All-Tagine Tasting Dinner menu
All-Tagine Tasting Dinner — A Flight of Morocco's Signature Pots
The tagine is Morocco's most iconic dish, and it is really a whole family of dishes — sweet, savoury, meat, fish, vegetable — cooked in the same conical pot. This tasting dinner serves a flight of four classic tagines in small portions so guests can travel across the range in one meal: the bright chicken-and-lemon, the sweet lamb-and-prune, a fish tagine, and a vegetable tagine. Bread and salads tie it together. Below are the courses, a shopping list and a timeline. See the recipes and a how-to on tagine technique.
The menu
To start
Salad spread and bread
Zaalouk, taktouka and a fresh salad with warm bread to open and to accompany the tagines throughout.
Tagine one
Chicken with preserved lemon and olives
The bright, savoury classic — the benchmark against which the others are tasted.
Tagine two
Lamb with prunes and almonds
The sweet-savoury showpiece — lamb with caramelised prunes, honey, cinnamon and fried almonds.
Tagine three
Fish tagine with chermoula
A lighter coastal tagine — white fish baked over potato and pepper in herby chermoula.
Tagine four
Vegetable tagine with chickpeas
A vegetable and chickpea tagine to show the pot at its everyday, meatless best.
Dessert & drink
Orange salad and mint tea
A cool orange-and-cinnamon salad and mint tea to cleanse after the flight.
Shopping list
- Chicken thighs, preserved lemon and green olives (tagine one)
- Lamb shoulder, prunes, honey and almonds (tagine two)
- White fish, potatoes, peppers and chermoula herbs (tagine three)
- Mixed vegetables and chickpeas (tagine four)
- Onions, garlic, ginger, saffron, cumin and cinnamon
- Aubergines, tomatoes and peppers (for the salads)
- Oranges and cinnamon (for dessert)
- Khobz bread
- Coriander and parsley
- Green tea and fresh mint
Prep timeline
-
Day before
Make the salads and the chermoula; prep and joint all the proteins and vegetables.
-
Afternoon
Start the lamb-and-prune and the vegetable tagines, which take the longest.
-
1 hour before
Start the chicken tagine; assemble the fish tagine ready to cook.
-
30 minutes before
Cook the fish tagine last so the fish is just done; make the orange salad.
-
To serve
Bring the tagines out in small portions one after another, with bread and salads throughout.
Host's tips
- Serve small portions of each tagine so guests can taste the full range without being overwhelmed.
- Cook the fish tagine last and quickest — fish overcooks where meat only improves with time.
- Stagger the start times: lamb and vegetables first, chicken next, fish last.
- Provide plenty of bread — scooping tagine with bread is the authentic way to eat the flight.
- A cool orange salad between or after the run resets the palate beautifully.
Questions about this menu
What are the main types of Moroccan tagine?
Broadly: savoury (chicken with preserved lemon and olives), sweet-savoury (lamb with prunes or apricots), fish tagines with chermoula, and vegetable tagines with chickpeas. All are cooked in the same conical pot but range widely in flavour.
Can I cook several tagines at once for a tasting?
Yes, with staggered timing. Start the slow meat and vegetable tagines first, then the chicken, and cook the fish tagine last so it stays just-cooked. Small portions mean smaller pots and easier juggling.
What is the difference between a tagine dish and the food?
The tagine is both the conical earthenware pot and the slow-cooked stew made in it. The lid traps and condenses steam, so the food braises gently in very little liquid, concentrating flavour.
Do I need real tagine pots for this menu?
No. Heavy casseroles or Dutch ovens work well and are easier to manage for several dishes. If you have one or two real tagines, use them for presentation and cook the rest in pots.
How do I keep fish from falling apart in a tagine?
Line the pot with sliced potato, lay the fish on top, cook gently and don't stir. Cook it last and briefly — fish needs only minutes compared with the long braise of meat tagines.
Learn to cook this menu with a local in Marrakech
Every dish here is taught, hands-on, in a Marrakech cooking class — or taste them across the medina on a guided food tour.