Tanjia, the Marrakech Urn Stew

Tanjia is the dish Marrakech claims as its own, and it is defined by its method rather than its ingredients. Beef or lamb, usually shank or shoulder on the bone, goes into a tall narrow clay urn, also called a tanjia, with preserved lemon, garlic, cumin, saffron and smen, the aged butter that gives it its particular smell. The urn is sealed with paper and string and carried to the neighbourhood hammam, where the furnace man buries it in the embers that heat the bathwater and leaves it for five or six hours. Nothing is stirred and no liquid is added, so the meat cooks in its own fat and juices and comes out falling off the bone. It was traditionally a bachelors' dish, cooked by men who had no kitchen at home.

Highlights

• The urn - the tall unglazed clay pot, sold in the souks and used once or many times.
• The furnace - the hammam boiler room where the urns are buried in hot ash.
• The seal - paper tied over the mouth with string, cut open at the table.
• The smen - aged, salted butter that gives the dish its heavy, distinctive smell.

When to go

Year-round, and best at lunch, since the urns go into the ashes in the morning. Some places want the order a day ahead; others sell whatever came out of the furnace that morning, which means you eat early or you miss it. It is a heavy dish, so it suits a cool day better than a hot one.

What to expect

It is very rich and very fatty, and people expecting a tagine find it plainer and greasier than they wanted. Smen is an acquired smell and some visitors dislike it outright. Portions are large and usually meant to be shared. Versions cooked in a normal oven and sold as tanjia are common on the tourist strips and are not the same thing.

Nearby

The medina souks, Jemaa el-Fnaa and the neighbourhood hammams that do the cooking.