Tajine

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A tajine dish as served in Marrakesh.

A vegetable tajine dish as served in a London restaurant.

A Moroccan potter making tajines.

A tajine (tah-zheen) is a North African dish (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) as well as a special pot for preparing this dish. The traditional tajine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts; a bottom which is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome shaped cover that rests inside of the bottom during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensate to the bottom. With the cover removed, the bottom is open and shallow for easy serving at the table.

Tajines dishes are slow cooked at low temperatures, resulting in tender, falling-off-the-bone meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. The cover has a knob-like formation at its top to facilitate removing it. While simmering, the cover can be lifted off without the aid of a mitten, enabling the cook to inspect the main ingredients, add vegetables, move things around, or add additional braising liquid, if needed.

Recently, European manufacturers have created tajines with heavy cast iron bottoms that can be fired on a stovetop at high heat. This permits browning meat and vegetables before cooking. While the similar Dutch oven (a cast iron pot with a tight cover) braises most efficiently in the oven, the tajine braises best on the stovetop.

Famous tajine dishes are mqualli (chicken and citron), kefta (meatballs and tomato) and mrouzia (lamb, raisins and almonds).

Other ingredients for a tajine include any product that braises well: fish, pigeon, beef, dried fruits, olives and vegetables. Herbs used in traditional tajine dishes are cinnamon, saffron, ginger, garlic and peppers.