SC - tagine?

[lilinah at grin.net]

Roberto Maroquin de Aragon wrote:

>here is a Tajine recipe I got from David Rosengarten's show Taste. on
>the food network.
<snipped and moved>
>(Adapted from Paula Wolfert Recipe)

I highly recommend Paula Wolfert's cook books, any of them:
	Mediterranean Cooking
	The Cooking of South-West France
	The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean

I am especially fond of the Moroccan one, although it is not at all "period":
	Couscous and Other Good Foods from Morocco
	copyright 1973
	Harper and Row
	ISBN 0-06-014721-0

>BTW the Ras el Hanout mentioned is a spice blend which varies from place to
>place. It means basically the best of the shop. meaning that if you go to a
>spice store and ask for ras el hanout you will get a blend of the top 15 or
>20 spices in the store. In the show David made a blend which include a few
>basic things like annise and cinnomon as well as some more exotic items like
>rose buds and orange blossom. unfortunately the web Food Network website did
>not give the ingredients of that blend. Should have taped that one...

In "Couscous and Other Good Foods from Morocco", she has a discussion of
ras el hanout.

I asked some time ago if anyone know if ras el hanout was period, and if so
did anyone have a recipe, but got only resounding silence in return. So,
here's what Paula has to say about Ras (head) el Hanout (of the shop):

(begin quoted section)
p. 24  "Ras el hanout, which means, literally, "top of the shop," seems to
fascinate everyone, foreigners and Moroccans alike. It is a very old
mixture of many spices, sometimes ten, sometimes nineteen, sometimes
twenty-six; Moroccans have told me of a ras el hanout that contained more
than a hundred ingredients.

It is incorrest to think of ras el hanout as a curry powder by another
name, It lacks the abundance of fenugreek, coriander seeds, mustard seeds,
poppy seeds, and cumin of commercial curry. Though theoretically almost
anything is permissible in ras el hanout-even dried garlic and
saffon-obviously some mixtures are better than others. The aphrodisiacs
(Spanish fly, ash berries, and monk's pepper) that appear in most formulae
seem to be the reason why the mere mention of this mixture will put a gleam
into a Moroccan cook's eye.

Ras el hanout is used in Moroccan game dishes' in mrouzia (Lamb Tagine with
Raisins, Almonds, and Honey, p. 286), a sweet lamb dish; in the hashhish
candy called Majoun (p. 314); in various rice and couscous stuffings; and
even in some recipes for bisteeya. I bought a packet in the Attarine
quarter of Fez, where it si sold in brut form, and after a long analysis, a
friend in New York who is a spice merchant and I came up with the following
list of ingredients:

Allspice
Ash berries (Holarrhen, called lissan ettir in Morocco. A tan, elongated
spice that looks like a bird's tongue and is alleged to have strong
medicinal and aphrodisiacal properties.)
Belladonna leaves
Black cummin seeds (Nigella arvensis sativa, called habet el soudane in
Morocco)
	[Anahita's note: i think this is called kalonji in India]
Black peppercorns
Cantharides (Lytta vesicatoria, called debbal el hand in Morocco. The very
sight of these green, metallic beetles, called "Spanish fly" terrifies me)
Cardamom pods (Eletteria cardamomum, called qaqual in Morocco)
Wild cardamom pods (Eletteria cardamomum, var. major, called abachi in
Morocco, and popularly known as "bitter black cardamom"...)
	[Anahita's note: you can sometimes find these in Indian shops]
Cayenne
Cassia cinnamon
Ceylon cinnamon
Cloves
Coriander seed
Cubeb pepper
Earth almonds (Cyperus esculentus, called tara soudania in Morocco... a
perfumed chestnut taste)
Galingal (Alpinia galanga, called kedilsham in Morocco... In Indonesia it
is frequently used, and is called laos)
Ginger
Gouza el asnab (...a kind of nut...I have not been able to identify its
botanical name and am indebted to the Fez bookbook of Mme. Z. Guinaudea for
being able to identify it at all)
Grains of paradise
Long pepper
Lavender
Mace
Monk's pepper (Agnus castus, called kheroua in Morocco. Another potent
aphrodesiac.)
Nutmeg
Orrisroot
Turmeric

[Anahita's note: i have not included all her excellent notes on most of the
spices, only on those that are a bit obscure, or this would be much longer
- - of course what's obscure to one person may be commonplace to another - if
you have more questions, i'll selectively quote more of her notes.]

p. 26  With a  Moroccan girl who lives in New York, I worked out an
American formula for ras el hanout that obviously lacks some of the rare
Moroccan items like cubeb peppers and the aphrodisiacs. Nevertheless, it's
a pretty good approximation.

Try to make it yourself if you want; your blender will undoubtedly survive
all these nuts, sticks, barks, and seeds, but the aroma will linger on--ras
el hanout is strong. (Follow with a separate grinding of cane sugar and
your blender will be clear and clean). Grind the following ingredients in a
blender until you obtain a fine mix, then sieve:

4 whole nutmegs	1/2 tsp. lavender
10 rosebuds	1 Tb. white peppercorns
12 cinnamon sticks	2 pieces of galangal
12 blades mace	2 Tb. whole gingerroot
1 tsp. aniseed	6 cloves
8 pieces turmeric	24 allspice berries
2 small pieces orrisroot	20 white or green cardamom pods
2 dried cayenne peppers	4 wild (black) cardamom pods

[Anahita's note: because of the good services of fellow listee and spice
merchant, Francisco Sirene (or your other preferred spice merchant) we here
have the option of adding both kinds of cinnamon, black cummin, grains of
paradise, and long pepper, if we want to experiment ourselves. And you may
want to "bump up" the amount of cayenne a little.]

p. 27  A rather simple recipe for ras el hanout--although far less
thrilling to make or use--can be made with the following formula (buying in
ounces from a spice merchant and grinding at home):

1/2 ounce allspice berries	1-1/2 ounces dried gingerroot
1 ounce black peppercorns	1/2 ounce stick cinnamon
1/2 ounce galingal or laos roots	1/4 ounce turmeric
1/2 ounce mace blades	3 rosebuds
1-1/2 whole nutmegs		1 clove
10 cardomom pods

(end quoted section)

Happy eating,

Anahita Gaouri bint-Karim al-hakim al-Fassi


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