to a cold surface while it is hot. I mix the radish and orange together, but your presentation is better than anything I've ever come up with. Bravo!

I can't speak for Algeria; I was only there for 10 days three decades ago! I imagine that the coastal towns had a very sophisticated life style before the revolution. Afterall, there was a huge and diverse foreign communiy established in the cities. When I was there, it was right after the revolution so things were a little messed up. Tunisian Jews do have a kemia backed happy hour with salted mullet liver (bottargue ), salted nuts, olives, and small tidbits to go with the local fig brandy and anise liquor. I don't remember elaborate mezze style dishes served before a main meal.

This particular one in Damascus collapsed into a gossamer thin paper like bread. It was just better than the usual due to the method of stretching the dough. The chef flipped a thin sheet of bread dough back and forth between his arms, making it gossamer thin before placing it on a domed cushioned paddle. then He flipped it over a 30 inch saj to cook in an instant. In that instant it bloomed up and was rushed table side. Others I have had were not as memorable.

I have seen saj breads prepared in Konya in central Turkey, and in a Druse village in Israel. Both were made without leavening, on the concave saj and over charcoal. Very similar to Indian chapati with a unique nutty and wheaty flavor and a rippled, bubbly surface. I've only tasted markouk a few times, but the most delicious was not outdoors on a moutain slope, but at the Hotel Sheraton in Damascus. The chef showed me how to make the bread and shared the recipe. He used white flour and not only yeast but baking soda as well. tthe bread was so light, it blew up like a giant souffle..two feet in diameter and nearly a foot high. The waiter would run with it to the diner's plate hopefully before it collapsed. Didn'taffect the yeasty and nutty flavor. I just remembered that I had a similar bread in Istanbul last year when I did the story about Musa the Magnificent, a Kurdish chef for food & wine.. He used semolina flour instead of white flour.

I know Kemia as a Tunisian-Jewish spread of appetizers (meze like but different from the middle east) to drink with alcohol.

I always thought markouk, the Syrian brown-speckled bread is made with yeast, while saj bread is made without yeast. Both are cooked on the upside down wok saj pan. Also, markouk is stretched over a cushion before putting on the saj while the yeastless saj dough is swirled in the air into a wide round sheet and laid on the saj pan. BTWYou need a special wooden spatula to turn the bread A good flour for saj bread is the Indian chapati flour. I have recipes for both breads.

http://www.chefscatalog.com/store/catalog/...Id=cprod8720054 Sorry: it was chefscatalog. descritpion in catalog:Ideal for slow cooking, delicate sauces, or to keep water hot without boiling, this mat can be placed on any cooking surface to disperse heat, eliminating hot spots for gentle, long-term cooking. Made of zero-carbon enameled steel, it lets you use any pot as a double boiler, slow cooker, or rice cooker, enhancing heat control to prevent sticking and burning. Works on gas, electric, glass, ceramic, and induction burners, even on camping stoves. 8"Dia. x .25" thick. Imported. Richard: did you like the way it worked? I found it is really useful with clay pot cooking because I can leave the kitchen for hours and not worry.

the ash and oil are more cosmetic than a cure. Once dry you might want to oil it to develop a nice sheen. that's it.

Allow me to sprinkle a little saltpeter around. Try the new simmer mat from chefscatalog.com I can't explain why it works but it does on all kinds of heat sources and controls the heat to a low simmer without fear of burning. You bring the food to a boil, turn the heat to low, and the food will remain safe for hours. Your braise doesn't overcook, burn, or boil dry.

Maybe we were separated at birth?

The texture of the Moroccan bread looks absolutely correct. It must be dense in order to be a 'sopper upper' for the sauce in the tagine.

Thank you so much for all your kind words. Now, let's get back and cook!

Andi, Thanks for the tip. I was just worried that some readers who never cooked in unglazed clay might not know you need to avoid soap. Skinskey, I just measured my newly purchased wok stand with the souss tagine pot on top. . It looks great.

A wok ring would work perfectly with gas and a very low flame. TheSimmermat is new to me, but so far has been a fantastic find. In the process of testing it with all kinds of clay pots:, I carameled sugar in a shallow clay pan for kazandibi ( a Turkish dessert); and made an wine-onion jam maintaining a superior color.

Three items you might want to buy to keep your tagines in great shape: Dawn's battery run nylon scouring brush; a box of baking soda; and a simmer-mat. When washing the dirty tagine: use hot water and scrub with only baking soda and water. Don't use soap or the dawn liquid! Don't store it covered until it is completey dry. The simmer mat is another new find for perfect heat control on top of the stove. It works on all stove tops including ceramic , electric, gas, and glass tops. It truly maintains a lower steadier heat than the any other heat diffuser. It won the best new product ward in New York at the Gourmet Show.