Common questions when buying a tajine

Several customers have asked us about tajines. They're very attractive, aren't they? But people wonder how to use them, what they're actually for and, very importantly, whether the investment pays off. And just this week we were discussing it with a customer, and so many worthwhile points came up that here I am, writing about a topic I think might interest you.

First of all I'm going to change a thought many of you have: the "chimney" that a tajine has does not have a hole! I'm actually laughing as I write this, because until I had the first one in front of me (a long time ago!), due to its design I was convinced that steam escaped through there. But no! In fact, if it had a hole the tajine wouldn't cook or stew the way it does.

So how does the tajine work? 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 cooler walls of what I incorrectly call the "chimney" (since it has no hole, I should say it's a hat-shaped pointed lid), so the steam cools and falls back onto the food as drops of water, cooking or stewing the ingredients. It does this with its own juices, with steam flavored by the ingredients you've included in the preparation, and that's why the result is spectacular: the food turns out very juicy after the long cooking time with very little water.

I imagine this explanation also clarifies the purpose of the lid's shape: that design, that chimney shape of the lid, is made so the top doesn't heat up, allowing the generated steam to cool and bathe the food.

Now we know how the tajine stews and why the lid is shaped like that. Now comes the next question... What else is the tajine good for? Will I recoup the investment? To answer that, I'm going to separate the two types of tajines we have in the shop.

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

On the other hand there is the Le Creuset tajine. It keeps the ceramic lid but its base is enameled cast iron. That is, it's like a casserole! The investment is higher, no doubt, but beyond that nice presentation at the table you can use the base to cook anything you would cook in a casserole; it can go in the oven, ceramic hob, gas, and induction; it doesn't scratch, you're cooking on a premium material (super healthy with superb results!), and you have a utensil for life, sturdy and impact-resistant: It's iron!

My conclusion with all this? Both tagines are very beautiful, they allow for a very elegant presentation with and without the lid, and they're a very versatile tool. That said, the Emile Henry one is ceramic and, besides using it as a tagine, it will let you cook any recipe without the lid as if it were a ceramic pot. And, on the other hand, the Le Creuset one is a higher investment, but it's cast iron, which lets you use it as a casserole, it also works as a tagine on induction, and you won't fear knocks since you'll have the base for life.

I'd like to end this post with a small anecdote that our friend Stéphane, when we talk about cooking with a tagine. He always explains that the tagine, like the casserole, is a utensil for slow cooking. When we let the meat cook inside it for hours over gentle heat, we get that much-appreciated aromatic, tender meat. In fact, traditionally the tagine was buried in the desert in the morning. That way, during the day the food would be cooking while the family attended to their tasks. At night they returned to their camp and had a delicious tagine ready for dinner.