Viva la Diffa

As the holiday season approaches, with its usual deluge of gravies, pies, buttered and creamed vegetables, Moroccan cuisine seems a delectable alternative. The diffa, a celebratory Moroccan banquet, is a feast of many courses, heaping portions and beautiful presentations. Inspiration for such lavish display is found in an old Moroccan adage: “First you must eat with your eyes.” * Diffas are designed, it would seem, to indulge all the senses. Luckily, Moroccan cooking shares the healthful components of other Mediterranean cuisines: a reliance on vegetables and fruits, a restrained use of red meat and a steady drizzle of olive oil. Add to this a distinctive use of herbs and spices, olives and lemons and the result is an exotic, colorful, wildly flavorful food that won’t wreck your cholesterol levels or your waistline.

Kitty Morse, the Moroccan-born cookbook author who lives in Vista, Calif., created a Moroccan buffet that indulges the eye and seduces the tastebuds and can be prepared without difficulty by home cooks.

Morse shares recipes from several of her cookbooks, “Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes From My Moroccan Kitchen,” “The Vegetarian Table: North Africa”and “Couscous: Fresh and Flavorful Contemporary Recipes,” the last due out this summer from Chronicle Books. In bringing traditional Moroccan dishes to the American table, Morse has streamlined recipes where she can. “Even my women friends in Morocco can’t spend all day in the kitchen like their mothers did,” she explains. Following the lead of contemporary Moroccan chefs, Morse has also reduced the fat content in many dishes.

Morse’s buffet menu consists of three salads, a lamb tagine, couscous, baked pumpkin and a classic Moroccan fruit salad for dessert, plus recipes for amazing couscous truffles and sweet Moroccan mint tea. Many of these courses can be prepared well in advance of the guests’ arrival, which leaves a cook free to enjoy the party.

Every Moroccan diffa has a variety of salads, “salad,” in this case referring to the exotically seasoned dishes of either cooked or raw vegetables served at the beginning of a meal. The three chosen for this holiday buffet--a carrot, a spinach and an eggplant salad--are not only colorful, but provide a basic primer of Moroccan flavors.

Hessu m’chermel, caramelized carrots with sweet paprika, is easy to prepare, but its success hinges on the use of good, fresh Hungarian paprika. Paprika loses its flavor as it ages, so if you have an old tin, treat yourself to a new one. If buying paprika in bulk, make sure it is the real thing as sometimes ground red pasilla chiles are substituted for the spice, which results in more heat than is desirable. “Moroccans don’t like their food picante,” says Morse.

Bokkola b’zitgoun, or chopped spinach salad, involves two of Morocco’s most distinctive ingredients: preserved lemon and green olives. Already popular in many upscale restaurants, preserved lemon, with its intense sour-citrus saltiness, is currently rumored to be the sun-dried tomato of the fin de siecle. These salt-cured lemons are impossible to find in stores; you must make them yourself--a very easy process, but it does take four to eight weeks to cure them properly. For this recipe, Morse’s friend, Pasadena cooking teacher Peg Rahn, offers an alternative. For quick preserved lemons, she cuts deep, perpendicular slices in a lemon, packs the cuts with coarse salt, puts the lemon in an airtight container and freezes it overnight. “I have used this method myself,” confesses Morse. “It’s a good emergency measure, but the texture isn’t as good as the long-cured lemons.” Still, for this simple spinach salad, Rahn’s timesaving technique works wonders.

Moroccan green olives and their substitutes, however, are relatively easy to find. Morse instructs us not to use cocktail olives, or any kind of stuffed olives, but instead to go to one of the increasing number of olive bars popping up in upscale supermarkets and many small specialty stores. Ask for Moroccan green olives, but in a pinch pitted small green olives will do, although if they’re very vinegary, you might want to soak them in water for a few minutes before adding them to the dish.

Because of the intensity of flavors from the olives and preserved lemon, the spinach salad is not made in great quantities--a little bit goes a long way. Also, other greens may be substituted for the spinach. In Morocco, this salad is made with a wild herb--a kind of mallow, called bokkola, which is not available here, but Morse suggests dandelion greens as a viable alternative.

