Algerian Cuisine Cuisine Algerienne by Farid ZADI

EmerilWare Tagine (All Clad Tagine) Cookware Review

The average list price online for the EmerilWare tagine is $99.99. Amazon currently has Le Creuset's tagine on sale for $118.99. Comparing the two at similar price points is irresistible. I do not enthusiastically recommend All Clad's tagine vessel. For $20 more Le Creuset makes a superior tagine vessel.

The All Clad tagine has a four quart capacity compared to Le Creuset's 1.75 quart. But I don't think that even a substantially larger base makes up for the lesser quality craftsmanship and lower market appearance compared to Le Creuset's version.

Emeril's tagine also has a patented Steam-Surround™ similar in effect to a pressure cooker. But the All-Clad Steam-Surround™ process reduces cooking time only by about 25% compared to a pressure cooker which can reduce cooking time by up to 70%. I've already posted about how pressure cookers are very common in North Africa these days.

Enameled cast iron or aluminum cookware really doesn't mimic clay tagine cooking vessels anyway. As I've said before they are more about appearance and ease of use. The conical lids on "modern tagine vessels" are about as functional as a lid for pheasant under glass. However, as I've noted before appearance is an important part of enjoying a meal. I understand the positive effects of this very well.

Considering the price, function, and form of the All Clad tagine I'd rather buy a casserole, dutch oven or pressure cooker to prepare my tagine and transfer to a clay one for serving.

Overall I think the All Clad tagine serves a lot of "middle of the road" functions, and certainly if a great deal can't be had on a Le Creuset tagine the price point would be "middle of the road" as well. If you have one it is a perfectly functional and useful piece of equipment, there's no need to run out to buy another modern tagine cooking vessel.

I can't help but have a "middle of the road" response to this piece of cookware. A pressure cooker makes North African cooking much faster. A slow cooker makes slow cooking more convenient. As for modern and convenient, Le Creuset's has the edge.

The ideal "modern and convenient" tagine vessel for me would combine aspects of the All Clad and Le Creuset tagines, with a few improvements. A large enameled cast iron base, some kind of pressure cooker technology, can be fired to temps up to 450F, comes with a heavy flat terracotta lid and a conical one, etc...

It doesn't offer what terracotta tagines do either. Terracotta tagines add to the mood of slow cooking and there is also the aroma of the terracotta itself that is cured over time. Cooking with traditional vessels remind us to slow down, relax, enjoy all the sensual pleasures of cooking and eating. And they can be purchased for 50%-75% less than an All Clad tagine.

When I saw it and touched it I didn't love it like I did the Le Creuset or my terracotta tagines, both look much nicer as part of a table setting. And Le Creuset tagine can be fired to higher temps in the oven for last minute glazing or browning.

Kitchen Kapers cookware store provides a bullet point list of the EmerilWare tagine. The All Clad website or Emeril's website. Maybe it's there but it's not showing up through the search functions.

Tagine Cooking- Chicken Cooked Under Bricks

Actually, I've never heard of cooking anything under a brick within the context of Algerian cooking. However, we do have a method of cooking tagines with a flat terra cotta lid on top of which hot ashes or coals are placed. When I taught a Tuscan cooking glass a few months ago I discovered a way of duplicating an Algerian cooking method using a cooking dish for pollo al mattone. I purchased it at Sur La Table at the same time I bought my Portuguese made terra cotta tagine.

As luck would have it the lid for the pollo al mattone vessel also fits on my oven safe tagine!

Le Creuset Tagine- Cookware Review

First of all I'd prefer a larger and deeper base. The shallow, small base limits the kind of tagines that can be prepared in it. It performs best for braised tagines with very little liquid added, but is simply not large enough for layered tagines or tagines that call for lots of sauce.

Algerian Tadjines (Tagine, Tajine, Tajeen)

I'm bumping up this post because I've added lots of photos and more information about Algerian tagine cooking. I'll probably add more as my schedule permits. This is one of the most popular posts on this blog.

The question of what exactly tagine means seems to come up often The stock answers are that it is an Algerian or Moroccan cooking vessel of Berber origin with a conical lid and the name of dishes cooked in such a vessel or a thick Tunisian omelette.

From Medieval Arab Cookery: Essays and Translations by Maxime Rodinson, A.J. Arberry and Charles Perry, "This book distinguishes between qalaya, fried in a pan called miqla and mutajjanat, fried in a pan called tajin (from the Greek tagenos, teganos*)."

