Charmoula for lamb chops

[hazardnc]

My daughter is craving lamb chops and couscous - thought I would make a grilled chop with charmoula and couscous with chickpeas.

Anyone have a good recipe?

[zeitoun]

What is a charmoula?

[Wolfert]

Nothing is written in stone but Moroccan charmoula, a combination of green coriander, parsley, garlic, vinegar, sweet and a little hot paprika and cumin, is a rub, or with the additon of oil a marinade or sauce for fish, vegetables, and sometimes chicken.

In the States, many chefs have started putting it on lamb. It is very popular.

Edited March 16, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[hazardnc]

Thank you , Ms. Wolfert. When I googled, the most frequent result I received was a fish charmoula. Many years ago, there was a fabulous recipe in Saveur for a charmoula for eggplant that I loved (and lost!) that was to be served by a grilled chicken. I keep meaning to email the magazine to see if I can get that issue.

I was wondering if charmoula for lamb was traditional - you answered my question.

I guess the popularity of charmoula on lamb is born out of the popularity of chimichurri - it's a nice, tangy and fresh condiment for grilled meat.

[chefzadi]

Juice of half a lemon (or vinegar, depending on the application)

½ cup fresh flat leaf parsley or cilantro

5 cloves garlic

1 ts sweet paprika

½ ts hot red chili powder

1 ts cumin

You can add oil, as per Ms Wolfert's suggestion. It's also good for crudites, seafood kebabs and cigars.

Why for lamb? I don't know if I would put chili powder and paprika on lamb for grilling or roasting. I mean if you want to, there's nothing wrong with it.

[Wolfert]

Many years ago, there was a fabulous recipe in Saveur for a charmoula for eggplant that I loved (and lost!) that was to be served by a grilled chicken. I keep meaning to email the magazine to see if I can get that issue.

Was that back in 1994? I published a recipe for eggplant with charmoula in Saveur along with an article on returing to my old home in Tangier.

If so, let me know and I'll search for the original issue.

Edited March 16, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[hazardnc]

Many years ago, there was a fabulous recipe in Saveur for a charmoula for eggplant that I loved (and lost!) that was to be served by a grilled chicken. I keep meaning to email the magazine to see if I can get that issue.

Was that back in 1994? I published a recipe for eggplant with charmoula in Saveur along with an article on returing to my old home in Tangier.

If so, let me know and I'll search for the original issue.

←

Yes! As I remember, I fried the eggplant in olive oil (maybe basted it with oil and then baked) The chicken was butterflied and grilled. I cannot remember the basting sauce for the chicken. (or was it for game hens?) The charmoula recipe was excellent. I made that dish for my difficult-to-please brother-in-law and he loved it.

If you have the original issue, I would be forever grateful. I have kept many back issues of Saveur, but somehow I managed to lose that one.

Edited to add - if it has been 11 years since that article appeared and I still remember how good the dish is, that must tell you something!

Edited March 17, 2005 by hazardnc (log)

[FoodMan]

Many years ago, there was a fabulous recipe in Saveur for a charmoula for eggplant that I loved (and lost!) that was to be served by a grilled chicken. I keep meaning to email the magazine to see if I can get that issue.

Was that back in 1994? I published a recipe for eggplant with charmoula in Saveur along with an article on returing to my old home in Tangier.

If so, let me know and I'll search for the original issue.

←

Yes! As I remember, I fried the eggplant in olive oil (maybe basted it with oil and then baked) The chicken was butterflied and grilled. I cannot remember the basting sauce for the chicken. (or was it for game hens?) The charmoula recipe was excellent. I made that dish for my difficult-to-please brother-in-law and he loved it.

If you have the original issue, I would be forever grateful. I have kept many back issues of Saveur, but somehow I managed to lose that one.

Edited to add - if it has been 11 years since that article appeared and I still remember how good the dish is, that must tell you something!

←

WOW, that is too much!!! you gotta love this place. I mean here goes hazardnc wondering how to get a lost recipe for Charmoula from Saveur, and what do you know, Paula Wolfert who happens to apparently be the original author of the article from 11 years ago offers to locate her recipe!! Who needs a search engine ....

Anyways back to Charmoula, I only had it on fish as well and only in restaurants. It is delicous but I never got around to trying it at home, eben though it seems simple. Wolfert I would also appreciate it if I can get the eggplant/chicken Saveur charmoula recipe if it is not too much trouble.

