Tagine and Clay Pot Cooking 
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Along about this time of year, I start craving rich, hearty dishes – dishes redolent of savory, pungent spices that fragrance the house all day with their perfume. Ahhh, Fall. Or, as the Swedish might say, Fjäll, which actually means ‘mountain’ and might explain the falling. In any case…
Usually, my hefty Le Creuset french oven (otherwise known as a dutch oven) satisfies my need for a good long braise, but I’ve been wanting to expand my cooking horizons so I thought I’d take a look at some different types of pots and pans.
Tagine Cooking
Often misspelled tangine, the tagine or tajine, is a cooking vessel used in North African cuisines of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Tagine is also the name of the type of dish cooked IN a tagine. If you’re familiar at all with tagine cooking, you’re probably thinking of Moroccan tagine recipes which often include lesser expensive cuts of meat, such as lamb shank, neck or shoulder along with spices, fruits, nuts and sometimes preserved lemons and/or honey. The ingredients are braised for long periods at low temperatures to create a stew of tender meats, vegetables, fruits and nuts in a complex sauce.
The shape of the tagine lid allows the steam from the cooking ingredients to collect and fall back down onto the dish as moisture, leading to very moist and tender dishes. I heart this Le Creuset Moroccan Tagine in Cherry
Clay Pot Cooking
Clay pot cooking has a presence in the Southeast and East Asian cuisines of Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, China, Japan, and Taiwan and the European cuisines of Germany and Spain. Many cultures have their own specific type of clay pot, but they all work basically the same way.
The clay pots are typically soaked in water for 20-30 minutes before the food goes in. Then, the watersoaked pot and its contents are placed in a warm oven and as the pot heats it releases the moisture as steam gently cooking the food. IKEA’s claypot is in the same line as the tagine: STIL. It sells for $29.99 and according to IKEA, will hold a steak casserole. Mmmm, mmm good! All due respect to the Swedes, but I think I’ll search elsewhere for claypot cooking ideas
Have you cooked in one of these wonders? Share your pictures, recipes and stories with me! I want to see, I want to know!
Tags: claypot cooking, IKEA claypot, IKEA tagine, Moroccan tagine, STIL, tagine
I’ve got the STIL tagine but haven’t gotten around to doing much with it. That volcano-shaped lid is something of a storage problem. It’s massive!
I saw it today in the store, and noticed how big it is! You could leave it out casually like you might just be ‘tagining’ anytime now… ;)
Ooh, I love that Le Creuset tagine! I’d buy the Ikea one but I don’t like their mania for non-stick surfaces on everything. Do you know if the Le Creuset is non-stick inside, Susan? (some of their stuff is and some isn’t)
I’m from Singapore, and have grown up on a steady diet of claypot dishes.
The most classic is a Cantonese-style claypot chicken rice made of jasmine rice, chicken pieces (preferably thigh and drumstick with skin on), reconstituted dried shitake mushrooms (more flavourful than fresh ones) and sweet chinese sausages (an acquired taste).
Season chicken with sesame oil, dark and light soy, pepper and ginger. Place on top of uncooked rice in claypot with sliced ginger, sausages and mushrooms, adding all the liquid marinade and extra water/chicken stock to cover everything.
Cook over an open flame for 20 minutes or until rice is done. The slightly burnt bits at the bottom of the pot are the best!
Serve with chopped spring onions, cut red chilli peppers and dark soy drizzled over everything!
My clay pot is a schlemmertop which cannot go on open flame, only in the oven, but I have used it over 20 years; it is great! The original cook from frozen pot> Soak the pot for 20 minutes while you get some onions, carrots, celery, rutabaga or whatever else strikes your fancy, put in your frozen (or not) roast, a little liquid, cover and into a cold oven. Turn the heat on to 425, and in a little over and hour, depending on size, of course, you will have a succulent roast and veg and au jus for the family. Pour it out, and thicken with a little cornstarch if you want gravy. This works for chicken too.
The other thing I do with my clay pot is put it empty into a cold oven, turn the heat on to 450, and leave it to heat for a good half hour. I then place my homemade french bread dough inside, put the lid on and return it to the oven for 15 minutes at 450, lower the heat to 375 for another 20 minutes. Voila French bread! chewy crust, big holes, yummy.