Wolfert
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Posts posted by Wolfert
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Richard:Yes, that is it!!!! THANK YOU
Some women want jewels; other furs to make them smile. ME< Give me a claypot anytime!
THe amazing thing is that it is in San Francisco. About 10 minutes from our apartment!
Stay tuned for recipes from eastern Turkey using this pot.
Jo Mel: thanks for the tips on handling the pot. Those hints will keep the pot going for me. THe one I ordered handles 2 quarts.
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What a wonderful online store! And the clay/sandy pots are reasonably priced which is great. Thanks so much for taking the time to look for the Yunnan pot.
The Yunnan pot has a cone in the center and you place the whole pot in a larger one of simmering water ,steam goes up the cone and cooks the food in the pot. Well, actually I have only read about the method, but I really want to find one and try it out.
There is in Tunisia a pot that is similar in shape to the Yunnan pot, called a four Palestinian. Not sure why it is called that because I never met a Palestinian who ever heard the term or knew what I was talking about!!!
The four Palestinian looks like a bundt mold and sits on the stove and slowly cooks prepared foods like meatballs and stuffed artichokes from all sides.
By the way, I'm looking for that pot as well!
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no,I'm sorry. You are curing the pot so put the ash and oil over everything.
Later on to shine it up...just as you would silver, you rub the tagine with oil but not the undersides. That's all.
Moroccan clay and Columbian clay seem to love olive oil! I use what I have and that is evoo. I don't think it matters.You are mixing it with fireplace ash to color it? You'll be baking it and then washing it off afterwards
AFTERCARE:
I oil my la chamba and unglazed tagines every once in awhile and just let them dry out on a table overnight. The resulting sheen is wonderful.
To avoid closing up the pores, I don't do the undersides.
rh
Yes, I am going to rub it with ash, but not from the fire place -- it's 80 degrees here. I'll burn some wood outside.
Please clarify --- are you saying not to oil the underside of the lid and the bottom of the base for both the tagines and the chamba?
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I think I know the cookie.
It is made with two unbaked slabs of ground almonds blended with a few pine nuts, some sugar, food coloring, and butter or oil. One slab is colored green or turquoise and the other pink or red. The slabs are pounded into two wide flat sheets,about, 1/2 inch thick.
One of the slabs is brushed with beaten egg. The other slab is placed on top andt he two are pressed together to form a one-inch thick slab. This pastry, called rou el bey or the soul of the sultan or bey, is left to dry overnight.
The following day, a bountee is made with honey or sugar and water scented with orange flower water or geranium water. The slabs are cut into finger size lengths and dipped into the hot liquid and left to dry on racks.
Does this sound like what you had?
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Moroccan clay and Columbian clay seem to love olive oil! I use what I have and that is evoo. I don't think it matters.
You are mixing it with fireplace ash to color it? You'll be baking it and then washing it off afterwards
AFTERCARE:
I oil my la chamba and unglazed tagines every once in awhile and just let them dry out on a table overnight. The resulting sheen is wonderful.
To avoid closing up the pores, I don't do the undersides.
rh
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Here are my thoughts in response to your queries--- in purple.
1. How different is Aleppo from Maras? Are they actually the same pepper, just grown in a different region?
They are almost the same variety, but due to the soil and harvesting practices they are quite different in aroma, color and flavor.
The Maras is much finer in flavor with floral tones. The Aleppo is more robust and gritty. Both are not too hot and are tossed with salt to keep them fresh.
The cost of Maras is much higher than Aleppo pepper even in the Middle East. The Maras that Zingermans and formaggio kitchen sell is 100 % pure. Freshness is very important; often storekeepers will mix from different years. You get what you pay for. Keep in mind that storage is important; you need to keep the pepper refrigerated. Finally, you can tell the difference between maras and aleppo peppers: the former is bright red; the latter dark.