TAGINE POTS AND PANS
In Algeria the word tagine (tajine, tajin, tadjine, etc...) still refers to pans. Bread pans, frying pans, pans with conical lids, pans without lids, pans with flat lids, baking pans, pans of different depths, clay pans, copper pans and cast iron pans. Tagine also refers to pots like tandjiyas (tangias) and couchas.

TAGINE DISHES COOKED IN POTS AND PANS CALLED TAGINES
Dishes that are cooked in pans and pots that are called tagines usually have a qualifier. Like chicken and apricot tagine, bread tagine (for bread cooked in a comal like pan or a skillet), tagine with eggs, tagine with lamb and prunes, tagine with chicken and preserved blood orange, and tagine warka or tagine malsouka (also called a pastilla or torta). 

TAGINES THAT ARE MADE IN COOKWARE NOT CALLED TAGINES
Soups and stews cooked in a bottom tier of a couscousier are also called tagines (or NOT). In some cases meat or poultry dishes steamed in the top tier of a couscousier are called tagines.

Occasionally I read an article comparing moisture loss between handmade clay tagines, commercially produced enamel coated tagines and casserole pots. The conclusions vary as to whether or not the magical conical lid does indeed help retain moisture better. The problem with many of these articles is that although the writers comment on lids that don't fit well they don't know enough about clay tagine cooking to know that a simple paste of flour and water is used to seal ill fitting lids.

The writers simply don't know enough about what a tagine vessel is or rather what they are. A clay tagine is not one type of vessel with a conical lid. And they're not all cooked on top of a brazier. Some are cooked in a taboona (oven) or buried in hot ashes. Tagines cooked on a brazier don't all have conical lids either. One method uses a flat lid on top of which hot coals are place to simulate oven cooking with heat from all sides.

Terracotta Tagine Cookware Review and Comparison

Algerian handmade tagine compared to Portuguese assembly line made tagine.

Even with just a few pictures I think it's apparent that handmade tagines look and feel more substantial. The "rustic" appearance certainly lends an element of homey charm to any kitchen. At this point I have a small but growing collection of terracotta cookware and this one is by far the one guests zone in on the most. Not because it's most elegant or stylish, but because it has what certain kinds of foodies associate with the "real" thing. Nevermind that this "real thing" makes little difference to the vast majority of contemporary North African home cooks outside the realm of special occasions and nostalgia.

Both the Algerian and Portuguese tagines are glazed on the inside.

Cookware Review- Terracotta Tagine with Conical Lid

This terracotta tagine is made in Portugal and available at specialty stores like Sur La Table for $19.95. The vessel is glazed throughout and must be soaked in water for 12-24 hours prior to initial use. It's safe for the stove top and oven up to 400 F. I use it in the oven with the lid off.

I use it for my foodcasts and Algerian cooking classes. The base is large enough and deep enough to hold braised tagines, as well tagines that are more stew like.

There is a small steam vent that can be plugged with a little bit of aluminum foil for better moisture retention. With the steam vent left open on this model I often have to add more water during long slow cooking because there is quite a bit of moisture loss.

Whether the steam vent is left open or shut the conical lid on this model gets hot. The conical lids on Algerian made tagines stay cool enough to touch.

Terracotta is porous which means that if the lid gets too hot with the steam vent left open steam produced from cooking will evaporate. If the lid stays cool than the steam will recondense as it hits the sides of the lid. As I've already noted plugging the steam vent on this model will help reduce moisture loss.

Cookware Review- Couscoussier (Couscoussière)

This is the first in a series of reviews I'm writing about cookware for Algerian cooking. I'll review couscoussiers and tagine cooking vessels from different manufacturers.

A couscoussier is basically a pot with a steamer insert. This is the model I use at home and for cooking classes. It's sold at specialty stores and available online at Fantes . There is no maker's mark on the pot only a stamp stating that it's made in Italy. There are lots of North African and European manufacturers of couscoussiers, this one isn't necessarily "the best" one. But it is sturdy, has a heavy bottom, looks sleek and it works. I've used it in professional kitchens where pots and pans get banged about quite a bit and there isn't a single ding in it. This is important to me because I also use it for cooking classes/demos and I want a polished looking couscoussier for this context. This model keeps up appearances very well. I take it to the school I teach once every six weeks to demonstrate the correct method for steaming couscous.

I don't like recommending cookware or kitchen tools that have limited uses. But I think a couscoussier is worth investing in because it is basically a pot with a steamer insert that can be used for so many applications not just in Algerian cooking, but many other cuisines.

Yes, you can use a pot with a steamer insert for steaming couscous. I have too, but there is something elegant and deliciously feminine about the curves of a couscoussier that a straight sided pot with a steamer insert doesn't possess.