Sophie Conran Tagine
We are delighted to introduce a beautiful tagine from Portmeirion’s Sophie Conran Collection. Perfect for slow cooking, it can be used on the stovetop or in the oven. The base also doubles up as a superb serving dish, allowing you to go straight from oven to table.
The Sophie Conran tagine is the newest item in her awardwinning collection from Portmeirion, and was recently short-listed by the Giftware Association as the 2011 Gift of the Year in the kitchen & dining category.
Try Sophie Conran’s delicious recipe for Chicken, Olive & Preserved Lemon Tagine.
The perfect collection for contemporary living: make everyday a beautiful day with Sophie Conran from Portmeirion tableware. Developed by Sophie Conran, the collection is delicate and practical, and each piece is able to withstand the rigors of modern life, moving with ease from the table to the dishwasher, the freezer to the oven. Multi-functionality is central to the oven-totableware collection with each and every piece being as beautiful on the table as it is practical in the kitchen.
Perfect for entertaining or for everyday use, as mixing bowls become salad bowls, measuring jugs morph into serving pieces and the roasting dishes can take centre stage on the table. From sumptuous soups to a quick bowl of cereal, the Sophie Conran collection has been designed to work in any setting. The main tableware collection comes in white with accessorizing pieces available in four contemporary colours: biscuit, sage, celadon and forget-ne-not.
From the Kitchen to the Table stocks a broad selection of items from the Sophie Conran collection.
Cooking with Tagines!
Moroccan cuisine is considered to be one of the most diverse cuisines in the world, owing to the mix of its Berber, Spanish, Corsican, Portuguese, Moorish, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, African and Jewish cultural influences. Tagines are used in Moroccan cuisine as a way to slow-cook foods at low temperatures, and to infuse meals with strong aromatic flavours. Spices are also used extensively in Moroccan food. And while there are many traditional foods in Morocco (including couscous, harira soup and tagines), Moroccan cooking leaves a lot up to the cook’s instinct, especially in regards to spicing and flavouring, so let imagination be your guide as you create your own tagine recipes.
Every city in Morocco has its own version of tagine, featuring some of their favourite ingredients, including fish, chicken, lamb, as well as a wide variety of locally produced vegetables, fruits, olives, lemons, herbs and spices. It is said that food cooked in a tagine can result in the epitome of flavour, with mouth-watering juices keeping the meal moist and flavourful, as a result of the slowcooking process. While tagines can be prepared ahead of time and quickly reheated, the best results are achieved when prepared and served immediately.
Ras Al-Hanut (Moroccan Spice Mix)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground cardamon seed
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground cloves
Experiment with the blend to suit your own tastes. Consider adding allspice, anise, mace or peppers to the mix! Ras Al-Hanut (best of shop) is as personal as the person preparing it, and the mix is often dependent on your own personal preferences in regards to intensity and flavour! Store the mix in a jar, remembering that the while the flavour will remain the same, the intensity will fade over time.
Some of our favourite Moroccan recipes
Chicken with Preserved Lemon & Olives Tagine
Did You Know?
Moroccan cuisine is greatly influenced by the country’s long history of colonizers and immigrants.
The Berbers, the first inhabitants of Morocco, introduced the traditional Moroccan dishes of tagine and couscous, which are still staple dishes today.
It is common for Moroccans to eat using their fingers, utilizing bread as a utensil.
The word tagine (or tajine) is derived from the Greek word “teganon” which means frying pan. It is believed to date back to the time of Greek rule in North Africa.
Harira, a Moroccan soup, is served to break the fast during the month of Ramadan.
Morocco is often referred to as the land of spices.
Ras al-hanut (meaning “best of the shop”) is a common spice blend used in many Moroccan dishes. The blend varies but usually includes cardamon, nutmeg, anise, mace, cinnamon, ginger, peppers and turmeric.
Moroccan cooking is based on the use of locally produced ingredients including fruits and vegetables, as well as lamb, beef, chicken and seafood.
The most common drink in Morocco is green tea with mint.