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2. As I said, I've never heard of Kirmizi. Is this used interchangeably with Aleppo when one wants more heat?
no. kirmizi means red
3. Are their other varieties that I'm unaware of? Sure, there's a whole range of Paprika's, but I'm thinking of peppers that are used specifically in the Middle East.
Hot and sweet peppers are used raw, pickled, fried, stewd and roasted in the eastern Mediterranean. Certain regions have become famous and have their town names attached : the hot and hotter Nabeul and Gabes peppers in Tunisia; the mix of hot and warm Maras pepper, and the smoky Urfa in southeastern Turkey; the sweet fleshy peppers of Florina in Northern Greece (bucovo); Abkhaia Red pepper from the Black Sea coast of Georgia; and the husky Aleppo pepper in Syria
4. Is there a cookbook that covers these in greater detail than, say, Claudia Roden's?
5. Kalustyan's on-line store seems like a great resource for spices.
absolutely..I buy a lot of spices from them because they are fresh and priced well.
Does anyone have an opinion of their quality compare to other on-line sources? Penzey's? Also, excellent.
Does Sahadi's sell spices on-line? Their physical store has a nice selection but it doesn't look like you can buy spices on-line.
Charley Sahadi used to sell his spices through sultan's something or other. I forget.
Many thanks,
Rien
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I'm curious to know if there is a certain town or region in Lebanon that produces peppers that have some sort of special flavor or "personality".
The red pepper from Aleppo is gritty, earthy and has a robust flavor when dried. Is it coveted in Lebanon as it is here?
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I recently read about Yunan steam cooking. When I googled images , I found one photo which is almost the same as a certain claypot used in Eastern Turkey to steam-bake bread and steam-cook poultry and meat dishes.
Does anyone know where I can purchase one on line?
Does anyone have the time to share some information on how to cook in this pot?
By the way, I love cooking in my Korean glazed earthenware pot. Does anyone know the reason why it is totally glazed?
.Thanks
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I think it is the most popular hot sauce in Israel.
Perhaps I forgot about it because it is made with green chilies. Or is it also made with red ones?
Aside from serving it with Israeli-Yemenite bread, how is it used?
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anyhow am now just sucking my teeth and lips in pleasure, thinking about the long simmered peppers and aubergine we ate in bulgaria, just a silky spicy puree. lots of peppers so it was more a pepper salad than an aubergine salad. and a bit of tomato too.
Oh Marlene,
So happy to be reminded of that sauce. Thank you. It is called "Macedonian Butter." Not only used as a salad, but added in generous scoops to a version of Greek stifado made with short ribs, onions,and a few heads of garlic.
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Mediterranean Cookery: New & Used Books Search Result for Mediterranean Cookery
... Best of Albanian Cooking: Favorite Family Recipes ... Mideast & Mediterranean Cuisines. By Rose Dosti. Paperback / Motorbooks Intl / October 1993 /
Too bad neither of us have a copy, we could have checked out the pepper sauces of Albania.
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You are right. There are very few Albanian cookbooks out there.
Do you remember a food writer on the LA Times named Rose Dosti? I think she wrote an Albanian cookbook.
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Hot and sweet peppers are used raw, pickled, fried, stewd and roasted in the eastern Mediterranean.
Certain regions have become famous and have their town names attached : the hot and hotter Nabeul and Gabes peppers in Tunisia; the mix of hot and warm Maras pepper, and the smoky Urfa in southeastern Turkey; the sweet fleshy peppers of Florina in Northern Greece (bucovo); Abkhaia Red pepper from the Black Sea coast of Georgia; and the husky Aleppo pepper in Syria
Almost all of these are now available in the states.
The pepper paste that I know and described upthread is popular in Georgia and Aleppo as well as in southeastern Turkey.
When I was in Aleppo doing research on the eastern Mediterranean and its different styles of cooking, I went to an Armenian restaurant called Wings which featured nothing but tinted 'red' dishes!
The most famous pepper sauce is a mildly assertive one called muhammara. A combination of walnuts, pomegranate molasses and medium to hot red pepper sauce.
