For any traveler who has visited the beauty and culture of Morocco, the rich and exotic flavors of Moroccan food surely comes to mind. Savory, sweet, and sour flavors are prominent in many Moroccan meals. So, it’s no surprise several traditional Moroccan dishes served at the Little Glass House Café in Chiang Mai have become our customer favorites when they are on our specials board:
Traditional Chicken and Lamb Tagine
at our Little Glass House Café
The word tagine refers to the two-part clay cooking pot used by North African cooks, and this style of cooking has been around for a very long time. Do you remember the One Thousand and One Nights? This Arabic-language story collection dates to the 9th century with tagine cooking being featured.
The tagine itself consists of a flat base plate with low sides and a high cone-shaped cover resting on the base. The cover is designed so moisture and flavors travel up the sides of the lid and back down over all the ingredients, creating a self-basting cycle. The tagine helps retain all the unique, natural flavors, as well as maintaining tenderness.
Moroccan cooking is truly an art form that takes plenty of time and patience to get it just right. Chef Boy spent eight years as sous chef in the kitchen at Casablanca, an award-winning restaurant known for its authentic Moroccan and Middle Eastern cuisine at Villa Maroc in Pranburi, Thailand. Along with other creative recipes from around the globe, Chef Boy now serves up these classic Moroccan dishes at the Little Glass House Café.
Our chicken tagine is a sumptuous dish consisting of chicken pieces braised with spices, garlic, onion, olives, and preserved lemons. It’s slow cooked to give this savory chicken stew its complex sweet and sour flavors and spices. True to form, the Café serves our chicken and lamb tagines in traditional Moroccan tagine earthernware.
earthernware, with couscous.
Our authentic lamb tagine stew features sweet and savory ingredients to make a complex dish in a beautifully spiced sauce. To provide the sweetness, this unique dish incorporates dried apricots, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a sprinkling of almonds toasted in butter, while the lamb, saffron and turmeric spices, herbs, tomato paste, scallion garnish, and lemon juice draw out the deep savory taste.
We serve our tagine entrées with couscous, a North African pasta made from finely steamed balls of semolina flour. It’s the perfect addition for these rich Moroccan stews.
Also, a tasty starter to compliment your tagine main is our side dish of homemade mini-pita breads with three tantalizing dipping sauces – Middle Eastern baba ganoush and hummus, and Moroccan zaalouk, ideal for sharing around the table.
So, keep an eye out for our Moroccan chicken and lamb tagines on our specials menu board in the café. Remember, in addition to our regular menu there’s always a new or favorite dish to choose from.
See You Soon and Happy Dining!
