Quince and meat tagine with honey: the authentic recipe

Quince tagine is one of the most refined Moroccan dishes, combining sweet and savoury. In our video we made it outdoors: first the meat and spices, then the glazed quinces, and finally assembling the tagine.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg lamb or beef
• 3 quinces
• 2 grated onions
• One spoon of ginger, half a spoon of pepper, a little saffron and salt
• One cinnamon stick and one spoon of ground cinnamon
• 3 spoons of olive oil and one spoon of smen or butter
• 2 spoons of pure honey
• A small bunch of parsley and coriander
• Fried almonds or sesame to decorate (optional)

Method

1. Brown the meat for a few minutes with the onion, spices, cinnamon stick, parsley, coriander and oil.
2. Add water and cook over low heat for about an hour and a half, until tender.
3. Wash the quinces well, cut them into wedges and remove the core. Keep the skin on so they hold their shape.
4. Cook the quinces in a little sauce or water until slightly tender.
5. Add the honey, ground cinnamon and smen, and let them glaze over low heat until golden.
6. Assemble the tagine: meat and sauce in the middle, glazed quinces on top, then almonds or sesame.

Tips from the countryside

• Quince darkens quickly once cut: keep it in water with a little lemon until you cook it.
• A mild honey like orange blossom honey lets the quince flavour shine.

See also

Meat tagine with prunes and almonds and tanjia marrakchia.