@know_hope 554615 wrote:
what would you suggest to use for those that don’t have a tagine?
I guess a stewing pot of some kind.
We have a big one of these at home …
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and it’s great for making slow cooked food in big portions … (we will normally make several times as much as we need, then throw the left overs away as we are super rich! I guess if you couldn’t afford to waste the extra portions, you could freeze them up for another time or something).
It’s supposed to be for cooking stock in as it’s called a “Stock pot”, but it’s really good for loads of things. From making a curry to boiling pasta. It’s actually really really good for pasta if you’re cooking for more then 3 people as normal saucepans just don’t have the space to add all the other stuff and the sauce, then mix it with out it going everywhere.
We also have a small one of these …
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“Le Creuset” or “crucible” in English (according to Google translate). It’s like cast iron or something heavy like that inside, but ceramic coated so it holds and distributes heat really well, but also the food isn’t directly contacting metal, so it’s great for slow cooking things. The one we have doesn’t have a plastic handle it’s ceramic like the rest of the outside, so you can use it on the hob or put it in the oven, so is great for 2 step cooking, although I’d probably not use it for browning off meat like mince etc. as it doesn’t heat up on the bottom as much as metal pans due to the way it conducts heat and spreads it round the sides really well, but that’s what would make it the perfect Tagine like thing.
Both of them also steam the food a bit as well as cooking from direct heat (providing you don’t fill them up too much and leave some space for the steam). You could also use a pressure cooker I would imagine, but them things are a pain in the arse imo, and might be a bit too much for cooking Tagine like food. Tagine is all about the flavor as well as the tender meat, pressure cookers you’ll loose some of the flavor as they cook meat tender a lot quicker, so you loose the marinading effect of using something that takes a bit longer to cook it in like a Tagine.
I think your best bet is a Le Creuset with an integrated ceramic handle that you can put in the oven imo, if you’re going out to buy one you could just get a Tagine, but you’ll be able to use a Le Creuset for a lot more things then you would a Tagine.
