Abu Dhabi Week storms the kitchens of Agadir to learn from the professionals
Aprons and hairnets on, we were off to The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort and Spa for a lesson in the art of creating traditional Moroccan cuisine – and what an art it is!
Chef Fatima Ben-El Boughadi has been cooking since she was little and her enthusiasm and passion is mixed in to every dish that leaves her kitchen. Under her tutelage we constructed a three-course Moroccan meal, fit for a sultan.
The one pot wonder
First up is the Tagine Barkouk – a lamb and prune dish. Fatima adds a drop of oil to a shallow pot and demonstrates how to sauté the lamb and prevent it from sticking to the pan. She tells us what ingredients to add and then we take over.
We add a splash of water, sprinkles of ginger, onion, parsley, saffron, salt, pepper, coriander and cinnamon sticks and mix it up. We stir enthusiastically until the mixture forms a creamy consistency then pop it in the oven.
Next we are shown how to make the sauce by combining prunes, cinnamon, sugar and orange blossom water. We are surprised how simple it seems and this cooking lesson would certainly encourage us to try this at home.
Perfect pastilla
With the lamb tagine bubbling away in the oven, it was time to turn our attention to the dish we’d most been looking forward to – the pastilla bil djaj, or chicken pastilla. And what a parcel it is!
After chef Fatima talked us through the various ingredients and spicing we were using, she explained the three basic layers of the filling, which thoughtfully she had pre-prepared for us. This tasty little morsel is essentially made up of fried almonds and cinnamon, a sweet buttery scrambled egg mixture and sautéed strips of herby chicken.
Next came the really fun part – constructing the little parcels. Taking two sheets of spring roll pastry, we sprinkle on alayer of the almond powder followed by a generous handful of the sweet egg mix. We then top this with plenty of the shredded chicken and brush on some egg to seal the pastry before carefully folding up the corners of the wrapper to make a neat(ish) little parcel.
After popping it in the oven for about 15 minutes, the pastilla emerges beautifully crispy and golden brown. We finished by garnishing with icing sugar, cinnamon powder and some almonds.
So how did it taste? Somewhere between a starter and dessert, the savoury chicken and egg was perfectly complemented by the sweetness of the sugar and almonds – absolutely delicious, if we do say so ourselves.
Save space for dessert!
Saving the best for last, we then had a hand (quite literally) at making Halawiyate Ghriba or what we’d describe as coconut flavoured bites of perfection.
These dessert cookies are usually served with a variety of traditional Moroccan sweets and a cup of steaming mint tea.
We began by breaking bright yellow egg yolks into a large metal bowl and adding sugar, melted butter, corn oil, orange blossom, vanilla essences and a pinch of baking powder. No forks were required as we stirred up the sticky mixture with our gloved fingers. Everything incorporated; we then added enough coconut powder to form a soft dough.
On to our favourite part, we eagerly took pinches of dough and rolled them lightly in our hands until we’d formed perfect chestnut-sized balls. After flattening the tops, we doused them thoroughly in icing sugar for good measure.
A quick stop in the oven and out came lightly golden cookies that were surprisingly lemony and lightly coconuty and crumbled in our mouths for an altogether a perfect way to end our meal.
If you want to try the recipes out yourself, click here to download.
What? Moroccan Cooking Class
Where? The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa, each Saturday 11.30pm to 4.30pm
Cost: AED 350++
Contact: 02 616 9999
