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 The Tagine originates in North Africa, the people who live there have
their roots in a variety of ancient civilizations that invaded, traded
and visited these shores as they crossed continents. A Tagine is as significant to the cooking of North African food as
the wok is to Chinese cuisine and its design is not by accident. Fuel
and water are two precious elements in this region and both have to be
used frugally. Charcoal fires are almost the only form of “cooking
equipment” they have and the wide shallow base of  the Tagine can be
pushed down among the coals to take full advantage of the heat. The tall conical lid was not designed on a whim. It allows the
smallest amount of water to be used to moisten the ingredients in the
base and the steam it produces, on hitting the tall cool conical side,
re-condenses to trickle back down over the gently simmering food. Just a
few tablespoons added at the beginning of a recipe will produce
sufficient liquid to serve a number of people when the Tagine dish is
cooked. The Le Creuset Tagine has been modelled very closely on the
traditional design. However, as terracotta is not suitable to use
directly on our hobs, the base has been recreated in cast iron. This
allows for the  very slow and even heat transfer which a Tagine needs to
provide for the food. The conical lid, which is made from glazed
earthenware, allows just the same pattern of re-condensation of the
steam, but the glazed finish makes it less porous and therefore cleaner
and easier to use. The Tagine can be used for a wide variety of meat, vegetable and fruit
dishes. Fruit cooked with meat and vegetables is commonplace and
provides a natural sweetness to many dishes. The timing for cooking in
the Tagine is intended to be slow, and hours of cooking, rather than
minutes, should be expected. However, on modern hobs the cooking of such
dishes will inevitably be a little faster than when the same dish is
cooked over coals. The Tagine will cook recipes to serve 4 to 6 people.
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