A Garden Veg Tagine & My 'Thing' for Markets

I have a thing for markets- the chaotic,  not-very-tidy types. Head to Dubai Vegetable & Fruit Market in Ras-Al-Khor and you'll know what I mean. The first thing that hits you is that it's a men's world. The only women you see around are a couple of Arab ladies who look like they know how to hold their own over the vendors. And a few tourists who have stranded off the main trail in search of something more exotic and organic than Dubai's standard malls. The market is also a piece of Dubai's history, preserving a sense of continuity in a city where everything from trees to homes feel newly sprouted. 

While not exactly exotic, the market is full of character and characters- Bengali shopkeepers and Pakistani truck drivers, tea boys and wheel barrow boys, loaders,  cleaners, junk collectors and footpath salesmen who will sell you a pack of peaches for as cheap as 5 Dhs and unload a box of melon into your car boot (because the fruit are so sweet you cannot possibly leave it behind). The hard sell techniques may amuse you or leave you foaming at the mouth. I was trained to take a light view of these in the markets of Karachi.

My best buy are oranges so small, they almost seem to be quivering inside the crate. They are a sight and I know the girls will love them. I pick up some well-priced and good quality pomegranates, grapes, strawberries, squash, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, garlic and aubergines too. But not everything I buy is satisfactory. The okra turns out to be tough and stringy and the half the tomatoes are in various stages of rotting. The carrots have a hard bitter core.

I have bought more stuff than I needed and I know just the perfect dish for the beautiful variety of vegetables in season. Earlier this year, I visited the city of Fez in Morocco. In a Riad inside the walls of the medieval medina, I spent a day with Chef Lahcen learning how to cook a Vegetable Tagine and Moroccan starters such as Zaalouk and Tektouka. The tagine is my favourite because it uses a variety of seasonal vegetables and is extremely simple to put together. 

A layering of vegetables, simmered in their own juices and olive oil, fragrant with saffron and paprika and preferably steamed tender in the clay utensil that is used throughout North Africa. You can also use a flat-bottomed deep-ish skillet with a tight-fitting lid.

I am looking forward to your thoughts and comments!

Photos of old Dubai taken from the blog Life in Dubai . Thank you!