The Sultan's Tent

Passport & Plate - Lamb Tagine

Morocco | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 4 photos

Ingredients
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
3-4 lbs lamb cubed (or chicken)
4 cloves garlic minced
2 large onions finely chopped
2 large ripe tomatoes chopped
1 cup dates
1 cup dried apricots
¾ cup large pitted green olives cut in half
1 cup blanched almonds halved
2 tbsp tomato paste
½ cup of honey (try to use wild flower based)
1 cup vegetable stock
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Ginger (freshly grated)
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Ground Tumeric
1 Tbsp harissa (chile or Thai red curry paste)
1 Tbsp Orange blossom water
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tsp Coriander*
½ Tsp nutmeg*
1/4 Tsp cayenne*
1/2 Tsp cloves*
1 Tsp Ras el hanout* (special occasion Moroccan spice mix that includes nutmeg, anise, pepper, turmeric, can be up to 30 ingredient) the spices above are my version of this esp. coriander, nutmeg, cayenne. Use Ras el hanout OR the above starred.

 

How to prepare this recipe
Cube lamb roughly into 1-2 inch cubes, season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add lamb. Cook for 5 minutes or until browned. The goal is not to cook the meat but to brown it on the outside quickly. Put into a ceramic lidded casserole dish, (or proper tagine vessel if you prefer)

Melt butter in pan and add onion. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until soft, and carmelized. Add tomato paste and spices -cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Combine onion mix with lamb in casserole dish. Add all the remaining ingredients in any order including honey and orange blossom water. Stir everything together well. Put on the lid and cook slowly for 2-3 hours at 350F or until lamb is very tender.

 

The story behind this recipe
Until I was 24 years old I never physically traveled abroad but since I was a child my instincts led me to travel the globe though culinary exploration. I first learned to cook tagine from taste and memory after trying it in a restaurant. The recipe has been honed through travel & share knowledge. In tagine dozens of individual spices blend together into one complex artwork that like a community, mirror the unique people of Morocco. This is the story of my first taste of Moroccan food.

I found the restaurant behind an indigo blue velvet curtained window proclaiming “Sultan’s Tent” in kohl-lined saffron yellow paint. I soon learned that beyond that curtain lay a portal to another country. Inside was a cavern of ornate darkness filled with suspended tapestries and porous brass lanterns hung low over rounded tables in cushion filled portals. From shrouded corners silent hosts dressed in long caftans floated past carrying fragrant plates.

The Sultan’s Tent and its hosts taught me how Moroccan food engages every sense to create not merely a meal but an experience. Each sense is layered in a crescendo just as a lamb tagine is sculpted in a complexity of ingredients and flavours. Lamb, dates, olives, cinnamon, cardamom, wild flower honey, and a dozen other edible jewels meet in community to form a tagine. The meal begins with the whole body sinking into thick pillows under inky light, and unfurling at the sound of dulcet Arabic music. Next this slow cooked stew rewards patience by engaging scent. Spices, flowers, mint, and roasted meat whisper to the nose enticing gastronomic desire until at last the tagine is presented. Eyes devour carob coloured lamb and dates, sunset apricots and carmelized onions. Finally the ultimate intimacy, touch. Orange blossom washed fingertips revel in the warmth, texture and weight of a market fresh masterpiece as it is carefully lifted to lips on a bed of couscous for a first exquisite taste. Here is a Sultan's Gift! Welcome to Morocco.