Casablanca: My Moroccan Food - Hardcover

Benkabbou, Nargisse

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0228100860 ISBN 13: 9780228100867

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2018

Synopsis

A book that is infused with the flavours of Morocco and is as accessible as it is inspiring.
-- Nigella Lawson

A native Moroccan shares 100 recipes for the vibrant and delicious dishes of her homeland.

Nargisse Benkabbou grew up in a food-oriented family that nurtured her connection with her roots and country of origin, Morocco. On her popular blog, MyMoroccanFood.com, she shares her family's recipes and her innovative cross-cultural creations.

Casablanca features 100 recipes for simple and satisfying Moroccan meals for family and entertaining. Benkabbou describes the essential elements in Moroccan cuisine and how to make them -- Ras el hanout spice mix, preserved lemons, Harissa paste; scented waters, couscous, preserved lemons, Chermoula, and Moroccan tea. She also introduces the tagine and explains how to use it.

The recipes include:

• Starters to Share - Roasted red pepper and preserved lemon salad with butter beans; Serrouda (chickpea dip); Sweet potato and feta maakouda (potato cakes); Grandma's broad bean and zucchini salad
• Vegetarian Dishes - Baghrir (pancake) with crème fraiche and chestnut mushrooms; Moroccan eggs Florentine with harissa hollandaise; Root vegetable and prune tagine
• Meat - Mama's harira (soup); My grandfather's mechoui (lamb) with yoghurt and mint sauce; Orange zest and turmeric lamb chops
• Poultry - Chorba beida (white chicken soup); Chicken, carrot and charred lemon tagine; Spicy chicken livers; Duck and cannellini bean casserole with caraway and dried figs
• Seafood - Fragrant seafood and tomato tagine; Merguez-stuffed squid in tomato sauce; Monkfish tagine with apricots, dates and fennel
• Bread - Wholemeal mahrash bread; Mkhamer (skillet bread); Seeded harcha ("scone"); Cumin and buttermilk cornbread
• Sweets - Pistachio, orange and olive oil flourless loaf cake (gluten-, dairy-free); Ktefa (filo pastry with custard); Ras el hanout carrot cake with cream cheese frosting; Jabane (nougat).

Casablanca will be eagerly welcomed by those familiar with Moroccan food and by adventurous cooks wanting to expand their culinary horizons.

About this title

Review:

The Moroccan-born, Belgian-raised, London-domiciled cook Nargisse Benkabbou's charming and inviting book is a personal collection of her own cooking... Her food is enticing... This is a fun and personal book if you want to experiment with Moroccan flavors and eat some delicious preparations accompanied by wonderful photos of the finished dishes.-- (09/01/2018)

(starred review) London-based, Belgium-raised Benkabbou captures the essence of the food and the country of Morocco, her parents' homeland, in her first cooking collection. She pays a great deal of attention (and rightfully so) to the ingredients North African cuisine is known for, with recipes for ras el hanout, harissa, and preserved lemons preceding her 90-plus dishes. Each recipe includes a full-page sidebar and intriguing information (for instance, preserved lemons take about a month to "cure"--though longer is better). Much of the book extols new takes on classics: maakouda, a popular street food, is comprised of sweet potato and feta cheese instead of plain potato. Stuffed poussins (unfortunately, no substitutes are suggested) are accompanied by rainbow couscous, a colorful melange of pistachios, cranberries, parsley, and preserved lemon. And the very traditional and American carrot cake gets its kicks with the addition of ras el hanout to the icing. Casablanca may no longer be the 1940s city of Bogart and Bergman, but it's quite possible Benkabbou baked the romance and magic of that film directly into her book.-- (10/15/2018)

After cooking from "Casablanca," you'll want to eat everything over couscous.--Christine Muhlke"The New York Times" (12/01/2018)

Nargisse breathes new life into Moroccan cuisine, blending that authentic Moroccan spirit and the contemporary to create accessible recipes for the everyday.--Entertainment Report (09/14/2018)

Benkabbou is on a mission to share her native cuisine with the world, one dish at a time.... The recipes that Benkabbou shares may have names that sound unfamiliar to your ears, but the flavors speak a language your palate understands.-- (11/01/2018)

For people who love the fragrant and exotic flavours of Moroccan cuisine, but at the same time, are looking for meals that are easy to pull together, this is the book for you. From traditional fare to a more modern take, the book also offers a section for vegetarian dishes.-- (12/18/2018)

There's something so wonderful about flicking through a cookery book, becoming more enthusiastic by the page, and feeling that you absolutely need to get in the kitchen as soon as possible, the only problem being which one of the many earmarked recipes to cook first. This is how I feel about Nargisse Benkabbou's Casablanca, a book that is infused with the flavours of Morocco and is as accessible as it is inspiring. (Praise for the UK edition)-- (05/31/2018)

(review of UK edition) It practically sings with aromatic spices and ingredients.--BBC Good Food Magazine (04/26/2018)

Booklist Top 10 Cookbooks 2019--Annie Bostrom"Booklist" (10/01/2019)

About the Author:

Nargisse Benkabbou was born in Morocco and raised in Brussels. In addition to her popular blog, www.mymoroccanfood.com, and a growing social media profile, she is active in experimenting with new cooking techniques, recipe development, food photography, cooking classes and working as a guest chef. She has appeared, contributed to or been featured in a variety of media, including CNN. She lives in London, UK.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0228100860
• ISBN 13: 9780228100867
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224