PAULA WOLFERT, the most learned of food writers, argues that the greatest national cuisines depend on four factors—‘an abundance of fine ingredients; a variety and confluence of cultural influences; a great civilisation; and a refined palace life’. France and China immediately spring to mind, Japan, Thailand and India, too. These words are written in perhaps her most magisterial tome, The Food of Morocco. And as she so rightly says, Morocco ‘has been blessed with all four’.
Yet for me, at least, Moroccan food is the most mysterious and most misunderstood of cuisines. Sure, we all know about tagines and harissa, preserved lemons, couscous and that enigmatic blending of the savoury and sweet. But it’s that last mélange that seems to polarise opinion. Take the great bastila of Fes, the sort of intricate, extravagant and magnificent dish devoured by the sultans and pashas of old, their fingers bejewelled, their appetites unsullied by restraint. This is courtly food at its finest: spiced, shredded pigeon, enveloped in a lemon-sharp custard and held in the crisp, paper-thin embrace of warqa, ‘the most prestigious pastry,’ according to Ms Wolfert. On top, flurries of icing sugar, cinnamon and daintily sweetened almonds. Made properly, it’s a multisensory revelation. Done badly, it’s plain wrong.
Denne historien er fra October 23, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 23, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
