When you find yourself in the old city of Rabat, and a charming Moroccan guy in his twenties is eager to sell you a tagine, you can’t help but buy one. You somehow forget that you are a backpacker, and that it will be (nearly) impossible to fit the tagine into your blue Kelty backpack. You find you simply cannot resist this man or his tagine.
Or at least, I couldn’t. Maybe you are made of stronger stuff.And that is how I became obsessed with the famous Moroccan slow cooker known as a tagine. Over the course of 10 years I made countless meals in that tagine. In fact, that tagine was the centerpiece of nearly every dinner party I held for a decade. It traveled with me across the United States and lived in kitchens large and small. I was devastated the day when my beloved and irreplaceable tagine finally gave up the ghost. Crockery eventually cracks, afterall.
The iconic Moroccan tagine
Imagine, then, my delight when I moved to Cairo in 2016 and discovered the Egyptian equivalent of the tagine. The Egyptian model is a little less striking (no fancy top) and goes by a slightly different name (tagn) but it is no less effective as a slow cooker. I bought one the moment I arrived in Egypt and have used it religiously ever since to make anything from stew to sourdough bread to yoghurt.
The mini tugn is perfect for pot pies, etc.
My friend Zeinab understands the way of the tagn and wields hers to create insanely delicious food. I was a beneficiary of her magical culinary arts just this last week while attending the Al Sorat farm summer camp, where she is serving as camp director and head chef.
Chef Zeinab, serving home cooked meals at the Al Sorat camp
Pictured below is one of Zeinab’s signature tagn meals – slow-cooked potatoes (batatas). Served with salad and Egyptian-style rice – a tagn of batatas is an astonishingly simple yet satisfying dish.
On a side note, the Al Sorat summer camp is a blast. My kids attended for two weeks in a row; one week simply wasn’t enough. Al Sorat has all the things: lush grass to play on, a pool to swim in, horses to ride, and lovable dogs to cuddle.
Horseback riding lessons at the Al Sorat summer camp! PC: Bryanna Hunt
Well, I don’t know about you, but all this talking about batatas has me hungry. Let’s all head over to Zeinab’s for a tagn of batatas! Bil hana wa shifa!
