The other day I bought David Tanis' A Platter of Figs with the intention of cooking my way through the winter menus in this beautiful cookbook, starting with North African Comfort Food. It begins with Carrot and Coriander Salad, then Chicken Tagine with Pumpkin and Chickpeas, followed by Walnut Cigars for dessert. I was inspired by the smart and funny Tipsy Baker, who's currently cooking out of the same book.After hours of chopping, boiling, toasting and baking, the results were remarkably bland and disappointing. I would have thought this was due to some gross error on my part, but Tipsy had the same results. How, we wondered, could this book get such rave reviews? Maybe the sycophants were cooking at a better time of year...
The author recommends "presenting tangerines in a well-worn earthen vessel" and that's about the only part of this meal that turned out as one would have expected. At least the Walnut Cigars were a hit, and elegant, but I don't know that I'd make them again. Now I'm just waiting to see what happens when the Tipsy Baker makes Tanis' Pig's Ear Salad on Wednesday...
