Apart from stews in conical pots called tagines, there are soups like harira and dishes like pastilla that reveal the beauty of Moroccan cuisine, being served at Casablanca, DoubleTree by Hilton Gurgaon. Divya Kaushik had a hearty meal
The music played by an overenthusiastic duo, who nodded their heads and smiled in high spirits when guests entered the decorated door of Casablanca, made one feel like royalty. The dim-lit space with its colourful Moroccan lamps and zillij mosaics had something appealing about its subtle, yet classy décor. You felt at home on the plush sofas, where you were served dates with almonds and a cup of milk with a fruity fragrance.
Casablanca is apparently the city’s first fine dining Moroccan restaurant. located at DoubleTree by Hilton Gurgaon, it already has regulars walking in for Moroccan chef Rachid Choukki’s fare. Unfortunately for us, he was absent when we visited. So Sous Chef Puneet Sethi took over. He had worked in Abu Dhabi for seven years and liked the slow cooking method of Moroccans. Moroccan cuisine is a blend of Mediterranean, Arabic and African cuisines. Most common ingredients used are cherry tomatoes, olives and spices like cinnamon, cumin and black pepper. It is famous for stews and tagines. The slow-cooked stews are served in conical pots called tagines. The stew is braised at low temperature, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetable and sauce. “Tagine is served with traditional couscous, Moroccan bread and steamed rice,” shared Sethi, as he left to get our starters. The menu has huge variety for non-vegetarians, dominated by chicken and lamb. But if you are vegan, don’t despair. Chef has something special with vegetables. The mezzah platter has over six accompaniments, plus pickled carrot, giant olives and potatoes. There was baba ghanoush, eggplant with olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, zalouk, cauliflower paste with paprika, olive oil and coriander. The chickpea paste with oil dressing had a strong, pungent flavour. Thin pita breads that melt in the mouth like oven fresh bread were prepared inhouse and Moroccan bread was served along side.
The red tomato paste was spicier than its counterpart. Sethi also introduced Moroccan oil called argan. “It is used commonly for dipping bread in couscous and salads. It is prepared with local plants found there. It is supposed to be very healthy, preventing cancer and is helpful in cardiovascular diseases. It is also traditionally used for skin diseases and as a cosmetic oil for skin and hair,” shared Sethi.
There are salads like Calamari salad and Casablanca salad, with chicken, harissa, honey, spinach cherry tomato and beetroot dressing. The next starter was pastilla, a traditional Moroccan dish with sweet and savoury flavours. Meat is slow-cooked in broth with onions, herbs and spices, then shredded and chilled overnight. The mix, eggs and toasted almonds are enclosed in crispy layers of phylo pastry before topping with powder sugar and cinnamon. For vegetarians the filling contains asparagus, mushrooms and zucchini. If you must have soup, try Harira. “It is a national soup cooked on traditional occasions. It is prepared with chickpeas, parsley and fresh tomatoes,” informed Sethi. From rabbit artichoke to seafood, veal tenderloin, baby onion, cinnamon and prunes, there are many kinds of tagines to be served with saffron boiled rice and couscous. We tried potato, chickpeas, red olive and preserved lemon tagine.
The aroma was perfect and flavours lingered. “Couscous, a staple of Morocco, is more popular than rice. It is made of crushed durum wheat semolina,” said Sethi. Couscous prepared with vegetables, caramelised onions, placed like a topping, raisins, chickpeas, vegetable broth and harissa sauce was the best we had. “Most popular in the dessert section is the platter with baghir, crepe with butter/honey, chocolate sauce and nuts, almond briouat and vermicelli milk pudding,” said Sethi.