African

A North African appetizer full of rich sensuous flavors.

In this Tunisian salad the blandness of zucchini is lifted by the very rich flavoring.

Every country in the Middle East has a roast-pepper-and-tomato combination. This is an Egyptian one.

A North African salad.

I love this Moroccan salad. The eggplants are boiled, not fried, so it is not oily. It is best made several hours in advance so that the flavors have time to penetrate.

Another Moroccan orange salad. Argan is the preferred oil for it in Morocco, but you could also try hazelnut, walnut, or sesame oil.

The sauce is a splendid example of the hot, spicy, and sweet combinations which are a thrilling feature of North African cooking. Serve it cold with bread.

The delicate nutty argan oil is particularly good in this spicy Moroccan salad. It is made from the nut in the fruit of the argan tree, which grows exclusively in southwestern Morocco.

Tomatoes are banadoura in Arabic and tamatem in Egypt.

This strong-tasting Egyptian salad made with feta cheese is good with ful medames (page 328).

For this flavorful Egyptian dip, buy the split fava beans which are sold with their brown skins removed and look creamy white.

This dearly loved Egyptian specialty is a loose mixture of nuts and spices in a dry, crushed, but not powdered form, usually eaten with bread dipped in olive oil. In Egypt it is served at breakfast or as an appetizer. It is a very personal and individual mixture which varies from one family to another. On a recent visit to Australia I was amazed to find that my mother’s recipe had made it fashionable there. Wineries were inspired to produce their own adaptations of “Aussie dukkah” with locally grown seeds, different spices, and even ground chili pepper and now sell it in elegant packages, while restaurants put some out on little plates for people to dip in. It will keep for months stored in a jar. To serve, pour a little olive oil on small slices of bread and sprinkle generously with the mixture. Or provide Arab bread for people to tear pieces and dip into bowls of olive oil and do’a.

In this method, which is considered the most prestigious and gives the best results, no water is used. The lemon juice, which is the pickling liquor, can be reused for further batches.

Pastries are served with mint tea. Spearmint is considered the best for tea, but other varieties can be used. In Morocco, they drink the tea very sweet with a large number of sugar lumps in the teapot, but you can suit your taste.

These are good to serve with coffee or tea.

In Morocco, this is the most popular sweetmeat. The almond stuffing is colored green to give the semblance of pistachios, which are considered more prestigious. Use slightly moist dates such as the Tunisian Deglet Nour or Californian varieties.

This splendid Moroccan pastry filled with a ground almond paste is a very long coil, hence the name m’hencha, meaning snake. It is stunning to look at and exquisite to eat. In Morocco, it is made with the pastry called warka or brick (see page 29). This is available vacuum-packed and frozen in North African stores, but turns out tough if it is baked and not fried. It is better to use fillo pastry. I give very large quantities because it is the kind of thing to make for a great festive occasion, but of course you can make it smaller and reduce the quantities accordingly. The finished “snake” will be about 14 inches in diameter. If your oven is not large enough to take it, you can make two small ones. You need large fillo sheets measuring about 19 × 12 inches (and if the fillo is frozen, you will need to allow 3 hours for it to defrost, see page 9).

The most famous of Moroccan pastries are best known abroad by their French name, cornes de gazelle, or gazelle’s horns. They are stuffed with ground almond paste and curved into horn-shaped crescents. They are ubiquitous wedding party fare.

For this delicately scented fruit salad, have a mix of fruit chosen from three or four of the following: peaches, nectarines, apricots, bananas, plums, grapes, apples, pears, strawberries, mangoes, melon, pineapple, dates, pomegranate seeds.

This is the most common Moroccan dessert; it is always appealing and perfect to serve after a rich meal.