My Moroccan friend Hakim hosted a Moroccan dinner party at his place to celebrate something that has to do with the month of the Ramadan. I said I will bring my favorite Moroccan dish for the event, which is Chraime – white fish in spicy tomato sauce. I kept my promise and cooked this dish for everyone to enjoy, but it was my own version of the “classical” dish. A real Moroccan will possibly not approve of what I did but I just kept it a secret until just now, and until after they were pleased with the result.
Some of the ingredients I used: a lot of garlic, paprika, cumin, onion, cilantro, tomato pulp, fresh tomatoes, lemon, Thai red curry paste and liquid cream. The fish was some kind of catfish / shark thing that I found in china town. Very un-traditional.
I used my biggest pot for that. Onions and garlic goes first, thinly chopped.
After a while added the spicy paprika, cumin, red curry paste. A lot of each.
All the tomato sauce, some water, some sugar, salt… let cook for a while.
Slices of lemon, and kept tasting to adjust the seasoning,
Drown the fish slices inside
While cooking for about 15 minutes I added some liquid cream. Why? I went to a French cooking school, what did you expect??
Each pot has its cover but mine did not so I took it like this, with aluminum foil in a bag. Luckily Hakim lives just 7 minutes by foot from my place.
Only when I got there I added the cilantro so it will keep it’s green color.
The Moroccan dinner started after the sunset (around 21:40 in Paris). Starting with a table full of goodness:
This is just like the Yaman’s Malawach only it’s Moroccan.
Beghrir – Moroccan pancakes
The traditional Harira soup which is eaten every night to break the fast.
Hakim made a wonderful one, with a nice tartness but very dense with flavors. It’s very healthy but so fulfilling (even more if you eat it with a boiled egg), I thought no one will have room for the fish.
Some more food came to the table: Tzaktzuka- zucchini salad and tomatoes and red bell pepper salad – both were lovely and well made, but different from our Israeli shakshuka.
Chraime time
This cat fish worked very well with the sauce surprisingly. I liked it very much.
After all this, the main course of course!
Chicken with peas Tajine
Chicken and potatoes Tajin.
For dessert we had a lot of traditional Moroccan sweets and cookies and also:
Tawni’s Tarte aux pommes – delicious, hand made dough.
The whole table… It was a fun and delicious dinner!!
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