Khlea

Strips of beef dried in the sun for days and then cooked and stored under their own fat, which is what seals them.

Beef, Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains beef, lamb.

Ingredients

• 2 kg beef topside or brisket, in long strips 2 cm thick
• 60 g salt
• 1 head garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons ground coriander seed
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 200 ml white vinegar
• 500 g beef suet or lamb fat
• 200 ml olive oil
• 500 ml water

Method

1. THE FAT IS THE SEAL AND IT MUST COVER EVERYTHING. Stored under a solid layer of its own fat, khlea keeps for months without refrigeration; one strip poking through the surface spoils and takes the jar with it. Press it all down and top up with melted fat if the level drops.
2. AND IT IS NOT A DRY CURE ALONE -- IT IS DRIED AND THEN COOKED. Several days of drying takes the water out; two hours of simmering in fat and water afterwards cooks it through and renders the texture. Either step alone leaves something that is not safe to keep.
3. THIS NEEDS HOT DRY AIR AND IS NOT A BRITISH RECIPE. In a damp climate use the lowest oven you have with the door wedged open, or a dehydrator, and judge by the result rather than the clock: the strips must be hard, dark and leathery with no softness anywhere, which is 48 hours in the sun or 12 to 18 in a 50C oven.
4. Beef cut with the grain into strips about 2 cm thick and as long as convenient.
5. Salt, garlic, coriander, cumin and vinegar worked into every surface. Left covered in the fridge 24 hours.
6. Hung or laid on racks with air on all sides, in strong sun under netting, or in a very low oven with the door ajar.
7. DRIED UNTIL HARD AND DARK, with no give at all. Underdone in the middle is the failure that matters, and it cannot be seen from the outside -- cut one in half to check.
8. The fat rendered gently in a wide pan until liquid, with the oil and water added.
9. The dried strips in, and simmered VERY GENTLY 2 hours. The water boils away over that time and leaves them cooking in pure fat.
10. Cooled a little, then packed into sterilised jars with the strips pressed down and the hot fat poured over to cover by at least 2 cm.
11. Sealed and kept somewhere cool and dark. It keeps months.
12. To use: a strip lifted out, the fat scraped off and kept, and the meat shredded into eggs, lentils or a tagine. The fat is as useful as the meat.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Morocco · All recipes