Chermoula is a classic marinade that features in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian cuisine. It’s essentially a herb and spice paste that is used mainly with fish, but it’s a bit more versatile than that and can add depth of flavour and bright herbal freshness to all kinds of seafood, poultry, meat and vegetable dishes. Chermoula is close to a herb relish in texture.
Popular uses for fish such as fried or grilled sardines stuffed with chermoula or squid flash grilled after marinating or smother a larger fillet or whole fish like a snapper or mackerel or a tagine style bake with large flaked fish pieces like blue eye or hapuka made with layered potatoes, tomatoes, onions and peppers.
In addition to fish, it can also be used to marinate chicken or shellfish or vegetables like pumpkin and potatoes baked with onions and peppers or leave your meats like lamb or chicken to marinate in it for up to a day or at least a couple of hours before grilling or slow roasting.
There are countless different versions of chermoula and probably just as many disagreements over the best or most authentic recipe. I picked up this one on a trip to Morocco a few years ago.
½ bunch of parsley
½ bunch of coriander
1tbsp salt flakes
1tsp ground black pepper
1½ tbsp sweet paprika
½tbsp cumin powder
½tbsp ground coriander seeds
6 small garlic cloves
30g fresh turmeric (or 1tsp ground dried turmeric)
extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
Fish and potato bake
80ml extra virgin olive oil
4 large kipfler potatoes or other waxy yellow potatoes boiled till tender in salted water and then peel the papery skins off
1 green capsicum
Salt flakes and freshly ground pepper
1 white onion, peeled, sliced into thin rings
4x 150g fillets of fish, boned (skin on or off) (blue eye, hapuka, ocean trout, pink rockling, sand mullet )
8 king green prawns head and tail on, mid section shell peeled.
½ lemon to serve
