Tagine cookers, why are they better than casserole

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elliehen, Jan 9, 5:25am
Bumping for stella99990 :)
richard198, Jan 11, 7:27pm
Bumping for hezwez. (Not deleted by trademe)
cookessentials, Jan 11, 7:32pm
definately buzzy110 behaviour.
richard198, Jan 11, 9:44pm
Unbelievable!
cookessentials, Jan 11, 9:47pm
not really
nzl99, Jan 11, 11:53pm
OK. without entering into sides. this is my opinion for what it's worth OP (whom I'm sure is just stirring. but my friends and boyfriend are busy so I'm starved for conversation and going to answer anyway). I prefer my casserole dish for. casseroles/stews.The surface area is bigger so I can feed more people. it's easier to move around. I can add more moisture to the dish and the large domed lid keeps moisture in which then drips back down onto the food. I can position it in the oven higher (as the lid isn't as high as the tagines) and overall, I think my dishes turn out more tender in my casserole dish.

BUT.Each to their own.If you're in Tauranga, you're very welcome to borrow mine and see if you then want to make the investment.
cookessentials, Jan 12, 12:38am
I dont cook my tagine in the oven.its all done on the stove top and I prefer the circulation of the air and moisture formed in the lid for mine. Yep, you can ake tagine in a casserole, no question, as for the taste difference! well, I know what I prefer. Each to their own as you say.
buzzy110, Jan 12, 5:27pm
richard I hope you weren't taking offence at my laughing because you were served a meal with a complete set of teeth. I genuinely thought that in hindsight you found the whole incident to be quite funny, even though, at the time you may have been rather less than impressed.
richard198, Jan 12, 6:08pm
Not at all! We were well south in Morocco on the edge of the desert in a town called Taroudant (very hot and dry) with very few options regarding places to eat. The meal was very cheap but very tasty with plenty of bread for dipping etc.
buzzy110, Jan 12, 10:47pm
That sounds both exciting and very exotic. I went to a Moroccan restaurant once in Sydney. They didn't do lights. Everyone sat at a long table on cushions and ate the meal in almost darkness. It was all rather exciting, guessing what it was you were eating and having to throw away your top next day when you discovered how much of the meal had gone down your front. But definitely not as exciting as actually eating in the back of beyond in Morocco.
chakendrick, Dec 19, 3:41pm
dishes! I read the peaked top is to allow steam to circulate, but does it taste better cooked in a tagine rather than casserole and if so why please!
Just trying Morrocan food and would like to know.
Most Tagines I have seen are $100.00 plus.
davidt4, Dec 19, 4:24pm
I've never bothered with a tagine;I use a cast iron or earthenware casserole for Moroccan braises.Tagines are very decorative if you've got the space, but in my opinion they don't make any difference to the final result.Just make sure that you keep a low steady heat.
cookessentials, Dec 19, 5:39pm
If you have never eaten food from a tagine, then you dont know what you are missing. The shape of the lid is to do with the circualtion of air and the juices dripping back into the meat. I have eaten from both a casserole dish and a tagine, you cannot compare the two. If you are going to purcahse one, get one that has a proper "handle" or knob at the top that you can get a hold of . A number of cheaper ones have a handle that is just too difficult to grasp and because they sit low towards the lid, they can get very hot. Personally, I use one that can be used used on the stove top and in the oven. A good book on Tagines is "Tagine" by Ghillie Basan.
richard198, Dec 19, 8:26pm
I've been to Morocco and can assure you the "Tagine" taste is a myth.
Anything made of earthenware that cooks the food slowly will do the same job.
davidt4, Dec 19, 8:44pm
Exactly.
cookessentials, Dec 19, 8:49pm
Well, #1 I shall leave that decision up to you. I have a couple of friends who have Moroccan and Egyptian husbands and they cook tagines regularly.they would laugh at the comments made by the other two posters.There is defintely a distinct difference.however, I am not about to get into a backwards and forwards "discussion" over who is right and who is wrong.
buzzy110, Dec 19, 9:21pm
Naturally Moroccan people would prefer their food be cooked in a tagine because that is what they know best. They have probably never had food from a casserole so probably are not able to compare.

From my own personal experience the most alluring thing about tagine cooked food is the fact that the contents are arranged in pleasing, colourful layers within the dish, unlike your bog standard casserole, which is done like the dog's dinner. That layering usually also includes starchy vegetables as well. The tagine is usually then taken straight from the oven to the table, the lid whipped off and the attractive arrangement of the food is part of the appeal of the meal.

So, if you want to use a casserole, just carefully arrange the food in the dish so that it will look attractive and serve it at the table.

One more thing, a standard casserole (be it french style or English) does not usually have some of the more exotic flavours of moroccan cooking.
katalin2, Dec 19, 9:59pm
When we were in Morocco a couple of years ago many of the meals were served in decorative tagines having been previously slow cooked in the restaurant kitchen. We were going to bring an authentic tagine back but were warned off by an Australian customs officer who was with our group as they had just rejected a consignment of tagines back home because of unacceptably high lead content. I bought a recipe book back with me- and have successfully made many of the "tagine" dishes in my slow cooker or an old pottery casserole from the 70's. The other thing to remember is that the quality of our meat is far superior here- in Morocco the only grazing animals we saw were goats and camels- including camel heads hanging at markets:(
cookessentials, Dec 19, 11:00pm
You wont find lead in the tagines here!
lythande1, Dec 19, 11:41pm
It's all in the mind. If you don't know what it was cooked in, you can't etll, although the cooks skills do come in to it a bit too.
If you can see it and want to be convinced you will.

Personally I found them both the same.
uli, Dec 19, 11:52pm
And you will not find cooks advertising her tagines here either LOL :)
which is very new and exciting.

I have successfully made any "tagine" recipes in a crockpot to the extreme satisfaction of Moroccan and Egyptian friends - so there you go . LOL :)

However that does not sell "stuff" does it! .
uli, Dec 19, 11:53pm
Don't tell cooks she has no cooks skill . BAAD move!
cookessentials, Dec 20, 2:04am
You obviously do not understand the English language too well now do you! #1, if you have Sky, you could watch Peta Mathias this week doing tagine cooking. Nothing to do with "belief" at all. The odd visit to Morocco doesnot necessarily make you an expert. I will go with what I know, what I taste, what I cook and what my friends make, they have a far better knowledge of them.
peterg1, Dec 20, 2:20am
I have a tagine that cooks enough for two people but is too small for more than that. I use the same recipe for Morocan chicken tagine in both my tagine, and a casserole for when I need to cook for more than two people. There is no comparison between the two methods. The tagine gives a succulent and much moister result. The casserole makes a perfectly satisfactory dish, but is nowhere near as delicious.
katalin2, Dec 20, 3:56am
I am not claiming to be an expert. I am simply sharing my experiences as it might be of interest to some people- that in Morocco, having travelled around most of the country, the so called "tagine" meals were not actually cooked in tagines but simply served in decorative tagines. That did not make them any less delicious.