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There are many commercial pepper pastes from Turkey on the market. One that I use frequently is called aci biber sosu. Kalustyans in New York has many kinds.
It is used in many recipes from southeastern Turkey in equal amounts with tomato paste.
For example, a typical sis kebab prepared in Gaziantep, Turkey, a town famous for its skewerd meats and great baklava, uses the followoing marinade for meat.
1 pound lamb loin cubes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon hot or sweet pepper paste
1 tablespoon olive oil.
To this oily paste you would add 1 teaspoon each: crushed garlic, Turkish spice mix and black pepper.
In this part of Turkey, the most wonderful onion-parsley salad is served with kabobs:
2 white or red onions, peeld and halved
coarse salt
1/2 cup chopped parsley
l teaspoon ground sumac
thinly slice the onions and toss with 1 teaspoon coaser salt
rub the salt into the strands and let stand 5 minutes.
Rinse and drain the onions thoroughly. Mix with the parsley and sumac. Serve within 30 minutes.
c\Wolfert. TheCooking of the Eastern Mediterranean. Harper Collins,1994.
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undefinedCool, one follow up question: I live in NYC and with the mountain of cookware I already have, multiple tagines is not a possibility. I am thinking of using it primarily on the stovetop. It seems that, if I were going to go for one all-purpose tagine, it might be better to have the heavier unglazed style? Would that be something like this? In re to the rounded bottom, is this something I could put over (low) direct heat on my gas stove, or would I still need to use a diffuser? Does the rounded bottom style really work with a diffuser, do you think? Also, is it just me, or does the thicker rounded style have a significantly smaller/shorter "chimney?" Does this make much of a difference?
The Riffian is unglazed and is the cheapest. It can go over gas or electricity with a diffuser. The clay is different in the Rif mountains than in central and southern Morocco, resulting in a lighter pot.
The one with the rounded bottom can go over direct gas heat because it is stronger. It is the mica in the clay; you can actually see the specs of it throughout.
Both will give you that 'cone' effect of flavor transfer with time.
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That sounds like the best of both worlds.
e.
that
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In your Recipe for Moroccan Lamb Smothered with Lemon and Olives, you call for bringing the mixture to a boil over high heat, and then covering and simmering it. I think I've been reading that the tagines are okay on the stovetop over low heat only. Do you bring the mixture to the boil in another pan and then put it in the tagine to simmer over low heat? Or rather, is that what you'd recommend for my Egyptian bowl? What about the Riffian tagine that Mark bought and Sam may be about to buy?
That recipe was written for an enameled cast iron pot,and published in food and wine magazine back in the 80's before anyone has access to tagines. I really should remove it from the site. Or test it over and edit it!
You only need one pot and it should be the same one you serve in..
What I would do is put the claypot filled with whatever on low heat and slowly bring to a boil, then remove it from the heat for a minute to cool down, return to the lowest heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Cooking time will depend on the age of the lamb. We're coming to spring now and young lamb will cook faster than mature meat.
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Up until a few years ago, I used half glazed tagines for poultry and lamb, and a totally unglazed one called a tagra for fish.
Now I prefer unglazed pots because I really believe the more I use the unglazed tagines, the more delicious are my results.
The Riffian is good for baking, chicken tagine, and vegetable dishes. It can go on top of an electric stove with a heavy heat diffuser.
the tagines made in the south are not flat on the bottom (see photo below), so you need to take that into consideration when buying one. I use these for lamb.
There is a joke in Morocco that if a pot has a little saffron caught in its cone from years of cooking, then perhaps a little cumin, cardamom, sweet paprika, and ras el hanout gets into the pores, the pot will be so aromatic it won't need spices; the flavors will have all been trapped in the clay!
Don't worry, Moroccans certainly do wash their pots, but they don't soak them before using as you do with a romertopf. Thus the steaming qualities are different and the results are as well. Both are wonderful tools for claypot cooking.
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That sounds delicious.
