Common doubts when buying a tagine

There are several clients who have asked us about tagines. They are very attractive, aren't they? But people have doubts about how to use them, what they are really for and, very importantly, do they pay off the investment made? And just this week we were discussing it with a client, and so many things came up that are worth sharing that here I am, writing about a topic that I think may interest you.

First of all, I'm going to change a thought that many of you have: the "chimney" that makes the tagine doesn't have a hole! The truth is that I'm laughing writing this, because until I had the first one in front of me (a long time ago!), because of its design, I was convinced that the steam escaped through there. And no! In fact, if it had a hole, the tagine wouldn't cook or stew like it does.

So, how does the tagine work? Well, it's actually very simple but very clever: the steam that is generated, like all hot air, rises upwards. As it rises, it meets the colder walls of what I incorrectly call a "chimney" (since it has no hole, I should say it's a lid shaped like a pointed hat) , so the steam cools down and falls onto the food in the form of water droplets, cooking or stewing the food. It does this with its own juice, with a steam flavoured with the ingredients you have included in the preparation, and that's why the result is spectacular: the food is very juicy after the long cooking time with very little water.

I imagine that this explanation also explains the reason for the shape of the lid: this design, this chimney that the lid draws, is like this so that the upper part does not heat up, and the steam generated to bathe the food is cooled.

We now know how the tagine is cooked and why the lid is like that. Now comes the next question... What else is the tagine used for? Will I get my money back? To resolve this question, I am going to separate the two types of tagines that we have in the shop.

We have the Emile Henry tagine , which is made of non-porous, glazed ceramic, which retains heat for a long time to keep food warm. Ceramic is an excellent heat diffuser, so you get a gentle and gradual cooking - what we expect from tagine cooking, which allows all the properties of the food to be preserved. It is a very pretty tagine for ceramic hobs (or gas hobs), which gives you an excellent presentation on the table. But you can also use the base to cook any other dish without the lid (like a ceramic casserole). You should think that you can cook in it whatever you want as long as it is in the oven, gas or vitro as it does not work on induction. It is a very pretty and versatile utensil.

On the other hand, there is the Le Creuset tagine . It has a ceramic lid but its base is made of vitrified cast iron. In other words, it's like a cocotte! The investment is higher, no doubt, but apart from that good presentation on the table, you can use the base to cook anything you would cook in a cocotte; it can go in the oven, on vitro, gas and induction; it doesn't scratch, you cook on a noble material (super healthy and with super good results!) and you have a utensil that will last a lifetime, robust and resistant to knocks: it's iron!

My conclusion on all this? Both tagines are very pretty, they allow you to present them with or without a lid in a very elegant way, and they are a very versatile tool. Now, the Emile Henry one is ceramic and, apart from using it as a tagine, it will allow you to cook any recipe without a lid as if it were a ceramic casserole. And, on the other hand, the Le Creuset one is a higher investment, but it is made of cast iron, which allows you to use it as a cocotte, it also works as a tagine for induction, and you won't be afraid of knocks since you will have the base for life.

I would like to end this post with a little anecdote that our friend Stéphane always tells us when we talk about cooking with a tagine. He always explains that the tagine, like the cocotte, is a utensil for slow cooking. When we let the meat cook inside it for hours on a low heat, we get that aromatic and tender meat that is so appreciated. In fact, traditionally the tagine was buried in the desert in the morning. Thus, during the day, the food was cooked while the family went about their tasks. In the evening, they returned to their camp and had a delicious tagine ready for dinner.