THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503020041
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEREMIAH CRONIN, SPECIAL TO SUNDAY FLAVOR
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
MOST COOKS today are familiar with couscous, a grain that's traditional of Moroccan food, but that's now found on supermarket shelves across America.
Perhaps not so familiar are the slow-simmered stews called tajins, or harira, a hearty main-course soup made in three parts, then mixed.
These and other foods of Northwest Africa are becoming popular with adventurous American cooks and in trendy restaurants. And with good reason.
The foods are fragrant, earthy, satisfying.
Northwest Africa - particularly Morocco - has been a culinary crossroads for centuries. Situated at the Pillars of Hercules and extending south and east along the seacoast, through forests and desserts, its well-developed cuisine retains ancient influences.
Fez, a cultural center for the region and perfecter of many traditional dishes, was founded in the 9th century and combines Arab and Berber influences.
Over the centuries, the area became a star in the vibrant Islamic culture of the western Mediterranean that included both Fez and Andalusian Spain.
Histories from the 14th century describe ingredients familiar to modern-day cooks: milk and other dairy products, and fruits and vegetables, most notably carrots and turnips.
Meat was eaten infrequently but the favorites were mutton, followed by beef and sometimes goat. Poultry included chickens, pigeons and, after the discovery of the Americas, turkey.
Even then, recipes were considered ancient - combining elements of the cultures of the Berbers, Arabs, Andalusians and even the Romans and Phoenicians who established outposts in the area. FIRST-TIME HIT
I tried my first Northwest African dish about six years ago, when my wife and I held a New Year's gathering that featured offerings from each of the seven continents.
While searching through our cookbook collection for something from Africa, we found a recipe in Claudia Roden's ``Mediterranean Cookery,'' for Lamb Tagine with Prunes. An ardent fan of lamb, I made it the main course, served over couscous.
By the close of that course, our Lamb Tagine was gone, and all the available bread had been used for sopping up the richly flavored sauce created by the sweet, peppery stew.
Since then, we have made variations of this dish, while we have come to enjoy the interesting flavor combinations of this cuisine.
Moroccan food can be broken into the food of the streets and that of the home or more formal setting.
Hendrik de Leeuw in ``Crossroads of the Mediterranean'' (Hanover House, 1954) describes the snacks and sweets he found in the marketplace: Kebabs were made of slivers of meat and smaller bits of fat rolled in chopped parsley. This was pounded together while salt and cumin were added, laced onto a stick and slow-roasted over a charcoal fire.
Couscous, de Leeuw said, could be had with a fiery piquant sauce as an accompaniment. Carrying on with the spicy hot theme were small sausages laced with fel-fel, a hot pepper.
To cool the palate were desserts of cakes and confections made with honey, dates, oil and caraway seeds, or succulent red grapes. THE TYPICAL DIFFA
The diffa is the meal Moroccans offer guests at home or banquets. A description provides entertaining ideas for use of the recipes that follow.
The meal takes place on a gorgeous rug, and seating is on the floor at a low table. Guests and family remove their shoes as they head to their places.
To begin the meal, a bowl of water is brought around the table and hands are washed. This is important, as your right hand is your eating utensil. The left hand is not used for eating, and its appearance at the table is considered a grave insult.
The revelers are provided with kesrah, a round flat bread to use as both food and utensil, and the main course is served. Typical fare in this portion of the meal may include a tajin, chicken with lemon, mechoui, b'stila (a pigeon or chicken pie) or a couscous.
Before eating, the host pronounces the blessing Bismallah. Small dishes of salt and ground cumin are provided as condiments.
Each diner takes a piece of meat or vegetable in hand, dips it into the salt or cumin and pops the morsel into his mouth. If sauce is present, the bread is used to sop it up.
The meal ends with fruit, then the table is cleared of all the remnants of the meal. The event is closed as the basin is passed for a post-meal washing of the hands.
After the meal, the host performs something of a Moroccan tea ceremony.
With flourish and aplomb, he brings forth a tray with teapot, tea glasses and three bowls containing green tea, fresh mint leaves and sugar. A dose of green tea is placed in the pot and boiling water is poured over the top.
Several sugar cubes are dropped through the narrow neck of the teapot, followed by the tamping of mint into the mixture. The master of ceremonies closes the lid and waits a few minutes, conversing with the guests.
With further flourish, the brew is taste-tested and, upon meeting the approval of its maker, is poured into the tea glasses from the highest height the master can manage while still keeping it in the glasses.
Courtesy requires that the tea is consumed in small sips, and additional offerings are consumed until each has had his third glass.
As with any cuisine, you can acquire a feel for Northwest African by following a few recipes to establish typical combinations and then experimenting boldly.
MEMO: Jeremiah Cronin is a free-lance writer and avid cook living in Norfolk.
All recipes with this article were kitchen-tested by the writer.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
TAMARA VONINSKI/Staff
Couscous, a traditional grain on Moroccan tables, is making its way
into many American meals. Dates also are a favorite Northwest
African ingredient.
by CNB