I had long admired this piece of cookware, but resisted the temptation to buy it because it is so obviously impractical from the standpoint of storage. Finally, one day I broke down and hit that Amazon One-Click button. A few days after it arrived, we cooked the honey chicken recipe from the little booklet that comes with the pot. Tender! Tasty! Excellent! But is it worth setting aside a big hunk of shelf space to store the tagine? We decided to find out. The following week we cooked the recipe again for a small dinner party of 8. We did two identical batches one in the tagine, and the second in a heavy Le Creuset cast iron casserole (generally an excellent implement for slow-cooked stews and the like). Six of eight of the party were "blind" to which batch was which. The results hands down, 8/8 diners preferred the batch from the tagine. Both batches were great, but the tagine batch was unquestionably more tender and tasty. So the tagine definitely makes a difference and, for me, is worth the space.
...addendum, several weeks and many tagines later...
I have discovered a couple of issues that temper my initial unreserved enthusiasm, and relegated this beautiful cooking vessel to a place in our dining room as an ornament. First, it is a bit small, and won't fit the quantities in many tagine recipes (other than those provided in the instruction booklet). Also, the children would fall upon the tasty tagines like wolves and there were never ANY leftovers. (I think one should be able to get two meals out of a stew!) Second, the tagine has the peculiar habit of expelling condensate, flooding the stovetop. I think this is because, unlike many traditional tagines, this one is unvented, so once condensate pools on the rim, it is driven over the edge by the escaping steam. Because of the size problem we ended up buying (elsewhere) a 16"-wide, traditional Moroccan tagine that appears very similar to what Amazon has since started selling as the "Moroccan Rabat tagine." It is interesting that this earthenware tagine did not work as well as the Le Creuset tagine until we had coughed up another $40 for a heat diffuser. Because of the non-traditional, iron construction of the Le Creuset tagine, it acts as its own heat diffuser in a way that traditional earthenware models can't. Bottom line the Le Creuset tagine makes a phenomenal tagine, but think twice if you want to feed more than 4 adults or want some leftovers, and prepare to mop up your stovetop! Incidentally, I wrote Le Creuset pointing out these issues, suggesting that they bring out a larger model and add a steam vent. No answer, though.
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I recently bought a Le Creuset tagine after looking through several tagine websites on the Internet. I wanted safety (no lead from ceramic products), large capacity, and an attractive piece of cookware. I got it all with this tagine. It is easy to clean, even if bits of onion or other food adhere to the base during cooking. The base also retains heat for quite a long time, so you can prepare food ahead and either turn the heat off completely or to "warm", and serve it later. Your food will still be hot and never overcooked. Since you should only use low or medium heat with a tagine, you can also use it as a slow cooker. So put your crock pot in a garage sale and use your hot plate for coffee--this tagine does it all.
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For some reason, Amazon purged all the previous reviews of this product. I hereby restore my own (with some minor updates) since a good review is a terrible thing to purge...
I had long admired this piece of cookware, but resisted the temptation to buy it because it is so obviously impractical from the standpoint of storage. Finally, one day I broke down and hit that Amazon purchase button. A few days after it arrived, we cooked the honey chicken recipe from the little booklet that comes with the pot. Tender! Tasty! Excellent! But is it worth setting aside a big hunk of shelf space to store the tagine? We decided to find out. The following week we cooked the recipe again for a small dinner party of 8. We did two identical batches one in the tagine, and the second in a heavy Le Creuset cast iron casserole (generally an excellent implement for slow-cooked stews and the like). Six of eight of the party were "blind" to which batch was which. The results hands down, 8/8 diners preferred the batch from the tagine. Both batches were great, but the tagine batch was unquestionably more tender and tasty. So the tagine definitely makes a difference and, for me, is worth the space.
...addendum, several weeks and many tagines later...
I have discovered a couple of issues that tempered my initial unreserved enthusiasm, and caused me to relegate this beautiful cooking vessel to a place in our dining room as an ornament. First, it is a bit small, and won't fit the quantities in many tagine recipes (other than those provided in the instruction booklet). Also, the children would fall upon the tasty tagines like wolves and there were never ANY leftovers. (I think one should be able to get two meals out of a stew!) Second, the tagine has the peculiar habit of expelling condensate, flooding the stovetop. I think this is because, unlike many traditional tagines, this one is unvented, so once condensate pools on the rim, it is driven over the edge by the escaping steam. Because of the size problem we ended up buying (elsewhere) a 16"-wide, traditional Moroccan tagine that appears very similar to what Amazon has since started selling as the "Moroccan Rabat tagine." It is interesting that this earthenware tagine did not work as well as the Le Creuset tagine until we had coughed up another $40 for a heat diffuser. Because of the non-traditional, iron construction of the Le Creuset tagine, it acts as its own heat diffuser in a way that traditional earthenware models can't. Bottom line the Le Creuset tagine makes a phenomenal tagine, but think twice if you want to feed more than 4 adults or want some leftovers, and prepare to mop up your stovetop! Incidentally, I wrote Le Creuset pointing out these issues, suggesting that they bring out a larger model and add a steam vent. No answer, though.
...Newest update: Despite our following all the handling instructions to the letter, the earthenware tagine eventually developed a hairline, through-and-through crack encircling the base, and the replacement the company sent promptly did the same thing. So we may have to go back to the Le Creuset tagine which, for all its faults, is not going to crack wide open on the stove. Although I cannot say for sure that our earthenware tagine is the same as the product Amazon is selling, the pictures do appear identical, and it is conceivable that all these earthenware tagines are coming out of the same factory. It is also interesting that the single review of the yellow tagine sold by Le Souk Ceramique also describes the tagine failing, and the picture of that product also looks just like my earthenware tagine, apart from the color of the glaze. Customers worried about durability of their purchase might want to consider going for the Le Creuset tagine for that reason alone.
Honest reviews on Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 1-3/4-Quart Moroccan Tagine, Red
My wife and I received this tagine as a wedding gift several years ago, but only recently have I started cooking with it regularly. The food, without exception, has been delicious. Highly recommended are the honey chicken and Moroccan lamb recipes that come with the Le Creuset cookbook. My only complaint about this product is its capacity: it can really only handle enough food for four or five people, unless you're going to offer a lot of other dishes for your guests.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 1-3/4-Quart Moroccan Tagine, Red
I purchased Le Creuset Tagine because it was the only one that I found available guaranteed to be lead-free according to California guidelines. As it turns out, it was the best choice both for versatility and beauty.Once you have sauteed and browned the ingredients of the tagine on medium heat,you can leave it for several hours on low atop the stove unmonitored. The result is a delectable,yet exotic meat or vegetable dish.
