 We all have our favourite foods and styles of cooking; and we all tend to stick to the tried and tested when booking a table at our favourite restaurant.
But, if you’re looking for something completely different, few cuisines can compare with the exotic flavours of North African cooking. Each country, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco … and each region has its own specialities and subtle variations; all, however can boast a rich culinary heritage. African social life, to this day, revolves around food and the delights of dining with family and friends. All festive occasions centre upon a vast array of mouth-watering, imaginative dishes that have been painstakingly prepared from local, natural ingredients, fresh herbs and exotic spices.
Fortunately, North Africa is blessed with some of the most fertile regions on earth: a panoply of succulent fruits, a huge diversity of grain and vegetable crops, that are largely unspoilt by modern agricultural methods. Enthusiasts, worldwide, argue that the meat, game and fish used in quality North African recipes are some of the tastiest in the world. The dazzling variety of fresh vegetables including aubergines, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, often cooked in rich meat sauces, or the ubiquitous tagine stews, an abundance of fresh fruits, dried fruit, grains, nuts are all guaranteed to whet the appetite of even the most jaded Western palate. Subtle herbs and spices, predominantly cinnamon, cumin, ginger, fennel, parsley, garlic, thyme and turmeric feature as staples and complement the subtle flavours of grains, couscous and chick peas. Tasty appetizers made up of small parcels of minced lamb, beef, seafood or vegetables combined with parsley and an egg, wrapped in thin pastry called brik or warka and deep fried are utterly delicious; phyllo-style “lookalikes” simply cannot compete. There’s so much to tantalise the taste buds.
And the joy of it is that in recent years an increasing number of restaurants in the UK are now serving up authentic, quality North African recipes that are every bit as good as the genuine article – in many cases, far superior! It really is impossible to list all the culinary delights, so here are just a few “amuse bouches” to look out for when visiting a North African style restaurant:
• Watermelon salad and oranges with cinnamon
• Fava bean soup
• Harira soup (thick rich soup consumed to signal the end of the Fast of
Ramadan)
• Babakanoosh (roasted aubergine with a roasted garlic dip)
• Pigeon with dates
• Chicken tagine with dried apricots and raisins
• Almond and pigeon pastilla (almond and pigeon pie)
• Cheese and pistachio briouats (in brik, a phyllo-style pastry)
• Kefta (minced meat) briouats
• Vegetable tagine typically made of onions, potatoes, courgettes, tomatoes,
carrots, parsley, coriander, thyme and cumin
• Fish Ras el Hanout (cooked in an aromatic blend of 27 spices!)
• Tfaya (lamb) couscous with raisins and honey
• M’hamer (chicken tagine)
• Mechoui (Moroccan leg of lamb where the meat falls off the bone)
• Steamed stuffed free range chicken
• Caramelised onion tagine
• Kefta (meatballs in sauce)
• Chicken tagine with olives and lemons
• Brania (aubergines with cinnamon)
• Beef couscous with whole grain wheat
• Chicken in k’dra sauce (made of butter, almonds, onions, parsley, pepper
and saffron)
• Trout chermoula (marinated in olive oil, coriander, parsley, onion, garlic
and aromatic spices)
• Chebbakiya (honey cake or Ramadan cake)
• Sweet or savoury stuffed Rghaifs (pancakes)
• Gazelle’s Horns (sweet pastries filled with a rich almond mixture).
Looking for a London restaurant that specialises in North African cooking and in many cases some belly dancing thrown in for good measure? Try:
• Al Casbah: 42 Hampstead High Street, NW31QE
• Araqbesque: 12 New Quebec Street, London, W1H 7RP
• Ayoush: 77 Wigmore Street, Marylebone, London, W1H 9LJ
• Casablanca: 27 Queensway, Bayswater, London, W2 4JQ
• Magreb House: 225b Old Kent Road, London, SE1 5LU
• Maison Touaregue: 23/24 Greek Street, Soho, London, W1V 5LG
• Medea Restaurant & Brasserie: 561 Kings Road, Fulham, London, SW6 2EB
• Momo Restaurant Familial: 25 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BH
• Original Tagines: 7a Dorset Street, London, W1U 6QN
• Pasha: 1 Gloucester Road, London, SW7 4PP
• Safir Restaurant: 116 Heath Street, London, NW3 1DR
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