Tagine de Viande aux Pommes de Terre

The potatoes tell you when this tagine is ready. They go in after the meat has begun to soften, cut in thick wedges so they don't disappear, and they drink the onion sauce until their edges turn gold and tender. This is not a grand ceremonial pot. It's the food you make because the house needs feeding and someone may knock at the door.

Use meat with bone if you can, lamb shoulder, beef shin, or neck, because the bone gives the sauce its body. The potatoes need a low flame and patience, not stirring every two minutes. Shake the pot gently instead. If you break the potatoes, the sauce turns cloudy and heavy.

The preserved lemon matters. Fresh lemon can't do the same work. It gives salt, perfume, and that deep cured brightness that belongs to Moroccan pots from Oujda to Rabat and beyond. Add the olives late so they stay themselves, not tired and gray.

Serve it in the middle of the table with round khobz. Spoons are fine, bread is better. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open, and this is exactly the kind of dish that makes room for one more.