
Tajine de poisson m'charmel — Essaouira, Morocco
Essaouira, Morocco
0
In Essaouira, the fish is chosen at the port, from the stalls of the blue boats, and cooked in a tagine. M'charmel means "with chermoula": the whole fish or its steaks are marinated for an hour in the cilantro, garlic, cumin, paprika, and lemon sauce, then cooked over low heat on a bed of vegetables, with green olives and preserved lemon.
Sea bream, sea bass, or John Dory all work well; in Essaouira, it will often be whatever the tide brought in. The tagine is served straight from the dish, with bread for the sauce.
Preparation
- 01
Prepare the chermoula by blending cilantro, garlic, cumin, paprika, ginger, lemon juice, salt, and oil. Coat the fish with it and let marinate for 1 hour.
- 02
Blanch the carrots for 5 minutes. Line the tagine with the carrots, place the fish on top, and cover with tomatoes, pepper, olives, and preserved lemon.
- 03
Pour in the remaining marinade and half a glass of water. Cover and cook for 35 minutes over low heat.
- 04
Serve in the tagine, with bread.
Where this version sits
A single, final coordinate: Essaouira, Morocco. Another version of the same dish, elsewhere, gets its own point.
Photo: Jobsdev — CC BY-SA 4.0
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