Ingredients
Paste
- 1large bunch coriander, stalks included
- ½ bunchflat-leaf parsley
- 6 clovesgarlic
- 2 tspcumin seeds
- 1 tbspsweet paprika
- 1 tspsalt
- ½ tspcayenne, optional
- ¼ tspsaffron threads, optional
To loosen
- juice of 2 lemons
- 150 mlolive oil
- 1preserved lemon, skin only, chopped, optional
Directions
- Use the coriander stalks as well as the leaves. They carry more flavour than the leaves do and are thrown away for no good reason in most kitchens.
- Pound the garlic with the salt in a mortar until it is a completely smooth paste.
- Toast the cumin seeds briefly in a dry pan until they smell nutty, then grind them.
- Add the herbs to the mortar and pound them into a rough green paste, or pulse them very briefly in a processor.
- Keep it coarse. Chermoula is a rubbing paste rather than a smooth sauce, and blitzed to a purée it turns bitter and loses the texture it needs to cling to fish.
- Work in the ground cumin, paprika, cayenne and saffron.
- Stir in the lemon juice first and then the olive oil, in that order, along with the preserved lemon if you are using it.
- Nothing here goes near heat. Paprika in particular turns acrid the moment it meets a hot pan, and every element of this is assembled cold.
- Use half to marinate fish for 30 minutes to 2 hours, and hold the other half back to spoon over after cooking, which is how it is used from Essaouira down to Safi.
- It keeps for a week in the refrigerator under a film of olive oil.
Technique
- Half before and half after. Cooked chermoula and raw chermoula taste quite different, and the dish wants both.
- Its salt, garlic and acid also slow spoilage, which is why it doubled as a preserving rub for fish in warm weather before refrigeration.
- Do not marinate delicate fish for more than about two hours. The lemon starts to cure the flesh and the texture goes chalky.
Substitutions
- More parsley if coriander is unavailable, accepting that it becomes a noticeably different paste.
- Ground cumin if you have no seeds, using slightly less.
Variations
- With mint added, for use on lamb rather than fish.
- The fiercer Safi style, with considerably more cayenne.
- Loosened with extra oil and used to dress grilled vegetables.
History
The standard coastal marinade from Essaouira to Safi; it doubles as a preserving rub, since its salt, garlic and acid slow spoilage in warm weather.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chermoula?
Chermoula is a sauce & condiment from Morocco: coriander, garlic, cumin, paprika and lemon marinade rubbed into fish. The standard coastal marinade from Essaouira to Safi; it doubles as a preserving rub, since its salt, garlic and acid slow spoilage in warm weather.
How long does Chermoula take to make?
Chermoula takes 15 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 1 jar, about 400 ml. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Chermoula?
Yes, within limits. More parsley if coriander is unavailable, accepting that it becomes a noticeably different paste. Ground cumin if you have no seeds, using slightly less.
What is the most important thing to get right in Chermoula?
Keep it coarse. Chermoula is a rubbing paste rather than a smooth sauce, and blitzed to a purée it turns bitter and loses the texture it needs to cling to fish.
