A tagine is a dish and also a clay cooking vessel. As a vessel, it has a tall, cone-shaped or domed lid that very cleverly recirculates moisture. You can easily make one with a shallow skillet and lid, but an unglazed clay tagine is a marvel. Moroccan and Mediterranean food expert Paula Wolfert says that a pot or tagine without any glaze retains the memory of everything you’ve ever cooked in it. It’s a soft, gentle memory, but it’s there, so it’s best to dedicate each clay tagine to a rough category of food. Maybe one for vegetables and chicken and another for fish.
This recipe is a very typical chicken tagine — only there’s no chicken. We’ve switched the chicken for cooked garbanzos, and it’s possibly even better! Eat with flatbread or plain white rice.
