Marquit Quastal
This Tunisian dish, more commonly made with dried chestnuts, is more to my taste with fresh and even frozen ones. While Tunisia has been sympathetic to Western ideas, and although it was subjected to a massive immigration of French and Italian peasants when it became a French protectorate, it has sustained Arab cooking in its most ancient form. This beautiful and fragrant stew is an example.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Fry the onion in the butter or oil until it begins to color. Add the garlic and meat and turn to brown it all over. Add salt and pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. Cover with water and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender, adding water to keep it only just covered and letting it reduce towards the end so that the sauce is rich and unctuous.
Step 2
To peel the fresh chestnuts, make a slit on one side with a sharp, pointed knife and cook under the broiler, turning them over once, until they are browned and the skins come off easily. Peel them when cool enough to handle but still hot. Fifteen minutes before the end of cooking, add them to the meat and stir in the honey if using. If using frozen chestnuts, defrost them thoroughly before putting them into the stew, and simmer 10 minutes. Serve hot.
Variation
Step 3
For a tagine with chickpeas, raisins, and chestnuts, add 1 cup cooked canned chickpeas and 2 tablespoons raisins at the same time as the chestnuts. You could also add 1 tablespoon rose water.
