Tapenade

When life gives you olives . . .

Having had our fair share of meals at Port XIV in Assilah, we have also consumed WAY more than our fair share of their signature tapenade that gets put on your table with a flourish as you settle in to decide what to order. 

So we thought we would, in collaboration with Port XIV and their head chef Youssef,

show you how to transform

these . . . 

Into this.

There are a few subtle variations  to the traditional tapenade, but that is kind of the point.

 We are in Morocco after all!

so to your 1/2 kilo of black olives

add: 

1 teaspoon of cumin 

  1/2 teaspoon oregano

        2 teaspoons of olive oil - preferably from your own trees!

        1 teaspoon of fresh coriander chopped

        1/2 teaspoon of harissa 

The rest is simple - mix it all together and blend.

Then a bit of fresh bread, a glass of wine . . . .
Perfect.

Luckily, I don't have to don an apron to make any for a while as we were given this lovely jarful of the results of this recipe to bring home.

I will confess that there is already considerably less tapenade in above jar after 24 hours chez Brettell!

Thanks to Port XIV & Chef Youssef for sharing their recipe.

x

PORT XIV

If you find yourself hungry and in Assilah - and possibly, dare I say it . . .  a little tagine and couscous-ed out (it does happen from time to time you know!) take a stroll down to the end of the seafront, just beyond the main cluster of restaurants and you will find the newest kid on the block : Port XIV.

Port XIV is a welcome breath of fresh and slightly more contemporary air, to the food scene in Assilah - from its decor to approach of sourcing local and seasonal food, not too mention its own house olive oil and a rather cool bar and cocktail list, well . . . lets just say I could become a regular!

And then there is the tapenade (made from owner Karims own olives) - I could quite happily snack on that while sipping a little local rose for the evening

The menu ranges from hearty hamburgers,

to the more chi-chi crab salad

made with fresh crabs from the local harbour - of course!

Owner Karim grew up in Assilah and went to school in Tangiers before completing his studies in the uk and europe - it was a dream of his to come back to Assilah and open a restuarant, and he's done it!
A lot of the ingredients come from Karims family farm - honey, olive oil, vegetable, all local and organic

honey and olive oil - from tree to table

the lemons are plucked off his trees . . .

and the next thing they are daintily wrapped in muslin and sitting prettily on your plate to squeeze over some fresh fish

so take the scenic route

stroll down the seafront

and enjoy the sunset

at

Port XIV

see you there

x