Arabic

Fennel, not many people immediately are taken by it. Unless you let the fennel stew for so long that it loses everything that doesn’t make it tasty and magnifies everything that makes it very tasty. The spinach sauce is the star in the firmament.

Frying pointed cabbage is of course a very good idea anyway. Along with pieces of dried fig, a mixture of coriander powder/coriander seed/sumac does the rest. It turns pointed cabbage into the attention-grabber of your menu. The hummus is a nice extra that brings everything together.

Kibbeh is to the Middle East what stampot is to the Netherlands. It is a dish with which you make a kind of ‘cake’ of bulgur with (sweet) potato or pumpkin for example and an intermediate layer of fried vegetables, nuts, herbs, spices. Here is a delicious hearty version with leeks and potato. Very surprising in taste. You could almost eat it as a pancake.

Red peppers become so deliciously sweet if you simmer and braise them for a long time. It makes a tagine dish so delicious. Here the peppers still get help from medjouldadels, the kings of dates. In recent months, since our last visit to Morocco, I have started to use even more dried fruit in dishes. With potatoes, in kibbehs and also here with the bell pepper. Truly a find of Moroccan and Middle Eastern cuisine. The pine nuts give the earthy character and the coriander seed in abundance gives it its own signature. It was ‘the favourite’ of many guests when we had this in the menu at the beginning of September. Now at your home.