Mean Tegine in the Homeland

 A trip to Morocco in late April and new-found knowledge of peninsula thousands of miles to the east helped inspire a recipe that was very much made in England. 

The sun shone. The leaves on the trees in the park were fading to gold while others had been shed by their owners to lighten the toll taken on them by the long drought of the summer. Fall had officially begun and it was a time to reflect. It had been a summer of holidays, exciting firsts on the cricket field and positive growth. 

The third Sunday in September came at the end of a weekend of laughter, badminton, hiking and nature walks with a spot of housework thrown in. I thought back to the delicious Tegine recipes found on the holiday in Morocco and with the righteous angst of the Smiths' 1985 number one album "Meat is Murder" on the player, I embarked on making an Aubergine and Prawn Tegine. The use of Prawns was inspired by my knowledge of the seafood found in that peninsula far away in the East. 

The ingredients were as follows:

For the Tegine

Two Aubergines, topped, tailed and sliced thinly. 

One Red Onion, topped, tailed and sliced finely. 

Two diced Sweet Peppers with their seeds and tops removed. 

One tablespoon each of ground Cumin, ground Cloves, ground Coriander, Harissa Flakes and pieces of Saffron.

The juice of one Lemon. 

Two tablespoons of Honey. 

Sixteen shelled Prawns that are pre-cooked and ready to eat. 

0.1 litres of boiling water.

100 grams of Red Lentils. 

For the Loaded Rice

150 grams of dried Rice.

0.5 litres of boiled water.

1 tin of Kidney Beans.

The method of this recipe is as follows and very simple:

1. Add all the ingredients ,except the water, to an ovenproof dish, such as a Le Cresceut, with a lid on it. Put the lid on and shake the dish to combine the ingredients and leave them for about an hour to marinate. 

2. Add the water and cook the ingredients in the dish on the hob for ten minutes on a low heat. 

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 5 and once it has warmed up, put the dish in the oven and cook for one hour. 

3. Meanwhile, boil the Rice until it is sticky and has absorbed the water. Add the Kidney Beans and stir them together with a pinch of Harissa. 

4. When everything is cooked serve it. 

The combination of sweet and sour together with the protein of the Kidney Beans to bolster the rice makes this dish irresistible and it tastes even better when kept overnight and eaten the next day. Such much good British Cuisine is based on sweet and sour flavours from other countries but adopted and appropriated to create dishes inspired from abroad but made in this country. Much like British cuisine, our country would not be half as successful without all those things that have come from other places to enrich and enhance.