Argan oil

Ingredients

Raw material

• 30 kgripe argan fruit, sun-dried until the pulp is leathery
• About 3 kg argan nuts, once the pulp is stripped
• About 1 kg argan kernels, once the nuts are cracked

Pressing

• 150–200 mlwarm water, at about 40°C (105°F), for the grinding paste
• 1flat cracking stone and 1 hand stone
• 1stone rotary quern with a wooden handle

To serve as amlou

• 150 mlargan oil
• 200 galmonds, roasted and ground to a paste
• 3 tbspwild honey
• ¼ tspsalt
• Khobz or msemen, warm, to dip

Directions

1. Dry the whole fruit in the sun for 2–3 weeks on a flat roof or terrace until the yellow pulp shrivels and pulls away, then rub it off by hand. The dried pulp is fed to livestock, never wasted.
2. Crack each nut by hand: set it on the flat stone and strike it once with the hand stone at the point where the shell is thinnest. Inside are one to three almond-shaped kernels. This is the slow step and it is still done by hand because no machine cracks argan cleanly.
3. For culinary oil, roast the kernels in a wide clay or heavy pan over a low fire, stirring constantly, for 10–15 minutes at about 110–120°C (225–250°F) until they smell strongly nutty and turn the colour of milky coffee. Take them off before they darken; burnt kernels give an acrid oil.
4. Cool the kernels completely, then feed them a handful at a time into the stone quern with a trickle of warm water, turning steadily until a thick brown paste comes out of the rim.
5. Knead the paste by hand in a wide bowl for 20–30 minutes, pressing and squeezing rhythmically. The oil separates and runs out of the dough as you work.
6. Pour off the oil and keep kneading the residue until no more comes. The spent paste, amlou-less and dense, is pressed into cakes for animal feed.
7. Let the oil stand undisturbed in a covered jar for 2 weeks so the fine sediment falls, then decant the clear golden oil off the top.
8. Store it in a dark glass bottle away from light and heat. Good culinary argan oil keeps 6–12 months and smells of toasted hazelnut, not of paint or cardboard.
9. To serve the classic way, whisk the oil into the ground almonds with the honey and salt to make amlou, and dip warm bread into it for breakfast. Or simply drizzle it over couscous, on a bowl of lentils, or over sliced tomatoes.

Technique

• Roasted and unroasted are two different products. Culinary oil comes from roasted kernels and is deep gold with a strong nutty aroma; cosmetic oil is cold-pressed from raw kernels, pale and almost odourless. They are not interchangeable.
• Yield is brutally low, about 30 kg of fruit and a full day of cracking for one litre, which is why real argan oil is expensive and why cheap bottles are usually cut with other oils.
• Argan is high in unsaturated fat and turns rancid quickly. Never cook with it over heat; it is a finishing oil, added off the flame.
• The trees grow only in southwestern Morocco, and the oil is overwhelmingly produced by Amazigh women’s cooperatives around Essaouira, Taroudant and Agadir.

Substitutions

• You are unlikely to source raw argan fruit outside Morocco. Buy cold-pressed culinary oil from a named cooperative, check that the label says roasted or culinary, and smell it before use.
• For amlou when argan is scarce, stretch it with a neutral almond oil, but expect the toasted, slightly smoky top note to fade.
• A high-quality toasted hazelnut oil is the closest widely available substitute for drizzling, though it is sweeter and less resinous.

Variations

• Amlou beldi, the almond, honey and argan spread of the Souss, eaten at breakfast.
• Cosmetic argan oil, pressed from unroasted kernels for skin and hair.
• Argan oil stirred into a bowl of harira or drizzled over grilled aubergine as a finishing oil.

History

Pressed only in southwest Morocco, whose argan forest UNESCO made a biosphere reserve in 1998; women’s cooperatives have run the hand-pressing trade since the 1990s.

Frequently asked questions

What is Argan oil?

Argan oil is a sauce & condiment from Morocco: nutty roasted-kernel oil pressed from argan fruit, drizzled on bread and couscous. Pressed only in southwest Morocco, whose argan forest UNESCO made a biosphere reserve in 1998; women’s cooperatives have run the hand-pressing trade since the 1990s.

How long does Argan oil take to make?

Argan oil takes 8–12 hr of cracking (the real work) of preparation and 1 hr roasting plus 1 hr grinding and settling of cooking. The recipe makes about 1 litre of culinary oil from 30 kg of fruit. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Argan oil?

Yes, within limits. You are unlikely to source raw argan fruit outside Morocco. Buy cold-pressed culinary oil from a named cooperative, check that the label says roasted or culinary, and smell it before use. For amlou when argan is scarce, stretch it with a neutral almond oil, but expect the toasted, slightly smoky top note to fade. A high-quality toasted hazelnut oil is the closest widely available substitute for drizzling, though it is sweeter and less resinous.

What is the most important thing to get right in Argan oil?

Dry the whole fruit in the sun for 2–3 weeks on a flat roof or terrace until the yellow pulp shrivels and pulls away, then rub it off by hand. The dried pulp is fed to livestock, never wasted.