How to Cook in a Moroccan Pot

Cooking a tagine in a tagine is one use for these pots.

Moroccan pots are known as tagines. This is also the name for the dish cooked in the pot, just as a casserole is cooked in a casserole dish. The tagine is a clay pot with a conical-shaped lid featuring a hole in the top of the cone to release steam. Cooking in a Moroccan clay pot is the same as using other pieces of clay cookware. These pots have the added benefit of being decorative enough for serving as well as cooking. Mastering the art of cooking with a Moroccan pot will expand your cooking capabilities.

Things You'll Need

• Skillet
• Heat diffuser
• Tagine
• Oven baking stone

Instructions

1. Brown and saute foods in a skillet before adding them to the tagine, since high heat from browning will damage the tagine.

2. Place a heat diffuser over an electric or ceramic stovetop to prevent damage to the base of the tagine.

3. Cook foods over a medium heat initially in the lidded tagine, and lower the heat for simmering and to finish cooking.

4. Simmer foods in the oven in the covered tagine at 250 to 350 degrees F. Set the tagine on the lowest rack to accommodate the lid. Place a baking stone in the base of the oven before preheating it to act as a heat diffuser for the oven.

References

• "Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking"; Paula Wolfert; 2009
• "Things Cooks Love: Implements, Ingredients, Recipes"; Marie Simmons et al.; 2008
• "Ten: All the Foods We Love and Ten Recipes for Each"; Sheila Lukis et al.; 2008
• "The Tagine Deck"; Joyce Goldstein; 2008