Your VP for Diversity and Inclusion, Bobbie, has been working hard on diversifying the food in our canteens alongside the wonderful people of the DCU Canteen! Each week there will be a special dish from a new country 🌍

You can get your Canteen Culture Feature meal for €5 plus a bottle of water in the Main Restaurant on the Glasnevin campus and the canteen on the St. Pat’s Campus!

This week’s dish: Moroccan Lamb Tagine

The tagine dates back to Harun al Rashid who was a ruler of the Islamic empire. Some

sources date it back to the Roman Empire because of the portable ovens used by Romans

that are similar to tagines. Moroccan influences over the years are what really makes the

tagine unique.

Ingredients

1 tsp cayenne pepper ,2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground black pepper ,1½ tbsp ground ginger
1½ tbsp paprika ,1 tbsp turmeric
1.1kg cubed diced lamb shoulder, (5cm/2in chunks)
2 large onions, grated
2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp argan oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
570ml tomato juice
2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
115g dried apricots, cut in half
55g dates, cut in half
55g sultanas 85g flaked almonds
1 tsp saffron stamens, soaked in cold water
600ml lamb stock
1 tbsp clear honey
2 tbsp coriander,& flat leaf parsley roughly chopped

Method

Place the cayenne, black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to combine. Place the lamb in a large bowl and toss together with half of the spice mix. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 150C
place half the argan & olive oil in a large casserole dish. Add the grated onion and the remaining spice mix and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes so that the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the crushed garlic for the final 3 minutes.
In a separate frying pan, heat the remaining oil and brown the cubes of lamb on all sides then add the browned meat to the casserole dish. De-glaze the frying pan with ¼ pint of tomato juice and add these juices to the pan.
Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, dates, raisins or sultanas, flaked almonds, saffron, lamb stock and honey to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, cover with a fitted lid, place in the oven and cook for 2-2½ hours or until the meat is meltingly tender.
Place the lamb in a tagine or large serving dish and sprinkle over the chopped herbs. Serve. Normally served with fluffy scented cous cous