Moroccan cuisine is rich with influences that betray the country’s history as a strategically important place, with distinct Arabic influences laid over more obvious North African traits. There’s also Moorish and European influence in there, too, pointing to Morocco’s closeness to Spain, and its position as a gateway to southern Europe. The tagine is emblematic [...]
A shoulder of lamb is a hefty cut, but it’s cheap and it goes a long way. This method leaves the lamb falling apart, tender from the best part of a day in the oven. It’s very satisfying and relaxing to know that something great is happening in your oven at home whilst you’re out [...]
A pork belly gives a lot of bang for buck. It’s a cheap cut that benefits from simple, hands-off cooking. A few herbs, some salt and pepper and a few hours in a low oven are all you need. First, the joint. A cut from the thick end of the belly weighing between 1 and [...]
I’ve had some success in the past with tagines of lamb or mutton, flavoured with the mysterious North African spice blend, ras-el-hanout. The tagine is suited well to this time of year, when long, slow cooking suddenly seems appropriate again. Ras-el-hanout is the garam masala of the North African and Middle Eastern world, a combination [...]
These are challenging times. The talk at work is of mergers and takeovers, arrears and repossession, cost reduction and redundancy. People are feeling the pinch. A slowly roasted pork belly can’t fail to lift the mood. A cheap, easy and forgiving cut, pork belly is at it’s best when cooked lazily in a low oven, [...]