Ahh, dearest readers I apologise for my silence. I was actually on vacation for a bit, and the posts I had all ready to go in my absence I geniously forgot to set up to post. Now reading them I see some improvements I’d like to make before they see the light of day. They’ll be worth it, I promise.
If you didn’t notice my absence… ouch.
So yes, vacation. Spain and Morocco. Almost a month of sampling other foods, having other people cook for me, and being able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others’ culinary labours. Food tourism has become one of my favourite things. As much as I’m all about getting great pictures of landmarks, landscapes, and the outlandish (and I have almost 4500 photos from this trip alone to prove it) there’s something far more soul-satisfying when you get under the skin of the food of a culture. It stays with you in a way that a blurry picture of the Mona Lisa obscured by a busload of Japanese tourists never could.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I think it also does the same for the stomach. As much as I love trying new things there’s something to be said for finding oneself amongst familiar foods. Even the most trashy of foods can be of great comfort to the homesick. For example, one evening it just felt like too much effort to even attempt to order in rudimentary Spanish, so we found ourselves back in the hotel room cramming our faces with potato chips, chocolate bars and cola. Now THAT is self catering at it’s finest!
But now back home, and staring at pots, pans, utensils and basic ingredients and trying to figure out what the hell to do with it all. My head is crammed with new ideas, but actually executing them feels like a daunting task. I’ve gotten away with a few nights of take out, but now it’s time to dive back in. Smack the kitchen around, call it dirty names, forget to call it the next day. You get the picture.
I’m reluctant to completely let go of the vacation experience, and as such my intent is to pay an homage to Morocco.
So tonight I made a simple chermoula to marinate 2 gorgeous wodges of halibut.
Basically, according to Wikipedia a chermoula “is often made of a mixture of herbs, oil, lemon juice, pickled lemons, garlic, cumin, and salt. It may also include onion fresh coriander, ground chili peppers, black pepper, or saffron.” Since I was making do with my post-holiday limited resources I scaled it back to the simplest possible variation.
2 cloves garlic finely minced
small handful parsley
about ½ tsp cumin
olive oil (enough to make a paste)
Salt & pepper
You could take the easy route and blitz these in a food processor, bash them together with a mortar and pestle, or give them a martini-esque shaking with a Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker as I did.
Then the halibut got basted in the above mixture, and ignored for a while.
For the veggies:
½ red onion, chopped
1 small eggplant, peeled and cut into large cubes
about a dozen cherry or grape tomatoes halved
Next up, I cracked out the tagine I bought from one of the food souks in Marrakech. Onto the stovetop it went on its maiden voyage. Half a red onion (chopped) got tossed into the base, along with a dollop of oil.
When the onions had lost the bulk of their crunch I added the eggplant pieces, as well as another splosh of oil (eggplants are thirsty bastards), thoroughly mixed, covered, and let the eggplant and onion get hot and heavy for a bit.
When the veggies had softened and absorbed the oil, as well as the liquid they’d sweat out, I pushed them to the side and placed the halibut on the bottom of the tagine. The veggies then got replaced, scattering the tomatoes over the top as well.
A quick splash of freshly boiled water (enough to come about half way up the fish. Hot stock would’ve been fine, too), a re-sprinkle of salt, cover popped back on, and this was about 10-15 minutes from completion.
It’s okay to peek while cooking, a) you’ll need to check if the fish is cooked through, and b) you want to be certain the pan hasn’t gone dry before the fish is cooked. Add more water if necessary.
You’ll note I don’t have a photo of the finished product. That would have something to do with a jet-lag related brain fart, as well as the fact that I was so ravenously hungry at this point that taking additional photos was the very last thing on my mind. Seriously, when hunger AND the need for sleep tag team in this body it is one discombobulated mess.
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