Date and Tomato Tagine with Wildlife Cameraman Hamza Yassin

In this episode of 5 O’Clock Apron Podcast Claire cooks with the wildlife cameraman, TV presenter, author and winner of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, Hamza Yassin. The podcast is recorded in a tent at The Hay Literary Festival. Hamza is there to talk about his latest book ‘Be a Birder’ and Claire was there to cook a date and tomato tagine with him after he finished his long and busy day. Hamza is an extraordinary guest to cook alongside, gracious and charming, he’s a once in a lifetime, next-generation David Attenborough type contender. The world and all it’s wildlife salute you Hamza. Claire and Hamza talk Sudanese food, the perils of having your grandmother marry you off each time you return home, silent food to eat in a hide, pet monkeys, how bird spotting is really like Pokemon, rugby, Scotland and Pop-Eye The Sailor Man.

Hamza’s book, 'Be a Birder' is available here.

https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk/titles/hamza-yassin/be-a-birder/9781856755108/

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Recipe:

TOMATO, DATE + CHICKPEA TAGINE

2 onions, finely sliced or chopped

4 garlic, finely chopped

Olive oil, 2 - 3 tbsp

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground ginger

1 large cinnamon stick

Salt and pepper, to taste

700g chickpeas, I used @boldbeanco

400g polpa (chopped) tomatoes

40g dates

1/2 preserved lemon, finely chopped

Couscous, cooked as per packet instructions, to serve

Harissa, to serve

Coriander, roughly chopped, to serve

In a heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid (or use a tagine dish) heat the oil over a moderate heat and cook the onions until golden brown (around 10 mins), add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes more. Blitz the tomatoes with the dates. Add the ground spices and the cinnamon stick to the onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and dates, rinse out the container in which you blended them with around 80mls of water, add that to the pan. Add the chickpeas (I didn’t bother draining them). Season the mix with salt and plenty of black pepper. Lid on and cook over a moderate / low heat on the stove top, or in the oven, at 180C for around 25 - 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, check the seasoning, remembering the preserved lemon is salty, add the preserved lemon and stir well. Prepare the couscous as per instructions on packet (or do as I do in the reel, and toast the couscous in a dry pan until nutty shade of brown before carefully adding the boiling water and lemon juice). Serve the tagine with the couscous, coriander and harissa.

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