Tagine Cooking

[chefzadi]

... I've never heard of Egyptian tagines, although Egyptian fish preparations could resemble any number of Magrhebi fish dishes, it's not all that complicated. Anyway, sorry to ramble but an Egyptian restaurant refering to a dish as tagine is to ring some bells of familiarity for the consumer. Which is fine by me.

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I've had a number of tagines in Luxor at various restaurants. I may have had them in Cairo also. They aren't at all like Moroccan tagines in flavor or cookware, but they are stews of various sorts (lamb tagine, fish tagine, chicken tagine, etc.) I won't make a sweeping judgment about how it works all over the country, but in these particular cases I don't think they're trying to evoke Morocco, since the restaurants are Egyptian and make no reference to any other country. Finally, my moussaka pot (Egyptian) is *always* called a tagine in Luxor; that word specifies a particular type and size of pot. It bears no resemblance to the Moroccan tagine.

Perhaps the word "tagine" is drifting across countries and taking on new meaning?

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Smithy, I'm not saying the word tagine evokes Morocco. I mentioned that Algerians and Tunisians also use the term when speaking French or English when we are talking about our own food.

What I am saying is that the word rings some bells with those who are not familiar with certain types of dishes with an Arabic name, so the word 'tagine' used to ring some bells of familiarity.

There are several countries in Northern Africa between Morocco and Egypt where it is not a part of the traditional lexicon. Also a tagine is traditionally an Amazigh (Berber) cooking vessel. The population of Amazighs in Egypt is fairly small. Also I am from the edge of the Kabylie. My family is culturally more Amazigh than Arab. We do not use the term to refer to stews/soups. And yes we do use the cooking vessel called a tagine.

[Wolfert]

Tunisian tagines start off as mini-stews of veal or lamb cut into very small pieces and cooked with onions and spices such as cinnamon and black pepper or ground coriander and caraway. Then something starchy is added to thicken the juices---white beans or chickpeas or breadcrumbs.

When the meat is tender, it is combined with whatever ingredient has been chosen to be the dominant flavoring---an herb such as mint or parsley, or my personal favorite: poached brains, or even pickled vegetables.

The mixture is then enriched with cheese and eggs. Finally, it is poured into a straight-sided deep claypot and baked on the stove or in the oven until the top and bottom are crisply cooked and the eggs are just set, somewhat like a frittata.

When it is ready, it is turned out onto a plate and sliced into serving pieces: wedges or squares, and accompanied by lemon

This is a tagine set up in the rural parts of the country. The pot with its straight sides is set over glowing olive wood. The mixture cooks in the center pot with a flat earthen pan on top. Note the hot coals in the upper pan. The resulting tagine is crusty on top and bottom, moist within, and infused with a subtle smoky fragrance.

Edited June 12, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[Adam Balic]

Very interesting discussion. How is 'tagine' pronounced in North Africa (is it pronounced differently in different parts of the region?).

I have assumed that the English transliteration "Tah-geen" is not right, is "T'gen" better?"

[Smithy]

Very interesting discussion. How is 'tagine' pronounced in North Africa (is it pronounced differently in different parts of the region?).

I have assumed that the English transliteration "Tah-geen" is not right, is "T'gen" better?"

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In Egypt the accent is on the first syllable, as you assumed, with the broad a sound of your 'ah'. The 't' at the beginning is stressed such that it's almost, but not quite, a 'd'. I hear it as "TAA-jeen" or "TAA-geen" (with a hard 'g') depending on the area.

Chefzadi, I apologize for apparently misunderstanding you.

[chefzadi]

Very interesting discussion. How is 'tagine' pronounced in North Africa (is it pronounced differently in different parts of the region?).

I have assumed that the English transliteration "Tah-geen" is not right, is "T'gen" better?"

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In Egypt the accent is on the first syllable, as you assumed, with the broad a sound of your 'ah'. The 't' at the beginning is stressed such that it's almost, but not quite, a 'd'. I hear it as "TAA-jeen" or "TAA-geen" (with a hard 'g') depending on the area.

Chefzadi, I apologize for apparently misunderstanding you.

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No need to apologize at all.

I pronounce it TAA-jeen.

A Tunisian family and a Moroccan family moved Montmerle where I grew up. The Moroccan woman used to take care us when my parents would go away, yes all 7 kids! That's North African hospitality! The Tunisian family never gave us a crumb (another side of North African hospitality. ). Anyway the spicing for Moroccan tajines was so different from the Eastern Algerian style we would wonder "what mysterious thing is she making" but I still dream about her pastries to this day.

As for the word tagine being referred to certain kinds of dishes made in a particular type of vessel, it's grown beyond it's local usage. If a Tunisian chef instructor is doing a demo on his couscous and maraqa in Los Angeles he will simply call the maraqa a tagine because the word rings a bell. He might call a Tunisian Tajine a Tunisian frittata. Because to call it a tajine in LA would cause too much confusion. It's not like most people are interested in the finer points of it all and even if one knows the finer poins, common usage begins to define meaning.

If you look at French langauge Magrhebi cooking sites there is some attempt to provide more descriptive names, but we don't want to lose our local heritages either. It's beginning to give me a big headache. It's important but not so important in another sense. I have a collection of Kabylie recipes but alot of the recipes are not particularly Amazigh nor are they Arab, it's a combination of both.

When I get together with other Maghrebis to talk about food, alot of times we don't know what from the names untill we see the food or describe it's components. In Algeria some dishes literally translated mean "food with meat" The food being couscous. The meat being a braise or stew. So we don't talk about it, we prepare the food together and enjoy it together and that is when we realize how similar we are.