Tagine d'Agneau aux Pruneaux et Amandes

This tagine belongs to the table that has already made room for more people than it planned. The lamb sits low in the pot with grated onion, saffron, ginger, cinnamon, and a small hand of ras el hanout, then time takes it. When it's ready, the meat doesn't need a knife. It lets go under the spoon.

The prunes are not thrown in and forgotten. You soften them apart, glaze them with honey and cinnamon, then bring them back to the lamb so the sweetness shines on the surface instead of burning at the bottom. That is the rule that protects the dish: honey late, always late.

This is celebration cooking from the Andalusi-citadin register, the sweet-savory language of Fez, Rabat, Salé, Tetouan, and the wedding table, but you can make it today in a heavy pot. Serve it from the center with toasted almonds, sesame if your table likes it, and round khobz for the sauce. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open, and this dish knows how to hold it open.