Zalouk, a cooked eggplant and tomato salad with a characteristic mix of chopped parsley and cilantro, is probably the most ubiquitous salad in Morocco--and Morse’s personal favorite. “In North Africa,” says Morse, “cilantro is allowed to grow for a longer period, until it flowers. Then the entire herb is used, including the pale blossoms. The flavor is very pungent.”

A classic tagine bil kok, or tagine of lamb with prunes, takes center stage on the buffet. Tagines are meat stews slow-cooked in a conical-lidded earthenware pot also called a tagine. In the recipe given below, Morse recommends using a lean, trimmed leg of lamb. A lamb shoulder cut into chunks by the butcher is less expensive, more traditional and fattier. While it takes an additional 15 to 20 minutes to cook, it produces a silkier, more tasty gravy. Morse also suggests substituting dried apricots or figs for the prunes.

Although garnished with golden toasted sesame seeds and slivered almonds, the lamb tagine is not the most gorgeous dish--it’s brown, brown, brown and begs for your most beautiful serving bowl to compensate. Use hunks of good white bread to soak up the warmly spiced, mildly sweet and meaty sauce--shepherd’s bread, for example, and sourdough are both acceptable.

A Sephardic specialty from Tetuoan in northern Morocco, ambassl’del gar’aa hamra, or cassolita, is baked pumpkin topped with caramelized onions, cinnamon and almonds. The deeply earthy flavor is very appealing to the American palate. This recipe comes from Kitty Morse’s great-grandmother, who served it as a side dish or with couscous.

Couscous, which looks like a grain, is actually a granulated pasta made from little pellets of semolina or cracked durham wheat and originally developed by the Berbers (although some food historians argue with this). The texture of a well-made couscous is unforgettable and lovable and, as one of the world’s most delicious staples, it’s often considered sacred, endowed with religious and even magical symbolism. “When I was growing up,” writes Morse, “couscous was almost always synonymous with festive occasions. It’s still my favorite comfort food.”

Traditionally, couscous is always accompanied by a vegetable or meat stew. In fact, in a proper keskes or couscoussier (the two-tiered pots designed specifically for steaming couscous), it is plumped by the steam from the stew, then transferred to a dish to be fluffed with broth and butter, and then returned to the steamer. This process is repeated several times; some North African cooks steam their couscous as many as seven times, although two to three times is more common. Luckily, this hot and lengthy process has been rendered unnecessary thanks to the instant couscous now available in many supermarkets and specialty stores. Morse cautions to be careful when adding water or broth to the mixture--lumps are the enemy. However, a touch of butter or olive oil keeps granules separate.

“Plain steamed couscous is not served as a side dish in Morocco,” Morse concedes. “But it makes sense for us here with the tagine and baked pumpkin.”

Dessert is a refreshing seasonal fruit salad flavored with orange blossom water and, if desired, chopped fresh mint to taste. In the summer, you can add stone fruit, but in the winter months try pomegranate seeds and raisins, currants or sultanas, plumping the dried fruit in a bit of orange juice, then adding the juice and fruit to the mix. “The fruit is rather finely diced,” says Morse. “It’s definitely not in chunks.” Fruit may be a sufficient dessert for some people, but others require chocolate. Kitty Morse therefore offers a mercifully easy recipe for chocolate almond truffles. Yes, the truffles are made with couscous. And yes, they’re irresistible.

No diffa or any other social occasion in Morocco is complete without Atay B’nana, sweet, hot Moroccan mint tea that is traditionally prepared by the man of the house. Make a pot of green tea, preferably Chinese gunpowder. Once it has steeped for a few minutes, stuff a good handful of fresh mint sprigs into the pot and add sugar. (In Morocco, says Morse, adding sweetness to the tea involves using a small silver hammer to break off chunks from a conical sugar loaf.) The tea maker taste-tests for sweetness--traditionally the tea should be quite sweet--and then serves it. Guests, it is said, must drink at least three glasses of tea “or no good will follow.” Luckily, three traditional Moroccan tea glasses, with their lacy gold and colored filigree, are equivalent to one water glass here. Still, given good company, good food and the invigorating effect of chocolate and Moroccan mint tea, the dinner party may last well into the night. Bismillah! (God willing!)

