Summer and this year has passed so quickly and somehow we are suddenly already in the first days of November. I have been woefully neglecting this space for the past two months. Do you ever have so much in your mind, so much to do, that you just end up not accomplishing anything? That is how I have been over the last weeks. I have so much travel material, thousands upon thousands of photos, that I want to share here that I am feeling really overwhelmed. Where do I begin? I’m thinking I will need to need to go backwards in order. I’ve also got several dishes that I have been making on regular rotation for my dinner table but that I haven’t gotten around to shooting yet. To ease my way back into this space, I’m sharing a recipe for one of my favorite sauces, chermoula and some scrumptious barramundi fish cakes that will warm you right up as the weather cools.

Chermoula, a North African sauce, sits firmly in the green sauce family and may very well be the predecessor of sauces such as the Italian salsa verde, French salce verte, and Argentinian chimichurri, to name a few. This family of sauces based around fresh green herbs is always very easy to put together and always bring that extra something special to every dish. As with anything with such a long and important history, recipes vary from family to family and region to region. I’ve read Tunisian recipes that include raisins (something I will need to explore) and spices often vary depending on preference. My recipe was inspired by a lamb tagine I ate many years ago at a favorite Moroccan restaurant.

When I cook with this sauce and really any sauce in general, I am always looking to use it multiple times at various stages of a dish – both during the cooking and the finishing. The beauty of chermoula lies in it’s ability to morph in flavor and complexity depending on application. The verdant herbs contrast so well with the earthiness of the spices and the salty tang of preserved lemon. When cooked, those spices come to the forefront. And when eaten raw those vibrant herbs and the rounded sourness of the lemon make their voices heard. Also, do you ever stress out about never being able to use up your parsley and cilantro fast enough before they go bad? Well here is a perfect way of fixing that problem. The recipe below makes a large quantity so you can easily make less if you don’t have the full amount of herbs necessary. For these fish cakes, I am using the chermoula in three different places. First they are mixed into the most tender fish cakes you will ever eat. Next they liven up a delicious fennel tomato sauce. I would also suggest that you give this tomato sauce a try with some spaghetti. SO SO GOOD! And finally I am serving this sauce on the dining table to allow for generous spoonfuls at my leisure.

I must admit that fishcakes do not ever come into my mind as something I crave. But this recipe has definitely changed my mind. So often fish cakes are dry and crumbly, lacking a proper cohesion in the ingredients. I find that this is because many recipes call for the first to be cooked twice – once alone and then a second time as a cake. That has always seemed excessive to me considering how delicate fish is. So instead of precooking the fish, in this recipe we will only be cooking it once. We will essentially be treating the fish as the ground meat that goes into a meatball. A quick searing in a hot pan to seal in the juices and properly add depth and then a delicate bit of braising in fragrant tomato sauce to finish the cooking and voilà you have the most perfectly tender bouncy fishcakes ever! As with all things stew like, I love eating these with some rice.

Enjoy! And if you are looking for some other wonderful sauces check out the other recipes in my Sauces to Live By series below.

1. Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

2. Eggs Baked in Tomatillo Salsa + Spiced Yogurt w/Mexican Chorizo

3. Spicy Sichuan Mayo + Sichuan BLT

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C H E R M O U L A
As always I urge you to use whole spices rather than preground. It will make all the difference. I also sometimes add caraway seeds to this recipe.

1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 serrano chili
3 cloves garlic, halved
1/2 inch nub ginger, diced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 preserved lemon, diced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of cinnamon

Lightly toast the cumin and coriander in a pan over medium high heat until fragrant and slightly darkened. Grind using a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle. Add the cilantro, parsley, serrano chili, garlic, ginger, and preserved lemon to a food processor. Pulse to dice the ingredients and gradually drizzle in the olive oil. Add the cumin, coriander, and the rest of the spices. Pulse until a chunky sauce is formed.

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N O R T H   A F R I C A N   F I S H  C A K E S
I N  A  C H E R M O U L A   T O M A T O   S A U C E
serves 4

1 pound barramundi fish, skinless
1 1/2 cup fresh, chunky breadcrumbs
3/4 cup onion, minced
1/3 cup fennel fronds, chopped (+ more for serving)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon chermoula
2 large eggs
1 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup fennel bulb, diced
2 tablespoons chermoula, plus more for serving
112 ounce can, whole tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Use a knife to chop the fish very finely, add to a medium sized mixing bowl. To the bowl, add the breadcrumbs, onion, fennel, paprika, chermoula, and eggs. Mix together well, use your hands to shape the mixture into 8 cakes.

Heat a light layer of olive oil over medium high heat in a large frying pan. Add 4 of the cakes to the pan and sear on each side until browned. Repeat with the other 4 cakes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more oil if the pan is dry, heat over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until they have begun to soften. Add the diced fennel, cook for another 8-10 minutes until everything has softened. Add the chermoula and sautée for another 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, and some black pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Gently place the cakes in the tomato sauce. Add about a cup of water to the pan, just enough to cover the cakes halfway. Cover the pan and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, until the cakes are firm but bouncy. Serve with more fennel fronds and chermoula.

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This post was done in collaboration with Australis Barramundi. All opinions expressed here are my own.

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