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Nancy,
It sounds as if you have all that is necessary to start cooking tagines right now. And here is why: with a heavy bottomed heat diffuser and a gas stove I bet you can cook tagines in your Egyptian unglazed pan if you set it on low and keep it on low . (It was probably used stove top in the first place!)
There is a heat diffuser for electric stoves but I don't know if it is as successful.
The shallow bottom is most important for braising meat for a "tagine." Tagines are the name of the pot and the dish it produces.
You use less liquid than in a deep casserole and the sauce emerges intense in texture and flavor. If you cook a tagine in your shallow Egyptian pan moisture won't be lost. Just be sure to place a crumbled sheet of wet parchment paper DIRECTLY over the food and then cover the pan.
On the stove top you don't lose as much moisture as in the oven because heat is only coming from the bottom and some heat from the shallow sides. In an oven heat is coming from all over and you have to seal the top or use a very tight cover to keep in the moisture..
The unglazed tagine such as the Riffian or the Egyptian one does even more than the glazed ones: it produces especially moist meat dishes with an unctuous tender texture; it develops a special "distinctive thumb print taste" of hand-crafted food that writers now fashionably call gout de terroir -- the taste of the earth; and it produces the pleasure of "coddling" food in clay, a pleasure both sensual and gustatory.
So spend your money on purchasing the best and freshest ground spices instead.
For those who are thinking about using their romertofp pan, I cannot answer the question. I have never tried. I intend to but I think adjustments need to be made.
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I totally understand why you couldn't google and get what you wanted.
The spellings are always a problem because when you transliterate from the Arabic to French it is written one way and into English another. For example, ouarka is the French spelling; warka is the English.
Feuille de brik is malsouqua in Tunisia which means to adhere, dioul in Algeria which means to layer, and warka in Morocco which means leaf. And all of these Arabic sounding words have other spellings as well.
Back to the brick, briq, brique, etc It isn't phyllo, but phyllo can be substituted IN MANY RECIPES..
In North Africa, more often than not, this pastry is stuffed and fried. I have found that eggless spring roll skins are a good substitute because they are closer in texture to the b,b and b, and are made more or less in the same way in Asia using fine wheat flour..
Here is how b,b and b's are made in north africa: a woman kneads very fine semolina flour with water until enormous elasticity develops and then systematically taps pieces of this dough onto a heated pan, leaving slighty overlapping disks to cook on only one side.
To fill, use the cooked side up, cover, and shape and fry.
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Use a heat diffuser and cook on low. If you have to leave the kitchen for awhile you can cover the tagine contents with a sheet of crumbled wet parchment and a loose lid and continue cooking in the oven.
Truthfully, tagines cook best on top of the stove where the heat just comes from below.
For the final browning, the clay in the tagine is hot enough to stand broiling or last minute browning in a hot oven.
Whatever you do, don't add cold liquid to a hot pot or a hot pot to a cold surface.
Paula -So I get a tajine, but don't have a bed of coals and a ceramic plate to pile them on. How do I handle this in the oven, without putting the conical top on?
Do you do the braise uncovered? Cover the bottom half with foil or some other lid?
Or is the solution to put the conical top on and braise on the stovetop over a heat diffuser?
Thanks.
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Kit Williams told me that the silicone molds from Bridge's in NY are better than others on the market. She uses them with bee's wax. There is a posting on how she does it somewhere up thread.
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Sorry about that..The recipe is from another era when tagines were not easily available in the states. I had to adjust to suit the reader at that time.
Here are two changes:
You should use a Riffian tagine and reduce the liquid to 2 cups.
Don't put a cold tagine into a hot oven to crisp the meat
In step 3.... Put the tagine in a cold oven and bring the heat up to 450 to crisp the meat.
Chilies/Chilis/Chillis/Hot peppers: The Topic
in Cooking
Posted · Edited by Wolfert (log)
Andie: What a great site!
I just spent a huge amount of time there and learned a great deal, but I didn't find the any particular information on Middle Eastern peppers? Would you mind putting in the hyperlink?