For the past 10 years, The Barbary in Neal’s Yard has been plating up dishes influenced by the ingredients and cuisines of what was known as the Barbary Coast – the coastal regions stretching from southern Europe to north Africa.
To mark the anniversary the good-looking Covent Garden restaurant is launching a new menu of seasonal dishes, including spinach borani – a Persian dip with swiss chard – marinated lamb chops and harissa prawns. But we’re celebrating by digging into the archives; we’ve snagged the recipe for one of The Barbary’s mainstays: its Moroccan cigars. Crisp golden pastry is rolled around a filling of white fish, herbs and harissa; the “cigars” are designed for dipping in zhoug, a fiery, herby condiment, and sour cream.
The Barbary’s Moroccan cigars
Serves 4 as a starter Preparation time: 45 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 packet feuille de brick pastry
50g water
25g plain flour
Vegetable oil, for frying
Salt, to taste
Zhoug and sour cream, to serve
Filling
½ red onion, finely diced
1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
300g white fish, boneless, skinless and diced (The Barbary uses a mix of cod and hake)
10g coriander, chopped
10g parsley, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
½ tsp cured lemon paste
1 tsp harissa paste (we use Belazu rose harissa)
Pinch of ground cumin
Salt, to taste
Method
For the filling, place onion, chilli and garlic in a pan with a little oil and a sprinkle of salt. Cook over medium heat until softened and sweet. Once cooked, chill the onion mixture until cool. Meanwhile, blitz the fish in a food processor until fine but not a paste. Place fish, onions and all other ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined. Season with salt and cook a small piece to check the seasoning. Once you are happy with the mix, place in a piping bag.
Mix flour and water together to create a “glue” you will use to seal your cigars.
Trim the bottom 5cm of the pastry off, then, with the cut side facing you, pipe a line of the mix along the bottom of the pastry, leaving 3cm of pastry clear on either side. Using a pastry brush spread a thin layer of the flour and water mix on either side of the filling, then fold the sides in. Roll the cigars up, then brush the top of the pastry with more of the flour mixture to seal. Repeat until all the filling is used up. At this point the cigars can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight before cooking. Heat enough oil to cover the cigars in a pan to 180°C then fry the cigars until golden brown and cooked through (around 4 minutes). Season with a little fine salt and serve with sour cream and zhoug for dipping.
