Chermoula is “the emblematic marinade of Maghreb cuisine”, according to Casablanca native Nada Kiffa, who writes that the name comes from the Arabic verb chermel, “in reference to rubbing or marinating something with a spice mix”. Though the details vary, often in relation to the dish in question, the three constants are garlic, olive oil and plenty of fresh herbs; rather like an Italian salsa verde, but with a north African flavour profile, and a total “flavour bomb”, as chef and food writer Nargisse Benkabbou puts it.
The great Claudia Roden refers to chermoula as the “all-purpose Moroccan marinade and sauce used with every kind of fish – fried, grilled, baked and stewed”, and Benkabbou explains that it’s “traditionally used in Moroccan cooking as a flavouring for fish and vegetables”, before going on to admit that “I personally love it with anything savoury”. So, although I’ve chosen to try recipes using fish – mostly prompted, I suspect, by the desire to be sitting at a seaside restaurant on the Mediterranean, rather than at my desk in London – you could pair it with anything from red meat to roast red peppers, wherever you are.
