North African

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Preserved lemons are a staple Moroccan condiment that can take up to 2 weeks to make in the traditional manner. Added to various foods, they impart a tangy brininess similar to that of olives but with the unique perfume of lemon. In most Moroccan dishes only the peel is used, the pulp being scraped away and discarded. However, the pulp is not wholly without value, making a delicious addition to Bloody Marys, and to salad dressings — wherever a salty-sour taste is welcome. The recipe below is an effort to approximate preserved lemons without having to plan a week or more in advance.

Preserved lemons, sold ready-made in Moroccan souks, are essential to that country's cuisine. The peel, pulp, and juice squeezed from the lemons can all be used. Sometimes, however, the juice and preserving brine can be bitter; use fresh lemon juice in that case.

Fish from the Mediterranean waters is put to a variety of uses in Tunisian cuisine, and a simple soup such as this one of the most common. It's flavored with an appealing blend of herbs, spices and citrus.

This dish is a characteristic Moroccan Jewish preparation. North Africans, Jews and non-Jews alike, are particularly skilled at cooking fish because the long coastline yields so much. Dried chickpeas, a staple starch in the Mediterranean, traveled with the Jews when they emigrated.

The hens should marinate at least 12 hours, so begin preparing a day before serving.

Since this exotic dish has a very flavorful sauce, serve it with couscous or rice.

In Morocco, the word tagine refers to any of the country's slowly simmered meat, chicken, fish or vegetable stews that often have both savory and sweet flavors. It also refers to the earthenware dish with a conical lid in which the stew is cooked and served. Couscous or bread is a typical accompaniment.

For a great one-dish meal, serve this rich stew over rice. If you want to make it even more authentic, use couscous, a small grain-shaped pasta that is often found in North African and Middle Eastern cooking. It's available at many supermarkets and specialty foods stores.

This poultry dish features many of the flavors of the classic Moroccan dish b'stilla but is much easier to make.

Chermoula Chermoula is a traditional North African marinade for fish, especially in Morocco where, surprisingly, it's often used with shad. It has become very popular recently with North American restaurant chefs as a quick and easy (and cheap!) way to add lots of flavor to bland fish. Many old-fashioned recipes don't call for cilantro and parsley at all, but the fresh flavor of the green herbs adds a great deal to the preparation. Instead of shad, which is hard to find even when it's in season, and very difficult to bone, I use salmon steaks or fillets. You could substitute many other kinds of fish, including swordfish, halibut, haddock, and even fresh-water fish, such as catfish and perch.

For some appropriate side dishes, dress shredded carrots with a cumin, cilantro and lemon vinaigrette, and add almonds and raisins to couscous. Top it all off with pistachio ice cream and mint tea.

Because a food processor grates the carrots too fine, I recommend that you grate them by hand for this recipe. Be sure to use the side of a grater with teardrop-shaped holes instead of the kind that look like the metal has been punched out from the back. The punched-out kind will turn the carrots to mush.

Roast some cherry tomatoes and eggplant cubes alongside the lamb, and perk up instant couscous with fresh herbs for an easy addition. To complete the dinner, top poached or canned apricot halves with vanilla yogurt and chopped pistachios.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a tea sandwich one of our food editors discovered at Alice's Tea Cup, in Manhattan. It's surprisingly substantial — a bit like an overstuffed deli sandwich, but not nearly as heavy.

This recipe is just one of the countless ways to use preserved lemons.

North African spices combine with a touch of honey and lemon in a refreshing summer soup.

These rolls are based loosely on b'stilla — a phyllo-crusted "pie" of shredded chicken that's been simmered with Moroccan spices and then mixed with egg and nuts. The egg lends the filling an almost custard-like richness.

Ras-El-Hanout This vibrant spice blend makes an excellent addition to lamb burgers or roasted chicken. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark, dry place.

Harira Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 12 1/2 hr

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr This recipe, which accompanied our 1954 article on Tunisia, called for what were then two very exotic ingredients. One, the granular pasta called couscous, is now commonplace in supermarkets across America. The other, dried rose petals, is available by mail order.

This Moroccan-style dipping sauce would also be delicious on grilled chicken or fish. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Begin preparing this a day ahead.

(Adapted from The Keeper's House) Charmoula is a Moroccan fish marinade traditionally made with tomatoes, lemon, paprika, garlic, cumin, and cilantro.