Morocco - Tagine cooking and eating

We got a tagine when we bought a table which is being shipped back

Prior to visiting Morocco, I knew that a meal cooked in a Tagine was a traditional way to eat.  I was not surprised then that most of the meals we ate were cooked in a Tagine and we had a pretty large variety of Tagine cooked/served meals.  I long for those meals now that we are back from that magical trip just over 3 weeks.

It really makes so much sense, and is like a crock pot is some ways.  Put the ingredients in a pot, and start the cooking.  It is also not exactly like a crock pot.  Most of the Tagines we were served were a beautiful shape, with beautiful covers.  There was a bit of drama each time we were served as the server removed the lid and the steam started rising out of the food.  Sometimes the vegetables were added as the last layer, and covered the rest of the ingredients and were laid at an angle rising toward the center.  Usually we were eating at a table, the Tagine was put in the middle of us, and we shared the serving dish.

Moroccans do not eat with a fork and knife but rather take a small piece of bread and dip it in the sauce from the Tagine and then pick up a morsel of meat or vegetable.  Other culture do not use utensils so I ask "Why do we have to have metal utensils with which to eat?"

In our lunch home visit, our table was set at the far end of the room, and the family ate at another table.  We had forks and spoons at our places but they did not.  Their two year old, Fatima, spotted our utensils and non-verbally started gesturing that she wanted our utensils.  They fetched her a spoon, but NO she wanted a fork, so they fetched her a fork.  At that point one of our members said "Maybe we should try to eat with bread and forget about the utensils."  It was one of those moments on the trip where we kept an open mind and experimented with their culture.

Fatima and Ali - her wanting the fork

At the end of the meal, the person whose initial reaction was "That would be pretty hard, and I don't think I can do that." said "The food tasted much better eaten this way."

There are a lot of efficiencies in Tagine cooking and serving.  You can cook it slowly, and it tastes better with all the ingredients cooking together.  There is a lot less wasted food, and you have portion control.  It is a more intimate experience and seems like the food tastes better.  Less dishes to wash, etc.

When we got back to the US and ordered our first humongous meal in NYC, I sighed a deep sigh.

We got a tagine in Morocco, and when we got back home, we cooked a few times in the tagine to keep the experience alive for a bit longer.  We probably will cook some in the tagine and bring those memories back, and probably have a more intimate meal than we usually do.  And eat with just bread and our hands.