Moroccan meals often include a sweet salad – like this Moroccan orange and date salad, to counter the spicy dishes. This salad is beautiful and goes very well with a spread of tagine, couscous and flatbreads. Blood oranges are fabulous to use when in season as they provide gorgeous colour and fantastic flavour.
Preserved lemon and sumac can be found at world food markets, they are inexpensive, last a long time and once you have them, you can try them in other dishes for a splash of Moroccan flavour.
Sumac is the flowering part of the a shrub in the genus Rhus. It grows in subtropical temperate regions, especially Africa and North America. The fruits are ground into a reddish-purple powder and used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to dishes. It is also found in the spice mixture za’atar.
Orange blossom water can be found in most supermarkets these days or in world food shops. It is delicious added to brownies, cakes, cocktails, sprinkled over fruit salad or whisked into salad dressings. It can even be used in your iron for a gentle fragrance, a few drops added to a bowl of water and placed by a radiator or as a slightly astringent facial toner.
Moroccan Blood Orange and Date Salad
Serves 4
For the salad
3-4 oranges (use blood oranges if they’re in season)
150g dried dates
2-3 tbsp orange blossom water
½ a preserved lemon (optional)
1 tsp sumac
Method
- Cut the top and bottom off each orange so the flesh is visible, maybe 1.25cm (½ inch) depending on the thickness of the peel. Next, to remove the peel, cut from top to bottom curving the knife to the shape of the orange. Repeat all the way around.
- Place the oranges on a plate to catch the juice and finely slice them into circles. Remove and discard the seeds then put the slices in a shallow bowl with the juice.
- Slice the dates lengthways into quarters and scatter over the oranges. Pour the orange blossom water over the oranges and dates. Gently toss using your hands to combine. Cover the bowl and leave for 15 minutes so the flavours mingle and the dates soften.
- Cut the preserved lemon in half, remove all the flesh, seeds and pith and finely slice or chop the peel.
- Arrange the oranges and dates on a plate in a decorative manner. Scatter the preserved lemon and sumac over the oranges and dates.