I created this recipe for my cooking class as an example of braising, the process of slowly cooking meat until it is so tender that it can be cut with a fork. I wanted the flavors to evoke the road trip I took from Marrakech to Essaouira in my twenties while also capturing the many decadent Shabbat dinners I shared with Moroccan families in Sderot, where rocket fire hit the southern Israeli town daily as I worked on a documentary film about frequent barrages there.
A few notes on preparing the dish itself: you don’t actually need a cone-shaped tagine to get the full effect of this dish. In fact, the cooking process allows a lot of room for error and can even be prepared days in advance without losing any of the lamb’s juiciness, which makes it a great option for Rosh Hashanah because the warm spices of cinnamon and ginger, paired with sweet yams, are sure to invite a prosperous new year.
Chef Elana Horwich, is a cooking and food-sensitivity expert who is an ambassador for delicious, healthy, consciously prepared meals. She was most recently named Recipe Expert for YouBeauty.com, the website of celebrity health advocates Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen. She also publishes the successful food blog Meal and a Spiel, and runs a private cooking school in Beverly Hills.