Tajin (1898)

[Laurence Horn]

At 12:14 AM -0400 5/10/02, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>*Tajin literally means "the dish."  It is generally a greasy stew of
>mutton, soaked with rancid butter and saffron, and seasoned with
>asafaetida.
>...
>(This is a little earlier "tajin" than posted before...Google shows
>an even divide for "tagine" and "tajine"...My local Food Emporium
>has a whole shelf for "Near East" Brand couscous...I re-checked some
>earlier books on Morocco, and I'm not getting much besides "dish" or
>"stew" for "tajin"--ed.)

I always thought "tagine" (or its variants) was originally the name
for the pan it was cooked in; obviously a frequent sort of transfer
within the culinary lexicon.  But it appears it may be (instead or in
addition?) the dish it was originally served in.  Here's one current
site, for the Moroccan restaurant "Original Tagines" on Dorset Street
in London, courtesy of "Gusto--the Dining Club for Gay Men" which
checked it out a couple of years ago:

http://www.geocities.com/gusto_dining/original_tagines.htm
A tagine is a round dish with pointed conical lid made of brown half
glazed earthenware.

Larry

P.S.  Looks very tasty.  Here's a capsule of the tagines on the menu,
which of course may have changed since then.  Decisions, decisions.

Tagine Chicken Kedra £10.75 - Chicken cooked in ginger saffron sauce
and caramelised onion and raisins - yummy!

Cous Cous Imperial £11.95 - Cous cous with lamb, chicken, mergez,
vegetables, and kedra. Huge. Unfinished, but not for lack of effort.

Tagine Lamb & Peas £11.50 - Lamb cooked in ginger, saffron sauce with
garden peas and potatoes.

Tagine Lamb Pear £10.75 - Lamb in black pepper sauce, garnished with
caramelised pear.

Tagine Fish Shermoula £10.25 - fish of the day cooked in fresh herbs,
mild spices, lemon and green olives.

Tagine Lamb with caramelised prunes and almonds £11.65 - Richard
declared this to be excellent!

Tagine Kefta £9.50 - minced lamb in a tomato sause with cumin,
paprika, fresh herbs and egg