When we first arrived in Marrakesh, we were in need of a snack. And while many of the restaurants in the Medina’s Djemaa Al Fnaa (also known as the Big Square), had the word “snack” in their names, we set our sights on Restaurant Chez Chegrouni. The menu was filled with what you might expect from a Moroccan restaurant: couscous and tajine (or tagine depending on the part of the menu).
We decided to go with the Tagine Chicken with Onion and Lemon. We quickly learned that the word “tagine/tajine” literally means the cone shape that the food is cooked and served in and that for some reason orders had to be written on a piece of scrap paper. Even the bread that arrived before the meal came in a cone, although this one made of wicker. The bread itself was pretty flavorless, but then again it came from a dude on bike that passed by while we were eating.
The food itself, though, seemed to come right from the kitchen and was packed with taste. In addition to the onions and lemon, it came cooked with olives as well. The chicken was packed with flavor and was nice and tender, easily coming off the bone. Even better, when I dipped the bread in the sauce it even made the bread taste good.
Restaurant Chez Chegrouni was a great introduction into the tastes and flavors of Morocco and a tagine that I would come to compare other tagines to as I made my way through the rest of the country.
