Making the perfect tagine
In my negative review of Comptoir Libanais, I lamented the struggle to find a good Tagine dish in London.
Tired of this failure, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I’m a fan of Felicity Cloake’s guides in The Guardian, “How to cook the perfect …”. Whilst I don’t always agree with her tastes, she explains the different debates she considered when making her dish, and highlights alternative approaches.
I followed her recipe quite closely this time, but used chicken stock rather than just water (300ml not 175ml). I also increased all the spices about 30%, added one more onion and some squash. With the benefit of hindsight, I would also add a few more cloves of Garlic and 3 more preserved lemons. Preserved lemons are the key ingredient. Finally, I would caution against excessive cooking – I reduced the tangy sauce a bit too much.
Overall, the Tagine was a great success and the leftovers were the envy of work colleagues. Not the perfect Tagine yet, but some progress at least.
