Algerian Cuisine Cuisine Algerienne by Farid ZADI

Algerian Chermoula, La Chermoula Algérienne (charmoula)

It's a marinade, a dip, a sauce, a dressing, a spread. It's chermoula!

Algerian chermoula is made from four basic components: cilantro or flat leaf parsley, olive oil, an acid (lemon juice or vinegar), and aromatics (garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, or ramps). Since spices and peppers are optional, I won't include them as a basic component.

There are raw and cooked versions of chermoula. The consistency can be a smooth emulsion, coarsely chopped or in between. It can be used as marinade, relish, dressing, basic cooking sauce, or a dip.

Blender Chermoula

Save yourself the time of pounding all the ingredients in a mortar and pestle to form an emulsion chermoula by using a blender. This version can be used as a marinade for chicken and seafood or as a dressing for salads or a dip for breads and vegetables. For the Los Angeles Times article "Tagine Dreams" I added a little blender chermoula to my chicken brik, the same filling minus the egg also works with boureks which are basically Algerian spring rolls. Shrimp, scallops or tuna are good substitutes for chicken. Filo pastry or spring roll wrappers can be substituted for warka pastry leaves.

Total time: 5 minutes
Servings: Makes 1 1/4 cups
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 pinch sweet paprika
1 pinch cayenne
3/4 cup cilantro leaves, lightly packed
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, lightly packed
1/3 teaspoon ras el hanout, optional (see recipe)
Salt to taste Place the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, paprika, cayenne, cilantro, parsley and optional ras el hanout in a food processor. Puree until smooth and emulsified. Season to taste with salt.

This is a more common finely chopped chermoula. I added half a serrano pepper for some heat. The consistency for a chopped chermoula varies widely. It can be coarse or like a pesto. I added lemon zest also, depending on the application a little bit of preserved lemon can be a delicious addition. This version can be used in all the typical ways. It's also added to tagines during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking to freshen up slow cooked flavors.

Culinary School Photos

These are photos from the culinary school I teach at. Except for the first photo which is from Central Market.

I'm the one with the big tall hat. A chef instructor is the "chief" or lead in the kitchen, hence the big hat.

The other chef instructor Michael is the one drinking coffee in the photo to the right. I have to taste and critique everything the students prepare. You can imagine how many bites of food I take on days I teach double shifts. 17 students x 3 plates with 3 components on each plate, now double all that!

Pasadena is a terrific location for a professional school. The diverse student body reflects the general demographics of Southern California. We also have international students for allover the world. A wide variety of produce is available in the San Gabriel Valley, Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, local farmer's markets, Little Armenia, Thai town, and so on.

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Algerian Chicken Noodle Soup, Chorba Djej

This is definitely Algerian comfort food. A simple chicken noodle soup that can be spiced up with harissa or a chermoula relish at the table.

Merguez Seasoned Kefta Kebab Sandwich

This is a sandwich I made for a middle eastern kebab sandwich. But we make the same in Algeria. It's ground beef seasoned with merguez spices and shaped onto a steel kebab skewer and grilled. The garnishes are very simple, just sliced tomatoes, sweet onion and greens. A good lashing of harissa mayonnaise is optional.

This is my merguez spice blend. I add over a dozen spices to it. You can see how red it is, the characteristic color for merguez.

2 Algerian Shrimp Escabeche (Skabetch) Recipes

The first one is dressed with a salsa tomatich (tomato salsa). The word salsa is actually Arabic in origin. The second one is dressed with a spicy chermoula. Both take about 10-15 minutes to prepare and at least 8 hours to marinade. Serve with a salad and kesra or khobz for a delicious and light summer meal.

So, You Want to Write a Cookbook?

The burning question that I am asked these days is, "How did you do it? How did you get to the point where an agency like Endeavor would call you?"

People tell success stories selectively, but even more importantly people listen to them even more selectively.

I can tell a short version or a long version, either way what filters through usually is, "I started a food blog, Charles Perry wrote an article about me that made the cover of the Los Angeles Times Food Section, ten days later I got a call from Endeavor. Two months later I whipped a book out of thin air, Oprah discovered me and I made millions."

So, what did the agents at Endeavor see in the article about me?

Platform, platform, platform.

They saw the platform that I had built for myself. They saw who I am in relation to the topics I want to write about: Algerian, French, Mediterranean and general cooking.

I'll focus on the Algerian angle for now since since that will be my first cookbook. If I can build a platform so can you. Every writer has his own path. I am simply sharing mine with you, but it is not the only path. Many people have said to me, "it was easy for you because you're a fancy French chef and work at a fancy culinary school." The truth of the matter is that I was born into a big, working class immigrant family. My parents were illiterate and my dad died in a motorcycle crash when I was 7 years old. A few years later my brother Karim, who was 14 years older than me and became the man of the family, died of heart problems. My mother raised 6 children on her own. I am a middle child, so maybe that's why I like attention. This isn't a sob story, all this is to say that I am not a candy assed college boy with rich parents who hired a PR firm for me right out of culinary school. If I can do it, you can to.