Tagine: Spicy stews from Morocco

by Ghillie Basan

These hearty meals, flavoured with spices and fruit, are served from an elegant, specially designed cooking vessel, also called a tagine. In Ghillie Basan’s collection of aromatic recipes you will find some of the best-loved classics of the Moroccan kitchen, such as the sumptuous lamb tagine with prunes, apricots and almonds, and the tangy chicken tagine with green olives and lemon. Also included are less traditional but equally delicious recipes for beef and fish. Vegetarians, too, have a delightful and varied choice. Every recipe includes suggestions for accompaniments and side dishes.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

I am a writer, broadcaster, and food anthropologist with fingers in several pies! As a single parent living off the beaten track in the Scottish highlands it is the only way to survive. In the media, I have been dubbed ‘The Original Spice Girl’ and ‘World Food Expert’ but really I’m simply a hospitable hermit! I love to live a little bit wild but I also love to share what I have.

I spent my childhood in East Africa and my teenage years in Scotland, followed by a Cordon Bleu Diploma in London and a degree in Social Anthropology from Edinburgh University. After working and travelling in Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, North America, India, Southeast Asia, and vast chunks of Africa as an English teacher, journalist, and food and travel writer, I returned to the Scottish Highlands. Here, in a remote part of the Cairngorms National Park I have gradually turned a ruined croft into a home where, snowbound in winter with a 3 mile cross-country ski to and from the car to bring in supplies, I have raised my children on my own.

Abridged from Ms Basan's website

Reviews

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghillie Basan's Tagine: Spicy Stews from Morocco is precisely the sort of cookbook that inspires you to want to experiment. She starts with some important basics, noting that home cooks need to use a heat diffuser if they're planning to attempt use of a traditional glazed ceramic tagine in preparing their dishes and then wisely offers a range of alternatives that her readers likely already own. From here, she proceeds to recipes for making your own preserved lemons, harissa, and other components of these tasty dishes. Her recipes include both traditional and more modern tagines, spanning all sorts of meat (e.g., lamb, chicken, beef, and sausage) options, fish tagines, as well as vegetable tagines. Toward book's end, she also offers a number of recipes for salads and sides--of which the orange salad with red onions and black olives looks particularly promising. The instructions are clear but not overly wordy, the accompanying photographs helpful as well as visually appealing, and this small book would make a welcome stocking stuffer, gift basket enclosure, or no-occasion gift for the cook/food experimenter in your life who, if you are lucky, will repay your kindness by sharing one (or more) of these dishes with you. (N.B.: Alan this is not a hint, I own this book and you'll be getting tagines.)

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've bought much larger, more expensive Moroccan cookbooks since purchasing this one, but this tiny book is by far the best value. It has excellent recipes that are easy to follow. This book was my introduction to tagine cooking and it changed the way I eat.

This cookbook required an investment in spices that aren't the usual kitchen staples for a novice cook. However, these have become ingredients I love and can't do without in my pantry.

Try preserved lemons, saffron, ras al hanout, or charmoula to add a flavorful punch to the ordinary. Buy your tagine and get started today!

[Caroline Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a while ago (re-read it yesterday) around the time I bought my Emile Henry Flame cookware. I rated it four stars. Only one star showed. Today I tried again. Only one star is visible.

I've checked the pantry for the spices, which I have. Also, I've got a tub of ghee. I'm out of preserved lemons, but plan on making more tomorrow.

This morning I've been busy adjusting quantities to suit one diner. There is going to be a lot of slow, flavorful, Magreb-inspired cooking going on this week, stovetop. This is step one of my experiment.

From there, I want to assess the flavors, with grandchildren in mind, adjust the spices if necessary, and offer my young ones (grown-ups, too) something unique; a change from mac-and-cheese, Lima beans, and pork roast with vegetables.

Although I use the cookware almost every week for family dinners, unfortunately, the meals are American cuisine and not Moroccan.

So here we go! Introducing (little by little) lamb, dates, figs, beets, ginger, chorizo, duck breasts, orange-flower water, and couscous to a captive audience! Meanwhile, I'm going to try to rate the book again. This is definitely a four star experience! Whoa! It worked this time!

[Eileen Easterly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great primer on this wonderful morrocan style of food.

[Experience Life]

Not yet familiar with the art of tagine cooking? This little cookbook shows you the ropes and provides an inspiring introduction to a uniquely fragrant culinary art. Recipes range from the savory (chickpea and chorizo with bay leaves, paprika and sage) to the sweet (yam, shallots, carrots and prunes). Tagine brings out the best in vegetables and lets you use meats as seasoning rather than the main dish.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent recipes and one of the best tagine cookbooks in English I've been able to find.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more or less a repeat of the first one. Most of the recipes are the same. Either one is fine, but I prefer the size of the other one.

[K. Lang-Slattery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every recipe I have tried so far is very good. Some are truly delicious. Especially love the shellfish with fennel!