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Menu

Carrot salad

Chopped spinach salad

Cooked eggplant and tomato salad

Lamb and prune tagine

Couscous

Baked pumpkin with caramelized

onions, cinnamon and almonds

Orange flower fruit salad

Chocolate couscous truffles

Mint tea

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A Holiday Moroccan Buffet

Recipes by Kitty Morse

Recipes adapted from “Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes From My Moroccan Kitchen” (Chronicle, 1998), “The Vegetarian Table: North Africa” (Chronicle, 1996), and “Couscous: Fresh and Flavorful Contemporary Recipes,” due out this summer from Chronicle.

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HEZZU M’CHERMEL

Caramelized Carrots With Sweet Paprika

(Serves 8)

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12 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons minced, fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

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In saucepan, combine carrots, garlic, paprika, sugar and water. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until carrots are lightly caramelized, 12 to 15 minutes. Add vinegar and cook minute longer. Remove from heat and season with salt. Let cool. Sprinkle with parsley and serve at room temperature.

BOKKOLA B’ZITOUN

Chopped Spinach Salad With

Preserved Lemons and Olives

(Serves 8)

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4 bunches (about 3 pounds) fresh spinach, stemmed and washed

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons pepper

12 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

6 garlic cloves, minced

30 green olives, pitted

4 teaspoons finely diced preserved lemon rind

2 small lemons cut into thin slices

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In large pot of boiling water, blanch spinach until it wilts, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain in colander. When cool enough to handle, press spinach with back of large spoon to remove excess water. On cutting board, chop spinach finely and set aside.

In large skillet over medium heat, combine olive oil, paprika, cumin and black pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes. Add chopped spinach, cilantro and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until most of liquid evaporates, 8 to 10 minutes.

Reserve 12 olives. Finely chop remaining olives. Combine chopped olives and diced preserved lemon with spinach. Cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

To serve, mound spinach in center of serving plate. Dot salad with remaining olives. Cut lemon slices in half and place them around plate to create scalloped border. Serve at room temperature.

ZAHLOUK

Cooked Eggplant and Tomato Salad

(Serves 8)

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2 firm globe eggplants (about 1 pound each)

4 tablespoons olive oil

8 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

8 garlic cloves, minced

4 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

4 tablespoons minced cilantro

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves for garnish

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prick eggplants in several places with fork and set them in baking pan. Bake them until tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove eggplant from oven and let cool.

Using spoon, scoop out flesh. Set aside.

In large heavy saucepan or skillet over medium heat, heat oil and cook tomatoes, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 6 minutes. Add eggplant paprika, cumin, garlic, parsley and cilantro. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates, 20 to 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer salad to serving dish and stir in lemon juice. Garnish with parsley leaves. Serve at room temperature.

TAGINE BIL KOK

Tagine of Lamb With Prunes and Apricots

(Serves 8)

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8 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 teaspoons ground ginger

4 pounds leg of lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into 2-inch chunks

4 onions

2 cups chicken broth

16 threads Spanish saffron, toasted and crushed

30 fresh cilantro sprigs, tied in two bunches with cotton string

1 cup pitted prunes

1 cup pitted apricots

4 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pepper

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons unhulled sesame seeds, toasted

Crusty bread for serving

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In Dutch oven or enameled casserole over medium-high heat, heat olive oil and saute turmeric, ginger and lamb until the meat is well coated and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Finely dice two onions and add to meat along with broth, saffron and bunches of cilantro.

Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until meat is fork tender, 1 to 11/2 hours. Discard cilantro.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. With slotted spoon, transfer meat into ovenproof dish and keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

Bring sauce in casserole back to a simmer.

Finely slice remaining onions. Add them, along with prunes, apricots, honey, cinnamon and pepper to simmering sauce. Season with salt. Cook until the mixture thickens somewhat, 6 to 8 minutes. Spoon prune- and-apricot sauce over meat and sprinkle dish with sesame seeds. Serve with warm bread.

