Dining in Casablanca, Morocco (including recipe)

Casablanca is a very large, international city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It is about one hour Southwest of Rabat, the capital, but it’s much more cosmopolitan. It’s the country’s main port and the largest financial center in Africa. It also has Morocco’s largest international airport.

The city was made famous by the beloved 1942 eponymous film, Casablanca, and its star-studded cast featuring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Berman, and Claude Rains. That film has been the source of several memorable quotes still part of our vernacular, such as “here’s looking at you, kid,” “round up the usual suspects,” and “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” But I digress!

During our last visit to Casablanca For lunch, we walked to Dar Dada in the heart of the city’s medina, It’s around the corner from Rick’s Café, a restaurant named for the film. I wouldn’t have minded trying the food at Rick’s, but we have been told by people we know that it’s a “pure tourist trap.”

Dar Dada is in a riad building built in classic Spanish Andaluz style with a covered central atrium that now serves as the restaurant’s main space.

The food is classic Moroccan, and the menu is in French with some exceptional appetizers, i.e. entrées, such as selection de salades fines marocaines, pastilla au poulet (known as bastillas in the US (closed phyllo dough pies sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon), and salade de saumon.

The mains are divided into fish and seafood, such as croustillant feuilleté de poisson légère crème safranée, filet de Saint-Pierre juste saisi escalivada de legumes et pomme écrasée, and tajine d’espadon tout en saveurs de chermoula citronnée.

Also meats, such as epaule d’agneau cuite lentement & dorée accompagnée de légumes (2 personnes), tajine de jarret de boeuf aux coings caramelizes, a couple of couscous de jarret de boeuf mijoté aux legumes, and other classic tajines. Amongst these tajines was the garlic and lemon chicken tajine I had for lunch.

Of course, there are also desserts and fruit plates, as well as a selection of French wines and champagnes, nice local beers and an exceptional collection of single malt whiskeys. These include Moroccan wines, both whites and reds. But they seem to be very acidic, so they work best with fatty beef dishes rather than delicate poultry tajines.

But I asked for the recipe of the garlic and lemon chicken tajine I had, and I’m happy to share it with you below.

Garlic and Lemon Chicken Tajine

Ingredients:

5 or 6 skinless but bone-in chicken thighs (about 2 ½ lbs.)
1 preserved lemon, halved
1 tablespoon baharat spice blend
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium red onions, quartered
2 heads garlic, peeled (about 20 pieces)
¼ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups squash, diced
¼ cup dry figs or apricots, cubed and rehydrated
½ cup pitted green and black olives, mixed
Flat leaf parsley or cilantro
Pickled pimento strip

Method:

Rub the chicken thighs with ½ of preserved lemon.
Sprinkle baharat evenly over the chicken, and rub it into the chicken pieces to create a coating.
Cover the chicken tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it overnight to marinate.
In the morning, remove the chicken from the refrigerator, and let it return to room temperature.
Slice the quartered onions and garlic into thin pieces, and set aside.

Heat olive oil over medium heat at the bottom of a flameproof tajine (tajine must be labeled “flameproof” to be usable on a stove top, whether gas or electric). 
Place chicken pieces in the tajine to brown.
Cook them for 5-6 minutes until the chicken is browned on all sides.
Cover the chicken with the reserved onion and garlic slices.
Add 2 cups of diced squash and parsley or cilantro.
Add ¼ cup of reconstructed figs and ½ cup of pitted green and black olives.
Add the juice, the preserved lemon pieces, and cubed rind and lemon flesh.
Stir in the broth and honey.
Cover with the tajine lid, reduce heat to low, and let everything cook for at least 25 minutes.
When the chicken is fully cooked, the juices will run clear.
Top with slice of pickled pimiento.

The chicken tajine can be started on the stovetop for browning the chicken and then moved to the oven to cook at 350 F⁰ for at least 50 minutes.

Editor’s Note:

If you can’t find baharat, you can substitute with Indian garam masala. This will make the flavors even more complex.

Tajine dishes with fish or chicken frequently feature preserved lemons. The lemons are preserved by keeping them in a mixture of sea salt and lemon juice. You can buy them in jars on Amazon, or you can make your own:

1 large mouth jar with lid, sterilized
11 to 13 thin skinned lemons

Classic Method:

Squeeze juice from 4 lemons and reserve juice, discarding the rinds.

Remove and discard the top and bottom of the remaining lemons.

Set a lemon on one end, and make a slit from top to ¾ down, making sure the lemon is NOT halved. Turn the lemon with the other end on top, and slit it again about ¾ down at a 90-degree angle to the first cut.

Working over the jar, fill the slits with as much salt as they will hold, and place them in the jar. Repeat until you have used the rest of the lemons, pushing them down with a spoon to minimize the empty space as much as possible.

Pour the reserved juice over the lemons until they are fully submerged, secure the lid, and set the jar in a refrigerator for 6 weeks, occasionally shaking the jar. The lemons will keep for as long as 6 months after the lid is opened and the first lemon is removed for use.

To use the lemons, slice the rind in thin strips, or cube them into small pieces, and add to a tajine.

For an interesting tasting variation, especially if you’re using dry and rehydrated fruit like prunes, apricots, or figs, dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar into the lemon juice to sweeten the dish.

Enjoy!