Name: Orange-scented salmon with couscous
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: salt; 1 tablespoon ras el hanout; 12 dates, stoned and chopped; 50 g/2 oz spinach, rocket or watercress; 2–3 shallots, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon sunflower or groundnut oil; pepper; 1 tablespoon mint leaves, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped; 3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped; 450 ml/16 fl oz fish stock, made from the salmon bones; pared zest of 1 lemon; 25 g /1 oz unsalted butter; 2–3 tablespoons lightly toasted pine kernels, unsalted pistachios or flaked almonds; 2 tablespoons orange flower water; 250 g/9 oz couscous; six 175 g/6 oz pieces of salmon fillet, skinned; a small bunch of fresh coriander; 2–3 teaspoons lemon juice

Preparation info

serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Scented Kitchen

By Frances Bissell

Published 2012

About

This is inspired by a famous Fassi recipe collected by Madame Guinaudeau, who described the cooking of Fez in her stylish Traditional Moroccan Cooking. Her recipe is for a whole stuffed shad, which is cooked for several hours, and I have adapted the method to use salmon fillets. Anyone who has ever wrestled with bony shad fillets will appreciate the wisdom of lengthy cooking, which helps to ‘dissolve’ the bones. This recipe, on the other hand, is quickly cooked, and is best made with