Tanjia

What it is

In Marrakesh, tanjia is the name both of the dish and of the clay jar in which it cooks.¹ Meat, spices and a little liquid are tightly sealed in the jar and cooked slowly, not on the stove, but in the embers of a public oven.² This way of cooking in the ashes gives it the nickname bent rmad, “daughter of the ashes”.³ The national portal maroc.ma lists tanjia among the intangible cultural heritage of the Marrakech-Safi region.⁴

Where it comes from

Tanjia is regarded as the emblem of Marrakesh cuisine and is still popular with the city’s inhabitants today.⁵ Traditionally it was prepared by the traders and craftsmen of the medina: the most skilled among them prepared the jar, and the group ate before the afternoon prayer while waiting for the auction (dallala) of their goods.⁶ The Marrakesh-born author Latifa Assimi, who has written a book about the dish, describes it as a shared ritual at gatherings, outings and feasts.⁷

History

In the 17th century tanjia was already a popular dish.⁸ Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Said al-Marghiti, a scholar from the Souss who taught in Marrakesh, described its preparation in a poem from his work Tuhfat al-Muhtaj.⁹ He advised sealing the jar with strong leather straps or a lid of wood or clay and sealing the edges with dough, because the fires of the baths were often stoked with dung; after cooking, the jar was to be washed thoroughly on all sides.¹⁰

What it is made of

The recipe by the chef Moha that Yabiladi reproduces lists about one and a half kilos of beef shank, a preserved lemon, smen (salted, aged butter), a whole head of garlic, a pinch of saffron, a tablespoon of cumin, half a tea glass of olive oil and a small glass of water.¹¹ Le360 names veal shank as the traditional meat, as well as goat, chicken or calves’ feet, seasoned and with water, olive oil and the peel of preserved lemon; white beans or vegetables are added if desired.¹²

How it is made

The sealed jar is taken to the farnatchi, the wood-fired furnace that heats a hammam, and there buried about a third deep in the hot ashes; it cooks like this for around three hours.¹³ Le360 describes how the furnace master sets the jar in the coals from the first bread baking of the morning, surrounds it with embers and alone decides when the dish is ready after many hours.¹⁴ In Le360 fernatchi is the man at the furnace, in Yabiladi the furnace itself; according to Le360 the word probably comes from the Italian fornaci, “furnaces”.¹⁵

Today tanjia is also made in a pressure cooker.¹⁶ There, once the pot starts to whistle, it cooks for one to one and a half hours on a low flame, with about half a litre of water; tougher cuts need longer.¹⁷

When

Tanjia is also popular in Marrakesh during Ramadan, when it comes to the table for the evening meal.¹⁸ From the first week of Ramadan many customers bring their jars to the furnace, and visitors to the city order it too.¹⁹