MAGHRIBIAN CUISINE IN FRANCE: HOW COUSCOUS AND TAGINE BECAME A PART OF THE FRENCH SOULTHE SMELL OF NIGELLA AND CORIANDER, SIMMERING MEAT IN AN EARTHEN POT, THE SWEET FRAGRANCE OF MINT TEA AND THE CRISPNESS OF FRESH BAGUETTES. IN PARIS, MARSIELLE OR LYON, THIS COMBO OF SENSATIONS HAS LONG CEASED TO BE EXOTIC. MAGHRIBIAN CUISINE — THE CUISINE OF MOROCCO, ALGERIA AND TUNISIA — HAS BECOME AN IN integrable PART OF THE FRENCH GASTRONOMIC LANDSCAPE. IT HAS PENETRATED NOT ONLY RESTAURANTS AND CAFETERIAS, BUT ALSO HOME MEALS, SCHOOL CAFETERIAS AND EVEN TRADITIONAL FRENCH HOLIDAYS. HOW DID THIS CULINARY DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN TURN INTO ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT PAGES OF MODERN FRENCH CULTURE?HISTORICAL FOUNDATION: FROM COLONIAL CONNECTIONS TO MASS IMMIGRATIONTO UNDERSTAND WHY MAGHRIBIAN CUISINE IS SO STURDILY ROOTED IN FRANCE, YOU NEED TO LOOK INTO HISTORY. FRENCH COLONIAL PRESENCE IN NORTH AFRICA, LASTING MORE THAN A CENTURY, CREATED STRONG CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE TWO REGIONS. AFTER THE COUNTRIES OF THE MAGHREB OBTAINED INDEPENDENCE IN THE 1950-1960S, A STORM OF IMMIGRANTS FLOODED FRANCE. WORKERS FROM MOROCCO, ALGERIA AND TUNISIA BROUGHT NOT ONLY HANDS AND LABOR SKILLS BUT ALSO THEIR COOKING TRADITIONS. SOON THEY BEGAN TO OPEN SMALL FOOD STORES WHERE SPICES, RICE AND OTHER INGREDIENTS COULD BE BOUGHT, AND THEN THE FIRST RESTAURANTS. THIS IS HOW WHAT WE CALL THE “CULINARY CONQUEST” OF FRANCE BEGAN. BY THE 1980S, MAGHRIBIAN CUISINE HAD CEASED TO BE THE DOMAIN OF IMMIGRANT QUARTERS. IT BEGAN TO PENETRATE MAINSTREAM. FRENCHMEN DISCOVERED COUSCOUS AND TAGINE, AND THESE DISHES BECAME AS POPULAR AS PIZZA OR PASTA. TODAY COUSCOUS IS STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRENCH CUISINE, AND IT IS COOKED IN MANY FAMILIES AS OFTEN AS THE TRADITIONAL “POT-DE-FÉ.” COUSCOUS AND TAGINE: MAIN CHARACTERSTHE MAIN DISH THAT SYMBOLIZES MAGHRIBIAN CUISINE IN FRANCE IS CERTAINLY COUSCOUS. THIS DISH CONSISTS OF COOKED MANCHEMAIN, SERVED WITH VEGETABLE RAGOULE AND MEAT. IN FRAN ... Read more