Fish Tajine

Recently our dear friend, the LL.D, prepared a wonderful dish at a banquet held for an intimate group of friends celebrating the New Year and the birthday of his dearly beloved. It was with amusement we all reflected on the time Prof LL.D was all set to prepare the evening meal for the group while holidaying in Kalbarri. He was determined to have fish on the menu on this occasion, as after all it was a fishing town and fish was in plentiful supply.  He announced to the group it would be “fish surprise” and set off to purchase the necessary ingredients for the meal while the others rested. 


As the sun was setting, back home after a few beers, salads prepared, it was time to fire up the BBQ and cook the fish. Only one problem - there was no fish to be found!!!!! Oh dear - What now - our dear friend retraced his steps endeavouring  to locate the missing fish he had purchased, only to realise many of the shops were closed.  He hurried back to the fish shop to find all fresh fish had been sold - which meant no fresh fish to be had for the BBQ. The “fish surprise” was beginning to look like - No FISH!  ....... SURPRISE!!!!  (Unbelievable as it was, for a fishing town, all that remained was some thawed hake used for ‘fish n chips”.) Dejected he returned home from the chip shop with some battered fish fillets. 


Prof LL.D’s dish, the ”Fish Tajine”, which he prepared for the New Years eve soiree, certainly made amends for the faux pas of his previous attempt at preparing a “fish surprise”.  Any anxiety he may have experienced around the meal was not warranted as the dishes he’d prepared for the evening were outstanding and clearly a lot more sophisticated than fish on the BBQ. 


I was inspired by this dish and decided to attempt to prepare the ”Fish Tajine”, for our guest AT, who was abandoned by AA and the Dux who went were off to Melbourne for a few days shopping. So this blog is dedicated to Prof LL.D and our good friends sharing great food, fine wine and memorable stories.

Fish tajine (serves 4)

Chermoula marinade

1 red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 coriander plant including the root and stems (thoroughly washed)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp paprika
½ cup olive oil
½ preserved lemon remove pith and dice

Process all these ingredients in a food processor or if you are using a mortar and pestle all the soft ingredients will need to be finely chopped.

Tajine ingredients

1kg fish fillets snapper or silver perch (Cut into7-10 cm pieces)

1 red onion thinly sliced

2-3 cloves garlic crushed

1tbs EVO

4-5 tomato cored and thickly sliced

1 large red chilli seeded and diced

¼ preserved lemon remove pith and dice

½ lemon juiced

¼ tsp sumac

½ cup each mint leaves and broad leaf parsley roughly chopped

1 cup natural yoghurt

1tbs harissa paste (add more if you like your condiments extra hot)

Method

Marinade the fish fillets in the Chermoula for 30 – 60 minutes.

Preheat the tajine add evo and gently sauté onion until it begins to soften. Line the base of the tajine with sliced tomato and season with sumac salt and pepper. Place fish and marinade on top of the tomato mixture and sprinkle with chilli, preserved lemon and ½ of the mint and parsley with a squeeze of the juice from half a lemon.

Cover the tajine with a lid and gently cook the mixture on a low heat for 20-30 minutes. Just before serving gently stir through the remaining mint and parsley as a garnish.

Mix the yoghurt and harissa paste.

Serve with Couscous and Turkish flat bread.

Beverage suggestion: We had a 2003 Chain of Ponds –The ledge shiraz compliments of our honoured guest AT which was delightful with the S.Pellegrino sparkling natural mineral water on the table.