I love Morocco. I started going there in 1969 and I’ve been back more than a dozen times. The charms that made Essaouira my favorite place to visit— in a country filled with favorite places to visit— have since gotten out to the world and well, it’s a little too touristic for me now and it’s not my favorite any longer. But the seafood is still wonderful and with the demise of Port du pêche on the Casablanca docks, Essaouira is probably the best place to get seafood in the whole country. When the city was called Mogador— from 1760 to right around when I first visited— it was the only place the king wanted foreigners to visit— less so in the 20th century— and it was built in a way that foreigners would find enticing. It worked; it really is enticing.
I don’t eat turkey and yesterday I decided to make a Moroccan seafood stew, something I invented that’s kind of a cross between the legendary fish soup at Chez Sam in Essaouira, cioppino from San Francisco and classic French bouillabaisse. Ready for the recipe? I use recipes as a general guide rather than as a step-by-step so, believe me, I won't be put off if you take liberties with this one. Although you do need the ras el harout and the harissa if you want it to be Moroccan.
On Wednesday night I washed a cup of dried chickpeas and soaked them overnight in water. I like to soak it with some minced garlic and a bay leaf, just because it’s how I learned how to do it. Most chefs say it doesn’t add much to the flavor or the beans.
As with almost all savory dishes, you start with an onion. You peel it and then cut it in half from top to bottom. Then you chop each half, always with the grain, never across the grain. I slow cooked the stew in a Dutch oven so I prepared it by warming up the pot and then pouring some extra virgin olive oil into it and letting it warm up a little. Then I toss in the onion slices and sprinkle a little sea salt which will help draw the liquid out onion and help the onion maintain its flavor as it cooks. I chopped up a couple of cloves of garlic. I then diced a stalk of celery and added that once the onion was translucent with a pinch of salt. Everything gets a pinch of salt.
So I added the vegetables one at a time and give each its due to roast before adding the next one. After the celery, I added a serrano pepper which is relatively aggressive and if you don’t like your food spicy, you can use a jalapeño. After the Serrano, I cut half a dozen small sweet peppers into rings and added them. Then I put some smoked peppercorns into the pot. By the way, I get all my dried herbs and spices from Spice Station, which was a fantastic hidden little store in Silverlake before the pandemic and is now an online service. It’s fantastic; I rate it a 10 out of 10.
Next up: 3 large, well-washed, sliced shiitake mushrooms or, if you want to splurge, morels. Then thin slices of one large carrot, thin slices of one parsnip, and then thin slices of a sweet potato. The final vegetable: Roma tomatoes. Why Romas? They melt into the dish and make a fantastic sauce. I added a couple of table spoons of tomato paste to give the broth a richer flavor and then added the soaked chickpeas with the soaking liquid. I brought it to a quick boil and immediately turned it down to a low light and put an insulation pad under the Dutch oven. At this point I started adding my dried herbs and spices: a small amount of oregano, some smoked paprika, some turmeric, garlic granules, some black cumin, some ginger and, most important for this dish— ras el hanout, a common Moroccan blend of local spices. It’s kind of sweet and makes the stew really special and really Moroccan.
Before leaving it to simmer on a low light all day, I added some clam juice, a small can of anchovies, an Omani black lime and a cinnamon stick. (I removed the black lime, the cinnamon stick and the bay leaf before serving.) Then, about half an hour before dinner, I added some powdered harissa to the pot, which gave the stew a distinctly Moroccan kick and then some chiffonaded black kale… and then the seafood, which I made marinated for 90 minutes in olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, smoked black pepper and dried taragon. I used a small fillet of halibut cut in bite-sized pieces, a small fillet of cod cut up the same way, 6 scallops, crab and 4 shrimps). And lemon slices.
Normally I would serve this over a bed of couscous but Roland requested baguettes so that’s how we had it. I made a plain old pumpkin pie for dessert.
I learned to cook in a health food restaurant so… I always keep the nutritional value in mind when I cook. Obviously, the stew is packed with protein from the seafood (and chickpeas). The extra virgin olive oil provides healthy fats, while the seafood contributes omega-3 fatty acids which are beneficial for heart health. The chickpeas and vegetables like carrots and parsnips add fiber (gut health) and the dish is full of vitamins and minerals:
Carrots- vitamins A, C and K + potassium
Kale- vitamins A, C, K and various B vitamins + iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium
Parsnip- vitamin C + potassium
Sweet potatoes- vitamins A and C + potassium
Tomatoes- vitamin C and lycopene
Garlic- Vitamin C and B6, + manganese and selenium
Onions- vitamin C and B6 + potassium
Chickpeas- Iron and Folate
And, like I said, the seafood brings lots of Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as Vitamin D and B12 + selenium to the party.