Passport & Plate - Harissa Trout and Beetroot and Mint Couscous Salad
Morocco | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Beetroot Salad:
300g cooked beetroot, cut into quarters
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Cous-Cous
200g cous cous
75g pine nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
Fish
2 rainbow trout fillets
2 teaspoons harissa
2 teaspoons rose petals
2 teaspoons coriander, chopped
How to prepare this recipeSalad:
1. To prepare the salad, cut the cooked beetroot into quarters and finely chop the red onion and half the mint. Pluck the remaining mint leaves from the stalks, and mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Whisk together the olive oil and red wine vinegar with the juice of half a lemon, a ¼ teaspoon of cumin and season with sea salt and black pepper.
3. Put both bowls to the side until ready to serve.
Trout and Couscous:
1. The night before, spoon a teaspoon of harissa paste onto the underside of each fillet of rainbow trout. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight.
2. To make the couscous, mix the pine nuts and couscous together in a bowl. Pour over enough boiling water to cover the mix, place a plate on top of the bowl and leave it until ready to serve.
3. Remove the harissa-marinated fish from the fridge, and place under a hot grill (200°c) for six minutes.
4. Whilst the fish is being grilled, remove the lid from the couscous, add the olive oil, lemon juice and salt and use a fork to mix and fluff it. Then, using a cup or napkin ring, arrange it into a cylinder in the centre of the plate.
5. Spoon the beetroot and mint salad around the plate, and delicately pour the dressing over it.
6. When it’s ready, remove the fish from the grill. Place it on top of the couscous, adding chopped coriander and rose petals to the top for decoration.
The story behind this recipeThe inspiration for this dish came began almost as soon as I landed in Fez, to threatening grey skies and heavy rain sweeping through the medieval alleyways. This was not the Morocco of my imagination. As the residents and their many cats started to retreat home, and the city floor turned to muddy sludge, the fresh produce was all that was left for my inquisitive eyes. Alongside oversized lemons and swelling eggplants, I saw bunches of radiant green mint and coriander. I went shopping, and ran back to my riad.
It was only the next day, whilst hiking in the Atlas Mountains, that the full idea for the recipe came to me. The rain was even heavier, and the water was flowing faster in the river than it had been through the streets the day before. The difference, though, were the trout, which were swimming downstream, and which instantly reminded me of warm dinners by the fire. I decided to pair them with the beetroot and make a radiantly pink Moroccan meal. It was thinking of this that got me through the rest of the day’s walking.
When I returned, drenched, to the riad the owners very kindly let me use their kitchen to experiment. I’d decided to marinate the fish in harissa, to give it a rain-defying punch, and the head chef taught me to make it from scratch, with fresh garlic and lemon juice. The work didn’t stop there: I scoured the souks for rose petals and bought, roasted and peeled the beetroot. Within minutes, the kitchen was as pink as Cinderella’s castle. Fortunately, thanks to the ready availability of harissa and cooked beetroot, the home cook can be spared these messy labours. Most importantly, however, the rainbow trout easily available at home are as good as the mid-Atlas mountain river trout I bought in the market. When made at home, this dish is every bit as fresh and aromatic as the one I prepared in Fez. All that’s missing is the post-rainstorm sun to make the red onion glisten, and the droplets on the palm trees to reflect the pinks on the plate.
