Tajine

The Arabic طجين (ṭažin) is derived from the Berber ṭajin 'shallow earthen pot', from Ancient Greek τάγηνον (tágēnon) 'frying-pan, saucepan'.[2][3][4]

Origin
According to Rebecca Jones, in the 1990s, the late Dr Vivien Swan identified pottery from various sites on Scotland's Antonine Wall, built by the Numidian governor of Roman Britain, Quintus Lollius Urbicus, of a north African style, one being a casserole dish that may have been a precursor to the modern tajine.[5][6] Fragments of tajines have also been identified among Numidian ceramics in modern-day Tunisia.[7]

According to some sources, the history of tagine dates back to the time of Harun al-Rashid, the fifth Abbasid Caliph.[8][9][10] The concept of cooking in a tajine appears in the famous One Thousand and One Nights, an Arabic-language story collection from the 9th century.[10]

Today, the cooking pot and its traditional broth are primarily prepared in the Middle East and North Africa. There are different ways to prepare the tajine. In the original qidra style, saman (clarified butter) is used to lubricate the surface and a puree of chopped onion is added for flavour and aroma. For muqawlli-style cooking, the ingredients are placed in olive oil to enrich the flavours.