I was disappointed not to make it to Nargisse Benkabbou’s pop-up restaurant in West London recently, for I’ve been an admirer since I first came across her on instagram (where she is @mymoroccanfood) well before the publication of her joyous first book Casablanca in 2018. But while it would certainly have been a treat to taste her food at source, any disappointment has been made up for a hundredfold by the publication of her new book, Madaq. Subtitled ‘Simple & Delicious Recipes Inspired by Moroccan Flavours’, it is a blessing for the home cook, allowing us to bring the flavours of Benkabbou’s food to life in our own kitchens. Indeed, ‘madaq’ translates as ‘flavour’ — and the book is alive with it!
What I treasure particularly is the confident (and confidence-bestowing) fluidity of Benkabbou’s approach: the flavours of Morocco are vividly showcased in the traditional dishes she writes about, to be sure, but it is as natural to her to weave them through anything she cooks. This isn’t concept-led fusion or innovation for its own sake, but the authentic expression of a palate and a cooking style that makes absolute sense. I’ll try to do justice to the range and balance of recipes as I rattle through my shortlist from the book in the customary fashion. Exuberantly bookmarked already are the Semolina Bread with Salted Honey Butter (Harcha); Garlic Butter and Cheese Flatbreads (M’semen); Cumin and Parsley Potato Salad; Harissa Caesar Salad with Crispy Spiced Chickpeas; Roasted Moroccan Olives with Feta; Artichoke and Pea Tagine Pasta; Chicken and Lentils in Onion Sauce with Pasta (rather like a Moroccan iteration of Claudia Roden's Tagliatelle with Chicken from the Venetian Ghetto; Chicken Tagine à l’Orange; Beef Short Ribs with Prunes; Fish ‘Meatballs’ and Tomato Tagine; Moroccan Mint Tea Chocolate Cheesecake; Molten Chocolate Olive Oil Cake; and the fragrantly inviting Orange Blossom Lemon Bars with Mint Sugar.
The recipe I just had to share with you this week, though, is her Traybake Chicken with Spiced Grapes, Chickpeas and Thyme. I was inspired by the tagines-turned-into-traybakes in this inspiring book. I do love a traybake! And I had to choose this one, as I know on the basis of my own thyme-scented Chicken with Red Grapes and Marsala how gorgeous this particular combination is.
Madaq by Nargisse Benkabbou (Quadrille, RRP £28).
Photography by Issy Croker.
