Taste Memory: Moroccan Carrot Salad

[gnomi]

I woke up this morning with a taste in my mind -- Moroccan carrot salad. The one I'm most familiar with is the one from (the late, somewhat lamented) Zaatar's Oven.

Local Boston kosher and kosher-friendly folks who remember Zaatar's, am I the only one that remembers this salad so fondly?

I'm now seeking Morrocan carrot salad recipes, trying to recreate it from my sense-memory. I've found a couple of contenders, but if someone out there has a Moroccan carrot salad recipe they especially recommend, please do point me there.

Comments

[devoken.livejournal.com]

I just had a delicious version of this made by chaiya. I'd ask her.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Ooh! With luck, perhaps, she'll see this post. :-) Thanks!

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Heh. I was wondering if what I made was similar to what gnomi is looking for. :)

I make what Molly Katzen (of the Moosewood Cookbooks) might recognize as a descendent of her Moroccan Carrots recipe.

Put equal amounts olive oil and sesame oil to cover the bottom of a large shallow pan. Add about the same amount of balsamic vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, if desired). Add heat *after* combining the two, so there's less splatter effect. Before they totally heat up and start splattering, add a large spoonful (or more) of minced garlic, let cook for a minute, and then add a healthy amount of cinnamon, a dash of clove, and about twice as much cumin as cinnamon (which ends up being a fair amount, but it's a thoroughly spiced non-hot-spicy dish). Once all of these have infused into the oil/vinegar (another minute or two), add carrots that have been peeled and sliced (oval-style, if you want to be fancy). Stir enough to completely coat every carrot with the oil and spices. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, to your preferred level of cooking. (I like still slightly crunchy.)

Variation: you can use a half/half mix of carrots and parsnips for awesome results.

I don't tend to cook with specific measurements unless I'm baking, but I love this dish, served hot or cold. :)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

That sounds very, very yummy.

::takes notes::

Thanks!

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Try Claudia Roden. The second half of the book is sephardic.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip! I should get my hands on some of her cookbooks.

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

If you don't have anything by then, I've left myself a note to go check her jewish food cookbook when I'm at work tomorrow (I've already left, and didn't think about it while there).

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten anything yet (I'm in no rush and am leaving tomorrow for the weekend), so if you can find it, that would be lovely.

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

Okay, here we go, from Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food

Salade de Carottes Rapees, Moroccan Grated Carrot Salad
1 lb finely grated carrots
juice of 1 lemon or more
salt & pepper
4 tbsp evoo
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley or coriander

Dress the carrots with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil and mix in the flat-leafed parsley or coriander.
Variation: you may add 2 crushed garlic cloves, the juice of 1 orange, or 1 tbsp sugar.

That's pretty simple.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

That sounds lovely and easy! Thanks!

another one

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

Also from the cookbook is: Carottes au Carvi, Sliced Boiled Carrot Salad with Caraway Seeds

1 1/2 lbs carrots
juice of 1-1 1/2 lemons
4 tbsp evoo
salt & pepper
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp caraway seeds

Boil the carrots until they are tender. Drain and slice them thickly. Dress with a mixture of lemon juice and oil, salt and pepper to taste, garlic, and caraway. Leave for at least an hour before serving.
Variation: In Fez and Tangiers they used cumin instead of caraway, and also a little paprika.

Re: another one

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Again yum. I think I'd do the Fez-and-Tangiers variant (being more fond of cumin than caraway). Thanks so much for looking these up for me!

Re: another one

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I actually decided that given how much I use this particular cookbook, I might as well own it, so I've ordered my own copy. Bwahaha, more cookbooks. :)

Re: another one

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm very much of the "There's no such thing as too many cookbooks" school.

[fauxklore]

Paula Wolfert's "Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco" is my go-to book for the cuisine.

I don't recall if there is a carrot salad recipe in it, but her orange and radish salad is fabulous.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, yum. I'll have to find the book.

[elul-3.livejournal.com]

No precise recipe. You gotsta have cumin and cinnamon, though.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Every recipe I've seen agrees. :-)