Maroque Newsletter
Welcome to the latest edition of the Maroque newsletter.
I hope you are enjoying this spell of mild weather, we might as well be sitting in Marrakech - if only!
In this times look at the main ingredients in Moroccan cooking, I explore preserved lemons; a staple of Moroccan cooking.
Although it seems far too early to be thinking about Christmas, it's really only 7 weeks away! Am I the only person that hasn't even thought about presents yet? So many people I talk to have finished their shopping already, but if you haven't we have lots of ideas to help you out.
There are lots of new items on the site, and we have added a section to assist with your seasonal shopping
Preserved Lemons
These are widely used in Moroccan cooking, and essential if your dishes are to taste authentic, but cannot unfortunately be replaced with ordinary lemons or limes.
Moroccan preserved lemons are pickled in brine and have a salty silky taste and texture which is difficult to describe. The peel loses its bitterness and adds a very distinctive flavour to a wide variety of dishes: in many dishes the skin only is used.
Preserved lemons are strangely addictive; stopping using them is more difficult than you think, once you have tried them in a variety of dishes.
In Morocco the thin skinned (doqq) lemon is widely used, along with the tart bergamot (boussera), but any lemon will be fine. Preserving your own lemons is not difficult, but it is time consuming. The recipe below comes from Robert Carrier's A Taste Of Morocco, unfortunately now out of print.
16 small ripe lemons, thin skinned if possible
Coarse salt
Lemon juice
1. Scrub lemons with a stiff brush, then place in a large glass container. Cover with cold water and allow the lemons to soak for 3-5 days, changing the water daily.
2. Drain lemons. Then using the point of a sharp knife, insert knife 6mm/ 1/4 inch from the bud end of each lemon and make four incisions lengthways to within 6mm/ 1/4 inch of the other end. Then cut through incisions in each lemon so that the lemons are cut completely through both sides, but still held together at both ends.
3. Insert 1/4 tsp coarse salt into centre of each lemon, squeezing them open, then arrange lemons in sterilized kilner jars. Sprinkle lemons in each jar with 1tbsp of coarse salt. Add strained juice of 1 lemon to each jar and enough boiling water to cover the lemons.
4. Leave lemons to steep in this mixture for at least 3 weeks before using them. You'll find the salty, oily picking juice is honey thick and highly flavoured this can be used in salad dressings and added to tagines. The lemons will keep in this mixture for up to a year.
5. To use the preserved lemons, remove lemon from jar, and rinse well under cold running water. Cut away pulp from each quarter and discard. Use skin are required in recipe. Never touch preserved lemons in the jar with an oily or greasy spoon, as the fat will spoil the pickling mixture. Don't worry if a white film forms on the preserved lemons in the jar; just rinse off before using.
If you are like me, the above sounds far too much like hard work. We do sell the thin skinned lemons already done in a jar, and if you want to look like you make them yourself, we also have preserved lemons in a kilner jar.
Food
Hanane's Beans
This recipe was kindly given to me by a very good Moroccan friend, and has become a firm favourite in our house. It's a fantastic way to have broad beans.
Ingredients
Serves 4
500g (1 1/4lb) broad beans (frozen are fine)
1/2 preserved lemon, chopped
Good handful of fresh coriander, chopped
Vegetable stock enough to cover the beans
4 gloves of garlic crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of cumin
1. Add the olive oil to a pan and very gently fry the garlic, just enough to remove the raw taste.
2. Add the beans, preserved lemon and coriander to the pan and stir to coat
3. Pour in enough stock to cover the beans.
4. Simmer gently until beans are done, this should only take a few minutes
5. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with a pinch of paprika and cumin
6. Serve with lots of bread to soak up the lovely juice
Site Update
We have lots of new things on the site, including some really funky tables made of henna which look great when illuminated. I only stocked a few to start with, but I have more coming in at the end of November.
Our wooden moucharaby chairs now also come with a very classy chocolate leather seat, unfortunately not cheap but very nice. Our range of henna wall light shades has increased and we have some modern styles to complement the more traditional ones.
I have also found some excellent quality tahini paste. My experience of tahini from health food shops was a bitter rather evil substance, but this is completely different. It tastes and smells fantastic, add to hummus, or mix 50ml of tahini with the juice of a small lemon and 1 clove of crushed garlic, salt to taste, to made a very morish dip, served with warmed pitta bread. The pot is, however, quite ugly!
Seasonal Selection
We hope to help make your Christmas shopping as pain free as possible. We have again added a section to our on-line shop called Seasonal Gifts, and this year I have pulled a collection of items from across our range and grouped them by price, gifts for your home, gifts for foodies, and small gifts.
We are also very happy to make up gift sets specific to you. Please email or phone for details.
Our sister site bhatik has a seasonal section as well, and the cutest elephant tree decoration you have ever seen!
Thank you for your continued support. If you have any comments, ideas, suggestions I would love to hear from you. Please email info@maroque.co.uk.
Kind regards
Julie Woodard
Maroque