I grew up in a home where everything we ate was homemade. My mom made jams, jellies, breads, relishes, canned fruits and vegetables, and baked too. She also loved to try new recipes. Quite often she would look through cookbooks or magazines to see if something sparked her interest. And if it did, she would create her grocery list and then head out to the local market and gather the ingredients she needed to make the recipe. Upon return, she would spend quite a bit of time making something tasty for our family.
My sister, brothers and I would return from our after-school activities and find another newly inspired, delicious meal waiting for us on the table.
My mom also started a Dinner Club with 6-8 couples in our neighborhood. The ladies would gather each month and after lots of discussion and opinions, they would select a theme or country to feature at their party.
It was fun to watch them flip through the pages of Bon Appétit and various cookbooks to find new and interesting recipes. There were so many books and magazines that they piled them high on the table or on the floor.
Our kitchen was always buzzing with a lot of activity. Something was on the stove or in the oven all the time. I am sure this is why my siblings and I developed an interest for cooking. What makes it so much more fun nowadays is taking it beyond the cookbooks and magazines and actually traveling around the world and trying various specialties in destination. There’s nothing better than experiencing a new culture through their food…and being on location is the best!
The language of food has no limits because a foodie’s love crosses borders and connect cultures!
Travel is about broadening your horizons – seeing new sights, meeting new people, and understanding new cultures. And it’s one of the best ways is to immerse yourself in the diverse flavors of the world. Every country has its own unique cuisine, often inspired by waves of immigration, the local environment and the ever-growing community of travelers.
My recent trip to Morocco certainly checked the box of smelling new smells, tasting new foods and learning how to cook in a way that I had never done before. Nor had I seen my mom prepare food like what I learned from a cooking class at La Maison Arabe in Marrakech.
Moroccan cuisine is known for its numerous tagine dishes. A tagine is both the cookware and the dish that it is cooked in. Tagine food, otherwise known as Maghrebi, is a slow cooked stew made with meat, poultry or fish, vegetables (potatoes and carrots) and topped with fruit (dried lemons, prunes or apricots), spices and nuts. A small hole at the top of the cookware’s lid periodically releases some of the steam, to make sure that the food does not get too soggy.
Tagines are normally shared dishes served with lots of flatbread; the tagine vessel will sit in the middle of the table and families or groups will gather around, using fresh bread to spoon up the ingredients. Eating in this way brings a great social element to mealtimes!
At our cooking class, we made Chicken Tajine. It was so delicious that I thought you may want to try it too. So, here’s the recipe.
If you do not have the special tajine cooking dish, then you could use a heavy pot or skillet. If you decide to make it, let me know how it tastes!
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons & Olives
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb. whole chicken (cut into large chunks)
- 1/2 red onion (finely chopped)
- 1/2 of a preserved lemon
- 10 purple or green olives
- 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 1 tbs parsley finely chopped
- 1 tbs cilantro (finely chopped)
- 2 tbs of olive oil
- 1 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
- water
SPICES
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- A pinch of saffron threads
Let the Cooking Begin!
1. Cut up one preserved lemon, separating the flesh from the peel. Set the peel aside and finely chop the preserved lemon pulp.
2. Place the chopped lemon pulp in a heavy pot. Add the olive oil, ghee (clarified butter), garlic, parsley, cilantro, all the spices and a cup of cold water. Mix well.
3. Add the chicken pieces. Then pierce the chicken with a sharp knife in several places so it soaks up all the spices. Mix all the ingredients until the chicken pieces are well coated with the marinade.
4. Add the onions to the pot and mix well.
5. On low heat, sear the chicken pieces for about 15 minutes. The tajine lid should be on the pot to keep the moisture in. Otherwise, the chicken pieces will dry out and stick to the bottom of the pot.
6. Turn each piece of chicken every so often so it does not burn.
7. After 15 minutes, add a cup of cold water and increase the heat to medium. Then cover it and let the juices boil. Continue cooking for about 30 more minutes. Check on the chicken from time to time and add water if necessary.
8. There should always be enough sauce on the bottom, so the chicken does not burn.
9. Once it is cooked, taste & adjust the seasoning if you’d like.
10. Now add the lemon peel and olives. Continue cooking for a few minutes uncovered until the sauce thickens a bit.
**Serve the Chicken Tagine with some delicious bread. Often you can add vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms & onions in the same pot as the chicken. It is so delicious!
ENJOY!!
The Moroccan cuisine was so tasty! They not only have tagines for cooking but, they also have some that double as beautiful serving dishes. Some of the decorated ones are truly a work of art with elaborate handmade mosaics and even silver decorations. Of course, I brought 2 home with me…one that is painted with bright colors and has an interesting design and the other from our cooking class!
One of the most memorable aspects of travel for me is the food. I’m talking about the luxury to taste all those new foods around the world, broaden your culinary horizon, and calibrate your taste buds.
The marketplaces and souks are just as memorable. I love the bright colors of the produce, the smell of the freshly baked goods and sweets and watching the people go about their daily routine of shopping and gathering their necessities.
My mouth is still watering after tasting some amazing cuisine in Morocco. It’s a country bursting with unforgettable culinary experiences!
Now that the world is opening back up, where would you like to go? Is Morocco on your “bucket list” now? If so, let’s plan this adventure together!
