Chermoula

Chermoula

The increasing popularity of Moroccan food has made chermoula a regular feature on many restaurant menus. Regarded by many as being more user-friendly than some of the hotter spice blends, chermoula is a clever combination of robust flavors such as cumin, Spanish paprika and turmeric balanced by the freshness of onion, parsley and coriander leaves with hints of garlic and cayenne pepper. The basic idea is to form a thick paste that will be used as a marinade before grilling or baking the fish, or as a condiment at the table. Chermoula is classically a mix of fresh cilantro (a.k.a. coriander), garlic, and spices, bound together with lemon juice and olive oil and applied as a dressing or used to marinade fish and chicken before lightly cooking. The resulting emerald green condiment accomplishes its mission remarkably well: its fresh, tangy, earthy notes, and its lingering heat make it flamboyantly flavorful . Other uses include spreading it on slices of baguette, or mixing it with good-quality canned tuna for an elevated tuna sandwich. Marinate meat or firm fish like tuna in chermoula for 20-30 minutes before pan-frying, grilling or barbequing. Chermoula also goes nicely with lamb.

Basic Recipe for Chermoula

Ingredients:
1/2 an onion finely chopped
1 tsp fresh coriander leaves
2 tsp of chopped fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 tsp ground cumin seed
2 tsp mild paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 pinch each of cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt

Method: Combine ingredients and use immediately.

Chermoula with Ras el Hanout

1 red onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
90g coriander, including stalks, washed and roughly chopped
150g Italian parsley, including stalks, washed and roughly chopped
1 heaped teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1½ tablespoons ground chilli
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1½ tablespoons ras el hanout
185ml extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

Put all the ingredients except olive oil and lemon in processor and blend for a minute, or until the mix is finely chopped. Drizzle in the oil slowly, until a thick paste forms. Stir through the lemon juice. Refrigerate under a film of olive oil until ready to use (to stop discolouration). This makes about 2 cups of Chermoula. As a rough guideline, for marinating 500g of meat I would use about a third to a half a cup of Chermoula.