Original traditiontagineFès-Meknès

Beef & Caramelized Quince Tagine

A classic sweet-and-savory autumn tagine featuring tender meat paired with poached, pan-caramelized quinces in a cinnamon and honey reduction.

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Moroccan table

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Story and taste

In the fertile plains between Fez and Meknes, where quince trees bloom in autumn with golden fruit, elders tell of a time when famine threatened the land. A wise woman named Lalla Amina noticed that while thecrops failed, the quince trees bore abundantly. She shared a recipe with villagers, teaching them to cook veal with these fragrant fruits in clay tagines over charcoal fires. As the tagines simmered, the scent of cinnamon and honey filled the air, drawing neighbors who thought it was a celebration. When they tasted the dish, sweet and savory mingling perfectly, they knew their prayers had been answered. The following year, the land blessed them with abundance, and they continued cooking Tagine de Veau aux Coings Maquillés each autumn as a thanksgiving. For Moroccans, this dish symbolizes resilience and the earth's generosity, turning humble ingredients into sustenance that nurtures both body and spirit.

Ingredients

veal and beefquincehoney and sugarcinnamonsaffronginger

Method

Begin by peeling and coring the quinces, then cutting them into wedges and poaching them in a mixture of water, honey, cinnamon bark, and a pinch of saffron until tender but still holding their shape.
Remove the quince wedges and set aside, then reduce the poaching liquid by half to create a syrupy glaze.
Season the veal shank pieces with salt, pepper, and turmeric, then sear them in the tagine with clarified butter until browned on all sides.
Add chopped onions, garlic, ginger, and saffron strands to the tagine, stirring gently until fragrant before adding enough water to cover the meat.
Simmer the tagine over charcoal or low gas flame, covered, until the meat is nearly tender, about 1.5 hours, skimming any foam that rises to the surface.
Add the poached quince wedges and their reduced syrup to the tagine, along with a cinnamon stick, and continue cooking for another 30 minutes until the meat is forktender.

Where to experience this

Beef & Caramelized Quince Tagine belongs to the Fès-Meknès table. Taste it where its Andalusian-Moroccan heritage kitchen tradition lives, or fold it into an itinerary through the region.

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