AMBASSL’ DEL GAR’ AA HAMRA

Baked Pumpkin With Caramelized Onions,

Cinnamon and Almonds

(Serves 8)

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4 pounds pumpkin, preferably sugar pumpkin

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1 cup seedless raisins, plumped in warm water and drained

1/2 cup sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut pumpkin into 2-inch rounds, removing the seeds.

Place them in ovenproof dish. Add water and cover tightly. Bake until tender, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool. Peel pumpkin and set aside.

In large skillet over medium heat, heat oil and saute onions until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 6 tablespoons of the almonds, the raisins, sugar, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until onions are caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes. Spread onion mixture evenly over the peeled pumpkin. Return to oven and bake until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining almonds and serve.

COUSCOUS

(Serves 8)

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2 1/4 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

4 threads Spanish saffron, toasted and crushed

2 cups instant couscous

Garnish (optional): raisins; toasted, slivered almonds; flat-leaf parsley, chopped

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In medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of chicken broth, butter and saffron threads to a boil. Gradually stir in couscous and remove from heat.

Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer couscous to large bowl.

Add another 1/4 cup chicken broth and fluff with fork.

Mound couscous on large serving platter. Garnish with raisins, slivered almonds, parsley.

CHALADA FAWAKEEH BI MA Z’HAR

Orange Flower Fruit Salad

(Serves 8)

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4 tart apples, peeled, cored and finely diced

4 crisp pears, peeled cored and finely diced

2 oranges, peeled, seeded, sectioned and finely chopped

4 bananas, finely diced

4 peaches, plums or nectarines, peeled and finely diced, or substitute 2 mangoes

2 tablespoons orange flower water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

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Mix fruit and orange flower water together in serving bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill. Garnish with mint sprigs to serve.

ATAY B’NAHNA

Mint Tea

(Makes 10 cups)

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4 teaspoons Chinese green tea

10 cups boiling water

1 cup sugar

30 fresh spearmint or mint sprigs

Optional: Fresh orange blossoms, 2 sprigs lemon verbena, 12 anise seeds, or 2 2-inch cinnamon sticks.

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In large teapot, combine tea and boiling water. Let steep for 2 minutes. Add sugar, mint and any of the optional ingredients. Let stand for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE-AMARETTO COUSCOUS TRUFFLES

(Makes about 30 1-inch truffles)

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Truffles will keep for several days in covered container in refrigerator. Roll truffles in ground almonds just before serving so nuts don’t lose their crunch.

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5 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water

2/3 cup couscous

4 1/2ounces semisweet chocolate

3 tablespoons amaretto (almond liqueur)

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup (4 ounces) almond paste, at room temperature

5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 cup (about 31/2 ounces) slivered almonds, toastedand coarsely ground

1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted (optional)

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (optional)

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In medium saucepan, bring 3/4 plus 2 tablespoons water to a boil. Add couscous in a stream. Stir once. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand until couscous is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside.

Place chocolate, amaretto and almond extract in medium, heat-proof bowl. Set aside.

In large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, bring 5 cups water just to the point of simmering. Remove skillet from heat. Place bowl filled with chocolate mixture in hot bath, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in small bowl, thoroughly blend almond paste with butter. Add this to chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add couscous and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate until mixture achieves puttylike consistency, 30 to 45 minutes.

To make truffles, fashion level tablespoon of chocolate-couscous mixture into a ball 1 inch in diameter. Continue until all of mixture is used. Refrigerate in tightly covered container.

Thirty minutes before serving, remove truffles from refrigerator. Roll them in ground almonds to coat. Serve in fluted paper cups.

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Note: To coat truffles with cocoa, sift 1 tablespoon cocoa powder with 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar into shallow bowl. Blend until uniform in color. Roll truffles in the cocoa mixture and refrigerate. Their color will deepen as cocoa powder is absorbed into surface of truffle. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator. Take them out 30 minutes before serving.