Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Page 36

PARISa
34 AT L A N T I CA
ferently in each country. It is usually served with
vegetables and a mild but flavorful broth to pour
on top. Spicy harissa paste, made from ground
chilies, is served on the side so you can self-regu-
late your level of fire.
Tagine is the other dish most associated with
North African cooking. A tagine is both a slowly
cooked stew with meat or fish and vegetables,
and the earthenware dish in which it is prepared.
The conical lid of the tagine allows the air within
to circulate in a way which enhances the taste of
each dish.
Side salads, sometimes flavored with sugar or
orange flower water, and bread are served along-
side a hearty tagine or couscous. Tea, prepared
with mint and sweetened, is also an important
part of a North African meal. It’s traditional to
pour it from as high as possible into the waiting
cup.
Because of its 30-plus year history, North
African cuisine in Paris has developed its own
nuances. At café Au P’tit Cahoua on boulevard
Saint Marcel, for example, the chef is Bengali,
so instead of the traditional ground ginger, fresh
is used. “And the broth we serve here is much
less fatty than in Morocco,” Monsieur Pétris,
the owner, proudly tells me. “We do this to suit
Parisian tastes.”
Pétris says that North African cuisine in Paris is
becoming increasingly specialized. “Several years
ago there were generic restaurants that served
couscous, but now there are restaurants with
different regional specialties,” he explains to me
as I bite into the salade du jour, a concoction of
mashed vegetables tinged with cinnamon, one of
the many spices the owner imports directly from
suppliers in Morocco.
MORE THAN JUST A MEAL
Across the river in the Pigalle neighborhood,
Wally le Saharien is one of Paris’s oldest Saharan
eateries. The pricey establishment is operated by
Wally the Saharan himself, a middle-aged, affable,
gray-haired (tucked into a ponytail) entrepreneur
who is happy to talk about what makes his res-
taurant work.
“I come from the south of Algeria, right in the
Sahara,” Monsieur Wally, as everyone calls him,
“Several years ago there were generic restaurants that served couscous,
but now there are restaurants with different regional specialties.”
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