Many thanks,

Elie

[Wolfert]

If it is my recipe I promise to post it here for everyone.

I did publish a charmoula dressed eggplant in Saveur back in 1994, and I remember the photo was on the upper left side of the page, but it was alone on the plate.

I don't remember publishing a recipe for grilled chicken to accompany it.

I'll look for it today and scan it in.

Edited March 17, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[hazardnc]

I certainly hope you have it - I am pretty sure the date is right. This is only b/c I remember the aforementioned brother-in-law visiting just after Princess Diana died - wasn't that in 1994? As for the chicken, I cannot attest to your suggesting it with the eggplant - that could well have been my own "invention" -

[FoodMan]

I certainly hope you have it - I am pretty sure the date is right.  This is only b/c I remember the aforementioned brother-in-law visiting just after Princess Diana died - wasn't that in 1994?  As for the chicken, I cannot attest to your suggesting it with the eggplant - that could well have been my own "invention" -

←

Princess Diana's accident was later than that, I think '96 or '97.

[hazardnc]

uh oh - you're right - maybe I am confusing memories???

[zeitoun]

If it is my recipe I promise to post it here for everyone.

I did publish a charmoula dressed eggplant in Saveur back in 1994, and  I remember the photo was on the upper left side of the page, but it was alone on the plate.

←

Even if it's not, please, please find that recipe you published in Saveur anyway...

[chefzadi]

This seems like a good place to get into flavor combinations and to play around with some variations of charamoula (also spelled chermoula, Arabs can't seem to decide on how to prounounce vowels. )

If I were preparing a charamoula for roasted/grilled eggplant I would add things that would play well with the smokiness of eggplant. First I would add olive oil, because in this context it's more of a dressing and eggplant is born to coupled with olive oil. Maybe (not all of it) sun dried tomatoes, slow roasted or fresh tomato, roasted or fresh red peppers, harissa, onions or shallots, almonds or pine nuts...

for seafood or chicken any of the above, also preserved lemon, lemon zest, olives, fresh ginger...

Depending on the application the ingredients could be pureed together or finely minced or chopped...

[Wolfert]

Truthfully, I don't remember this version of eggplant with charmoula being one of my favorite recipes so feedbackwill be interesting. Please be kind.

The story that accompanies the recipe is on my website in the articles section and might be of interest to those of you who want to know why in the world people like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Paul and Jane Bowles and others including yours truly went to Tangier in the first place. Hint: It was the Paris of the 50's for writers and painters.

I emailed a copy to Elie to see if he could blow up the text and somehow paste it here so I wouldn't have to type it in

[Wolfert]

Chef Zadi: your version sounds delicious.

One variant of the Moroccan sauce charmoula includes tomatoes and goes beauifully with fish and shellfish.The following charmoula is spread over fish or shellfish in a tagra or clay cazuela.

I learned this recipe from a Berber cook named Rakia who was one of the main cooks for the leader of the National Berber party back in the 70's .

I still remember her laugh -- a kind of gutteral snort and she smoked koutoubia cigarettes and when she pounded herbs for this charmoula she would blend like a jackknife fromthe waist to do it. She was 65 years old then. I showed her a blender and she immediately changed her method to the following:

Alas, I don't think she is with us anymore .

1 1/2 pounds firm white flesh fish

2 cloves garlic pounded with l teaspoon salt

1/2 cup torn up leaves of fresh coriander

1/2 cup of torn up leaves of fresh parsley

3/4 teaspoon sweet paprika

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

2 teaspoons best quality tomato paste '

1/4 cup fruity olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Lemon juice to taste

combine garlic, herbs and 1/3 cup water in a blender.

Blend until completely smooth. Pour into a saucepan; add the spices and remaining ingeredients except the lemon juice and thin with up to 1/2 cup water. Simmer 5 minutes. Leave to mellow and cool down.

Pour over fish in a tagra or cazuela. Heat very slowly on top of the stove and when the fish is just barely cooked, remove the pan from the stove and let it finish cooking in the receding heat.

Reheat just before serving; adjust seasoning with salt and lemon juice to taste.

Serve with anise flavored Moroccan bread.

Edited March 18, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[bloviatrix]

That looks fabulous. I'm going to have to try that version.

One of my favorite things to make in the warmer months is to pan roast whole rainbow trouts smothered in charmoula. It's wonderful served both hot and cold.

