Moroccan lamb and prune tagine

Where spice routes meet in North African sweetness

Origin: Morocco

From the journey of Cinnamon.

Cinnamon arrived in Morocco via the Arab and Moorish spice routes of the 11th century, and it became central to the sweet-savoury flavour pairings that define Moroccan imperial cuisine (particularly in Fes, the city considered Morocco's culinary capital. This tagine) slow-braised lamb with prunes, honey, almonds and cinnamon: belongs to the category of mrouzia, the sweetened meat dishes that were served at royal tables. The combination of meat with fruit and warm spice is a direct inheritance from Persian and Arab culinary traditions brought to North Africa by Arab scholars and traders.

Ingredients

Main

  • 900 g lamb shoulder, cut into large chunks

Cooking

  • 3 tbsp olive oil

Aromatics

  • 1 large onion, grated
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Spices

  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 pinch saffron threads, dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water

Seasoning

  • 1 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp black pepper

Liquid

  • 300 ml chicken stock or water

Fruit and Nuts

  • 200 g pitted prunes
  • 80 g blanched almonds
  • 2 tbsp honey

Garnish

  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted, to garnish
  • 1 small bunch fresh coriander, to garnish

Method

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large tagine or heavy-based casserole over high heat. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Sear the lamb in batches until browned on all sides. Remove and set aside.
  2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the grated onion and cook for 5-6 minutes until softened and lightly golden.
  3. Add the garlic and ginger; cook for 1 minute. Add the ground cinnamon, cumin, coriander and turmeric; stir for 1 minute until the spices are fragrant.
  4. Return the lamb to the pot. Add the cinnamon stick, saffron water and stock. Bring to a simmer.
  5. Cover tightly and cook on the lowest possible heat for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the lamb is completely tender and beginning to fall apart.
  6. Add the prunes, honey and blanched almonds. Stir gently to combine. Cook uncovered for a further 20 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens and the prunes are soft and plump.
  7. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove the cinnamon stick. Serve over couscous or with warm flatbread, garnished with sesame seeds and fresh coriander.

Notes

This tagine can be made a day ahead: the flavour improves significantly overnight. Reheat gently over low heat, adding a splash of water if needed. The dish freezes well for up to 3 months.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
c. 1890 CE
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21 of 21 stops
1890 CE
3000 BCE100 CE1640 CE1890 CE
Cinnamon

Cinnamon

Cinnamomum spp.

Spices & AromaticsTree Bark

🌍Origin

Sri Lanka, South India and Southeast Asia. — c. 3000 BCE

🌱Domestication

Three distinct species of Cinnamomum shaped the global cinnamon story, each with its own origin, character, and trade corridor. Cinnamomum verum (true cinnamon) is native to Sri Lanka’s hill country, where Salagama caste peelers developed the delicate art of stripping, drying, and rolling the inner bark into thin, layered quills: a technique unchanged for millennia. Sri Lanka produces 80–90% of the world’s C. verum to this day, and it remains the benchmark for quality. Cinnamomum malabatrum (Malabar cinnamon) is native to the Western Ghats of Kerala: here it is not the bark but the aromatic leaf that is traded, known to the ancient world as malabathrum and recorded in the 1st-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a prized Malabar coast export. Cinnamomum burmannii (Indonesian or Korintje cinnamon) is native to the forested highlands of Sumatra and is the most widely sold cinnamon in the world today: bolder, more pungent, and less complex than C. verum, it is the cinnamon of American supermarkets, most Southeast Asian cooking, and the majority of commercially produced cinnamon products globally. Cinnamomum cassia (Chinese cassia) has a fourth independent origin in the forests of Guangxi and Fujian, traded westward along the Silk Road since at least 2700 BCE. The spice on any given kitchen shelf is one of these four, and they are not interchangeable.

⛵Global Voyage

One of the most prized ancient spices, cinnamon’s source was deliberately obscured by Arab and Phoenician traders for millennia (a disinformation campaign so effective that Roman authors believed it was harvested from bird nests or guarded by giant serpents in an unnamed southern land. The quest to reach and control the cinnamon supply drove some of the most consequential chapters in European colonial history: the Portuguese seized Sri Lanka in 1518, the Dutch VOC ousted them in 1638 and established the brutal plantation system that devastated the island’s forests, before the British took control in 1796. The ancient Roman name for Sri Lanka was Serendib) the origin of the English word serendipity (because any trader who stumbled upon it was set for life. A parallel story unfolded in China, where Cinnamomum cassia had been independently cultivated and traded westward along the Silk Road since at least 2700 BCE, reaching Persia and Arabia through an entirely separate corridor long before Sri Lankan C. verum arrived. A third thread ran through the Indonesian archipelago: Cinnamomum burmannii) native to the forests of West Sumatra, cultivated by the Minangkabau people of the Padang Highlands (entered the spice trade through the Srivijaya Empire and the maritime networks of the Javanese archipelago. Bolder and more pungent than the Sri Lankan original, it is this variety that would eventually become the dominant cinnamon of the modern era, filling American supermarket jars and Southeast Asian kitchens alike. And a fourth corridor ran from Kerala’s Western Ghats, where Cinnamomum malabatrum was traded as malabathrum) an aromatic leaf, not a bark (through the Indian Ocean networks of the 1st century CE. From the Americas to Scandinavia, cinnamon became woven into the culinary identity of nearly every civilisation it reached) but its story is not one origin, one species, or one people: it is three or four distinct trees from different corners of Asia, converging on the same spice rack.

🍽Modern Culinary Role

One of the world’s most universally used spices, but which cinnamon depends entirely on where you are. Cinnamomum verum (true or Ceylon cinnamon), produced almost entirely in Sri Lanka, commands premium prices for its delicate, floral, paper-thin quills; it is the cinnamon of European fine baking, Mexican canela, and the historically authentic spice trade. Cinnamomum burmannii (Indonesian or Korintje cinnamon), produced primarily in Sumatra, supplies the bulk of the American market and most commercial ground cinnamon globally, its thick, dark bark is more pungent and astringent than C. verum and contains higher levels of coumarin. Cinnamomum cassia (Chinese cassia) and its close relative Cinnamomum loureiroi (Vietnamese cassia) dominate the East and Southeast Asian markets, their bold, sharp flavour essential to Chinese five-spice and Vietnamese phở. Cinnamomum malabatrum (Malabar leaf cinnamon) survives as a niche spice in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, its aromatic leaves used in rice cooking and folk medicine. What is sold simply as ‘cinnamon’ in most of the world is C. burmannii; what is sold as ‘true’ or ‘Ceylon’ cinnamon is C. verum. The distinction matters: flavour, coumarin content, and price differ substantially.

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