Beef tagine. "Detachable me."

I have already started to clean up the clutter of our house. It is unbelievable the amount of unnecessary clothes, books, toys, papers and other things you accumulate in almost three years- of course, I don't include in that litter my cookbooks and my useful kitchen gadgets, they are most needed-.

My mind is also beginning to fly out of Manila and the people I have met. In the middle of June we will go back to Canberra and I am looking forward to it.

While I was wrapping with plastic paper  the cookbooks -small habit that my mum, a librarian for 40 years, taught me to protect and preserve books- I meditated and thought of the upcoming move. My feelings started to get agitated and lots of memories emerged at unison.

I realized that this will be my 7th uplift since I left Spain eleven years ago. 

Back in time, I remember it was very hard to detach myself from my family, friends and a country that saw me to grow for 25 years. The truth is that I cried a lot that the day I was leaving, 2nd of March of 2003; so much that my eyes were swollen and I had to use two slices of cold cucumber to heal them during our flight from Madrid to Colombo- we were going to visit a couple of friends posted in Sri Lanka before our final destination, Canberra-.

The more I move around the world the easier it gets for me to say good bye and to loose the ties with the place, the culture and the people I have met. It doesn't mean that I am not warm enough or don't feel sad when I leave. I am sorry that everything has an end but the good memories will go with me wherever I go.

I also thought this morning that I have learnt to suffer less with each new posting, I am more detachable.  My skin is a bit thicker- in a positive sense- than when I was 25 which has helped me to heal the wound caused by the separation from family and friends. 

However,  I still have a soft heart underneath that appearance of being a strong woman. Tears always run through my face when I hug and kiss good bye -I will miss lots of people from Manila-. I can't control this weakness of crying even if I wanted!. But I don't want to stop it and I allow to wet my face because it is the way I am.

I am now slowly moving to the next adventure. Packing up the house, looking for schools, organising our life in another place…all adds stress and a hussle but no one said it is easy, even worse if you have children, three in our case. I wonder if they will be happy and how long it will take them to adapt themselves to the new place; or if they will make friends quickly..I don't know, this is the hardest part for me as a mum and it gives me a bit of anxiety like it would to you if you were in my shoes.

Saying bye means I close one door and I open another. It is sad but at the same time it is utterly exciting for people like Nick and I who have "ants in our pants" and love to experience new cultures and discover what the world can offer: an AMAZING adventure if you are willing to sacrifice some things, like I did, and prepare yourself for a peculiar but extraordinary life.

My family is like a suitcase: we all fit in there because we are together and will always be- as I gently said to my children a couple of days ago when we told them we are about to leave Manila- and it moves around the world. We open it and close it until we say it is time to stop.

And so far it is time to board.

This is a star dish for a fancy dinner party with a Moroccan atmosphere. It is from Neil Perry (yes, I am using his book a lot!) and you can make the beef in a heavy pot instead of a traditional tagine dish. 

Mine was broken -as you can see on the top of the tagine-  in my last uplift, coming from Canberra to Manila. I was sad when I took it out of the box and unwrapped it because I can't use it again…but I detached myself from it and kept it in my kitchen. 

Like the memories of each posting.

Beef tagine

• 800g beef filet, cut into 2 cm dice
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, cut into 6 pieces
• 2 carrots, cut into long pieces
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 4cm pieces
• 12 green beans
• 60 g whole blanched almonds
• sea salt
• 2 tbsp honey
• juice of one lemon
• 8 fresh dates, pitted
• 70 g black olives, pitted
• 1/4 preserve lemon, pith removed and zest finely chopped
• 2 tbsp cilantro leaves
• 2 tbsp Italian parsley
• steamed couscous, to serve
• CHERMULA: place all these ingredients in a food processor except the oil and lemon juice. Process for 20 seconds, then pour in the oil to form a thick paste. Stri through the lemon juice. Set aside 1 cup for the tagine:
• 1 red onion and 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 bunch of cilantro and one bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt, 
• 1 tbsp ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 ground chilli powder
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 ras el hanout
• 185 ml extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon

1. Combine 2 tablespoons of the chermoula with the beef and set aside for 1 hour.
2. In a pot or tagine heat the oil and the rest of the chermoul over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, sweet potato, beans, almonds and a bit of salt and sauté for 2 minutes. Add enough water to half cover the vegetables, the add the honey and lemon juice and cover. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.
3. Remove the lid and turn the ingredients carefully. Add the dates and olives. Cover the pan again and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Heat a frying pan over a high heat until hot and add a little oil. When smoking, add the beef to sauté to colour.
5. Spoon the beef into the tagine and mix well. Sprinkle some preserved lemon zest and herbs. Serve with couscous.

Preserved lemons

1. Boil whole lemons in a very salty water for 20 minutes.  Remove and when cool, quarter the lemons, discard the pulp and pith and chop the zest.
2. Store the zest in a jar, covered with a layer of oil

Mint tea

It is my favourite way to finish and digest a nice meal. Just put some fresh mint leaves and a bag of green tea or peppermint tea in a pot and add enough boiling water to cover. Rest for 5-10 minutes and add 1 tablespoon of sugar.