[hazardnc]

Thank you, Ms. Wolfert, for supplying both recipes. I have never baked fish in charmoula - just served it as a condiment for grilled fish, but I will have to give this a try. My problem is that my favorite fish are the oilier fish - salmon, mackeral, etc. What would be a tradtional fish for this recipe? Halibut?

My favorite, though, is with eggplant. I love eggplant fried in olive oil (no breading PLEASE). Truly decadent.

[Wolfert]

I just described some fish dishes in the other forum on tagines. The most popular fish in inland Morocco is the shad and its roe so you should go for it. Or use trout as was suggested above. Or carp if you want to bake a whole fish.

on charmoula: I have published more than a dozen formulas for charmoula. Frankly, I have never made up my mind which is the best. It really depends on the quality of the spices I'm using. When someone brings me the ground cumin from Morocco I need less of it than what is available here....and so on. I know this is a nuisiance to read. But a recipe isn't a blueprint; it is a sketch....With that said, I will type in the recipe from the magazine. It is unreadable as posted.

.

Eggplant Smothered with Charmoula

This dish should be prepared ahead of time so the eggplant absorbs the charmoula.

serves 4

Ingredients:2 medium eggplants, about 1 1/2 pounds total; coarse salt;l clove garlic peeled and minced; 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, pinch of the hot;; 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin;, 3 tablesopons finely chopped cilantro; 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley; 3 tablespoons lemon juice and 1/2 cup olive oil.

Slice eggplant into 3/4" rounds and sprinkle lightly on both sides with salt. Place in a colander, cover with a cloth, and weigh down the slices with a heavy pot or cans for 30 minutes, until the eggplant exudes its bitter juices.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. to make teh charmoula, whisk together garlic, paprikas, cumin, half of the herbs, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and salt to taste; set aside.

3. Pat eggplant dry with paper toweling and lightly brush each slice with olive oil. Spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until tender and golden, about 25 to 30 minutes. This will prevent eggplant from absorbing too much oil during frying. Remove eggplant from oven and set aside to cool completely.

Heat remainig olive oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Working in batches, add slices to hot oil and fry until crisp and brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels and transfer eggplant to a shallow dish.

5. Whisk charmoula once more and spoon over eggplant. Sprinkle remaining herbs on top. Let stand 1 hour; then serve at room temperature.

c\Paula Wolfert. as printed in Saveur Magazine, 1994

Edited March 18, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[hazardnc]

Yes, that is definitely the eggplant recipe I remember - and I thought the charmoula was excellent.

In the same article, was there no recipe for poultry? If not, I wonder where I got that idea (I am not an inventive cook)

[Wolfert]

In the same issue I published a recipe for quince and okra tagine with lamb or chicken; a whole fish stuffed with shrimps and swordfish and baked under a cloak of a different charmoula recipe; orange and radish salad, and lentils with khlea (Moroccan preserved meat). There might have been some sort of Marrakech dessert pastry as well.

The recipe for the shrimp stuffed fish is in my grains and greens book.

Edited March 18, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

This totally cracks me up -- when I started cooking my large Moroccan feasts, all my recipes were based out of that Savuer issue (#6, I believe). I photocopied the entire section and put them clear, page covers to protect them. For the longest time THAT was my cookbook and all those recipes became standards for me (especially that Orange & Radish salad).

Then... a dozen years later, I meet the very woman who inspired me to cook Moroccan and because I had photocopied only the recipes, it took me some time to realize it was THE Wolfert!

[Wolfert]

Well, I am very flattered. Thank you so much.

Sorry to brag, but the article that accompanied the recipes won the coveted MFK Fisher award that year.

I always thought it was the story. Now, I'm wondering if the jury just loved the recipes!

[hazardnc]

Just wanted to report we made Ms. Wolfert's recipe for charmoula Saturday night. We grilled a butterflied leg of lamb, made some couscous with chick peas and steamed some carrots which we tossed wth a bit of the charmoula. Honestly an excellent meal - great charmoula, and I could not help putting some on everything on my plate.

[marlena spieler]

I"m so glad that i joined this thread: i felt depressed when i started reading, and now, filled with the flavours of chermoula i feel happy again. and also I have been wondering what to make for favourite friend coming to visit from Greece: now i know: paula's eggplant and chermoula!

chermoula, chermoula, chermoula, even the name sounds delicious!

marlena