From time to time you might want to give a little razzle to your rice, or kick start your couscous. Or you might want to give a Moroccan flavour to meat or chicken.

All you need, to make like a Marakchi is a spoonful of Ras el Hanout, otherwise known as Top of the Shop, a mixture of up to 40 different spices that may or may not have aphrodisiac qualities.

Ingredients

• I red onion chopped fine
• 2 long green peppers seeded and chopped fine
• Olive oil
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsps salt

Cook till soft in a large pan with a lid. Then add

Ingredients

• A small bunch of parsley finely chopped
• A small bunch of coriander finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finly chopped
• A small head of cabbage finely sliced, parboiled and drained
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• Salt
• Olive oil

The combination of fish, fruit and sugar sounded at best disgusting, so we had to try it. It was really good.

• 1 and a half kilos snorr (meaty cylindrical white fish)
• 3 or 4 onions sliced
• 3 or 4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup soaked sultanas or choppped dried apricots

Layer the above in a tagine in the order given.

• One and a half kilos of sardines
• 2 potatoes
• 2 pointy green peppers
• 2 large tomatoes
• Cumin
• Salt
• Olive oil

Preheat a medium oven. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Clean and wash the fish, dry them carefully and arrange them, opened, skin side down on the paper.

Slice the potatoes paper thin and lay the slices on top of the fish.