SC - Moroccan Dried Meat

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Long ago we discussed dried meat, and the lack of "period" recipes. I 
have discovered a recipe for Moroccan dried meat. I suspect that some 
variation of this goes back thousand years or more. However, it 
doesn't seem to me to be the sort of thing that would have made it 
into a cookbook for the wealthy or noble, so other than anecdotal 
references in literature, which i have seen, we'll probably never 
really know.

This recipe is from "Taste of Morocco" by Robert Carrier, Boxtree 
Ltd., London: 1987/1996. ISBN 0-7522-1039-4

I haven't tried it myself.

Khlii
Sun-dried preserved meat

The author, a Brit, refers to it as "an age old method". We here on 
this list know that could mean that it goes back to someone's 
grandmother 40 years ago.

He goes on to say: "Khlii is used, much as we use bacon or petit salé 
(lightly salted pork fat), to flavour tagines of fresh or dried 
vegetables, or a winter couscous or soup."

- -----

2.25 kg / 5 lb beef
50 g / 2 oz coarse salt
450 g / 1 lb lamb (or beef) fat
1.2 litres / 2 pints water
250 ml / 8 fl oz groundnut/peanut oil
150 ml / 1/4 pint olive oil

Spice and Garlic Paste
75 g / 3 oz (6 Tb) coriander seeds, ground
50 g / 2 oz garlic, peeled and crushed
2 Tb vinegar
50 ml / 2 fl oz olive oil
50 g / 2 oz coarse salt

1. To prepare spice and garlic paste, combine all the ingredients 
together in a bowl, mix well, and leave to rest for 24 hours.

2. In the meantime, cut the meat into long thin strips. Rub the 
strips well with the coarse salt. Cover with a piece of muslin / 
cheesecloth to protect from insects, and leave to absorb the flavours 
for 24 hours.

3. Then take each strip of salted meat and cover it with a layer of 
spice and garlic paste, rubbing it in well with your fingers. Cover 
with muslin / cheesecloth and leave to absorb flavours for a further 
24 hours.

4. On the following day, take each piece of meat and hang it over a 
washing line or, with needle and thread, take thread through the end 
of each strip and tie thread into a loop. Insert a broomstick through 
each loop and hang the pole horizontally in the sun, covering the 
meat with a strip of muslin / cheesecloth as above. Make sure that 
each strip is well covered with spice and garlic paste, and pat on a 
little where needed. Repeat this process over 3 or 4 more days, or 
until meat is thoroughly dried. Absolutely no moisture must come out 
when meat is pressed with your finger. Make sure you bring meat 
indoors at sunset, to keep it away from any possible mist or moisture 
in the night air.

5. When meat is dried, remove it from the line or pole. Cut it into 
even sized pieces and simmer it with its aromatics in melted fat, 
water, and the oils, until all the water has been absorbed. The 
richly flavoured fat will be left in the pan. Stir often to ensure 
that meat does not stick to the bottom of pan or scorch.

6. When the meat is tender, remove it from casserole or stock pot and 
allow to cool completely in a large shallow container. Strain fats 
through a muslin / cheesecloth -lined sieve into a container. Allow 
to cool completely. It must still be liquid.

7. Fill sterilized Kilner / Mason jars loosely with meat, then pour 
over strained fat. Leave jars open for 2 hours, then seal.

8. Reserve the remaining bits or crumbs of meat and spice and garlic 
paste in a jar to use in savoury beghrir or rghaif

- -----

MY NOTE: beghrir and rghaif are fried pancakey-breads - i'm not 
giving a real accurate description, but it will do for now. I ate 
both kinds, as well as several others, while i was in Morocco, but i 
don't think i had any khlii.

Both pan cooked (such as beghrir and rghaif) and baked yeasted breads 
(khobz) are often made with semolina flour so they are faintly golden 
and have a very different flavor from white or whole wheat flour in 
the US - which was to my mind really delicious. When given the choice 
between white and pain complet (which in France is a modified whole 
wheat) bread loaves, i chose the complet, which was the golden kind. 
Anyone on the list have experience making bread with semolina flour? 
I imagine it behaves differently from the usual white...

NOTE 2: The author gives no information on how to store khlii or on 
how long it keeps.

Anahita