Updating the traditional versus disrupting the spirit of the dish altogether

In my Emile Henry tagine recipe critique Cook worm  commented, "Thank you for this. I've come across many tagine recipes both in and outside of North African cookbooks, and some of the differences seem surprising. I'm wondering what you think is acceptable as far as expanding and conscientiously updating the traditional, versus disrupting the spirit of the dish altogether."

My critique of the recipe for chicken with preserved lemons and olives on the Emile Henry website was based on whether or not it's a good recipe. Normally I don't critique recipes, but these types of questions come up often enough for me consider posting reviews more often.

I found the Emile Henry recipe while googling for something when I came upon Kim Vallee's blog. I suspect that quite a few people have tried Emile Henry's recipe with disappointing results, perhaps they even suspected that it would be bad but trusted the company website enough to try it.

Their recipe is just plain awful and totally careless. There are so many chicken and preserved lemon recipes available online and in cookbooks for the life of me I cannot understand why they posted a terrible one on their website. Furthermore it's easy enough for such a big company to find an experienced recipe writer who understands North African tagine cooking.

My criticism of this particular recipe has nothing to do with whether or not it's "authentic" or "traditional". "Authentic" or "traditional" doesn't always mean delicious or even tasty.

Back to cook worm's question about variations in tagine recipes and what's acceptable in terms of updating versus disrupting the spirit of a dish. I think the best way for me to answer that is through a series of reviews of recipes that are available online and cookbooks.

I have no intention of being a culture czar. I've lived in six countries and worked in five, I know how to adapt. I see cooking as a kind of technology. Whenever a technology is transferred to a new environment it must be adapted and there must be experts in that technology to teach it.

I'll do a series of reviews on tagine and couscous recipes that are readily available online through sites such as BBC Food, Food Network, Epicurious, and so on. As well as reviews of cookbooks published in the States, France and North Africa. My critiques will take into consideration context, especially the target audience for the recipes. If I have time I might begin with a broad overview of North African cookbooks published in North Africa and France.

Comments

[At Home with kim vallee]

Farid, you have been very kind for commenting on my blog and taking the time to give sound advice. I just read your own review about the Emile Henry’s recipe. I have gave up on that one. You are right about the fact that we tried the recipe even though it does not seem right. We cannot believe that a reputable company would recommend something that taste so bad. It makes us feel disappointed by our purchase. I am equally disappointed by the specialty kitchen boutique because their recipe was not better.

My husband wants me to try something else than the Chicken tagine with preserved lemon. So I will start digging the reviews you just mentioned to find delicious tagine and couscous. Hopefully, I will become happier with my birthday gift.

[cookworm]

Farid, I am very flattered that you took my comment to heart! I am extremely keen on North African/Berber cooking and am definitely looking forward to hearing what you have to say about these recipes. Shukrun jazeelan!