Dear classmates,

Working on a book that was written in English, I found a word that could be possibly pronounced like "tacin". It is described as a kind of çorba, made of lamb meat and vegetables. Does anybody know the right Turkish spelling of that dish? For I don't know how to spell it correctly in my language.

Thanks!
Duda

Maybe you are talking about "tajin" (this is the transliteration of an arabic word), which is a typical moroccan food, and it is also the type of conical ceramic pot where it is prepared.

Hello, sestrichka. How did you know I made this today?
Here is the information for you.
Natiypuspi, you are right,
Tajine-slaoui is Moroccan cookery. It is a round earthenware dish with pointed lid.

Tajines

The preparation is the same for either mutton or veal.
As a rule, either mutton(shoulder and chops) or veal(knuckle)is used for tajines.
Have the meat cut up by the butcher with a saw to avoid having any splinters of bone.

There are many kind of Tajines but I will just give you one recipe I liked. It was prepared very well and I learned that from very nice lady in Morocco.

"Meat tajine with green beans and tomatoes"

Ingredients for 6 to 8 people ( I have noticed that this is the smallest amount they prepare)

1,5 kg(3 lbs 5 oz) of meat (mutton sholder and chops or veal knuckle)
1 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) of green beans
1 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) of tomatoes
1 heaped teaspoon of ginger
1 good pinch of saffron
1 heaped teblespoonful of paprika
1 ladleful of groundnut oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt

Cut the meat in pieces weighing about 150 g (5 oz), rinse and put in a tick - bottomed saucepan. Add salt, ginger, saffron, paprika, oil and the tomatoes which have peeled, seeded and cut up. Allow to boil for a few seconds then add the green beans. Cook with a lid on, stirring from time to time. Add water if necessary.
When the meat is cooked and breaks off easily in the fingers check that the beans are cooked and then add the lemon juice. Leave the sauce to boil down until it is thick then remove from the heat.
Serve very hot in a round dish with the green beans on top of the meat and the sauce poured over.

Bon appetit, dear!



Tajine - slaoui

Afiyet olsun!

I was wondering if as in last message someone said "Afiyet Olsun" is used for telling someone when they sneeze or take a bath. because in Persian we say "Afiyet bashe" (bashe=olsun in turkish) when someone sneezes or comes from a bath. However in this class I learnt that in turkish they say "çok yaşa" when someone sneezes!! So when do u guys use afiyet olsun exactly??

thanx

Thank you so much, Natyuspuspi and Bliss - especially for the recipe. Translating doesnt's excludes cooking, be sure I will try it! But now I wonder about some western writers - thay hear about an Eastern dish and think they can use for any country (sometimes I suspect they do not see differences at all). Tajin is not Turkish national dish, am I right?

And to Kelebek - I've heard my Turkish cousins saying "afiyet olsun" and "afiyet ola" many times, in many different ocasions... Bliss will know to explain better, it's just the same as "Na zdoroviye" in her and mine languages. It's something between byword and blessing, wish that something turns to your health.

Thanks to all once again!
D.

Tajin exactly as Natyuspuspi has mentioned,it means how and where we make the meal.
Any vegetables,with tomato pure,soup,together in Tajin,and then into the oven,we call it Tajin.
You can make a Potato Tajin,bean Tajin 'fasulye Tajin',patlıcan Tajini ,anything
And the bowl mostly looks like this,and we call it Tajin too.

Thanks, Canli! But I am a bit confused now... how should I spell it? Tacini (c like in "can" or "pencere") or Tajini (j like in "jarse" or "jandarma"). That was the greatest problem, how Turkish people pronounce it. With c or j? For it makes great difference in my language, and it's even more important if it's pronounced in a different way in Turkia and Morroco (for this part of the book describes Istanbul).

Thank you!

I think you should write "tajin" with turkish "j" because is like the original name sounds. But maybe a turkish gourmet or gourmandise can help us.

You really helped me much. Thanks!