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Welcome to Maroque's Summer newsletter Welcome to Maroque's summer newsletter! The sun is shining; the temperature is pleasant, it's such an optimistic time of year! (Does it show I was a June baby?) My poor lawn has a Moroccan look to it, with so little rain, but there should be lots of opportunity for barbeques and al fresco eating, and sipping chilled drinks outside in an evening: all things seem possible at this time of year. I have an interesting new spice to tell you about: Mahlab. It has a fascinating taste and I have created a crumble recipe to try it out! I know this isn't really a crumble time of year, but it uses strawberries and you can have it with ice cream, if you really have to... Some pretty new painted furniture has arrived, along with some hand-thrown Moroccan tagines, and we have a new very big lamp in stock. |
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Mahlab Mahlab is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of the St Lucie Cherry, used for centuries in the Middle East and the surrounding areas as a sweet and sour, nutty addition to breads, cheese, and biscuits. The taste is quite subtle, with notes of cherry and almond. Some describe it as resembling marzipan, and it is often one of the spices used in Baharat or Lebanese seven spice. Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumble with Mahlab A family favourite crumble is given a new dimension with the addition of this aromatic Middle Eastern spice, adding a subtle taste of almonds and cherries to the topping.
For the crumble topping:
For the filling: 1. Add the rhubarb and sugar to a large saucepan and a small splash of water, heat gently for about 5 minutes. Add the strawberries and mix well, cover and simmer for a further 3 to 4 minutes. Take off the heat and stir gently and set aside until ready to assemble the crumble. Pre heat the oven to 180C, gas mark 4. 2. Put the flour in a large bowl and add the butter, rub the butter into the flour lightly using your finger-tips until the mixture is combined and resembles crumbs. Add the sugar and mahlab and mix well to make sure the spice is evenly mixed in. 3. Put the fruit filling into either a 1.75 litre pie dish or 6 ramekins, and sprinkle the crumble mixture over the fruit, spreading out evenly with a fork. 4. Bake in an oven for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is lightly golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard. Serves 6 |
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Site updates We have some new Moroccan painted furniture in stock in quite subtle shades, very pretty. I have also got back in stock, after an absence of quite a few years, some hand-thrown traditional Moroccan tagines. They are very heavy based, quite rustic, but give a very authentic taste. Also just arrived is a huge lamp, in the right setting this would be a jaw dropper! A competition - win a summer barbeque set! Win a traditional hand thrown Moroccan tagine, a brazier and a set of Moroccan kebab skewers, just what you need for some summer entertaining! The brazier doubles up as a mini barbeque, great to take to the beach, or in the garden. And the taxing question this time is: What colour is the first Maroque cookbook? Just email the answer to me at sales@maroque.co.uk for a chance to win. Congratulations to Steve G on winning the tea set from the last competition! |
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Thank you for your continued support. If you have any comments, ideas, or suggestions I would love to hear from you. Please email info@maroque.co.uk. You can keep up to date on news and happenings in an informal way on our Facebook page, or catch the latest foodie news on Twitter. Kind regards
Julie Woodard
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