AROMAS of warming spices and meats mingle in the air and lead you by the nose to the furthest corner of the new-look Shambles Market.

Manning his Los Moros booth in the new food court of the £1.6 million development is Tarik Abdeladim, an Algerian who has brought his love of home cooking to the heart of Yorkshire.

On the menu today is Casse Croute Merguez – spiced lamb sausage with North African sauces and minted carrot, served in a French baguette – a filling lunch for a fiver.

Tarik makes the sausages himself, sourcing the meat from the market and spices from Rafi's in Goodramgate, where he used to work.

There are seven spices in total in the sausage mix, including cumin, paprika, coriander, fennel, as well as ginger, garlic and mint. "The paprika gives it the red colour," says Tarik who has lived in York since 1997.

Other dishes drawing customers today include the chicken tajine – or stew – with potatoes, preserved lemons and green olives in a saffron sauce for £5.50. The menu changes daily and there is always a veggie choice.

The offering today is dolmas – cabbage leaves stuffed with mushrooms and onions, and served warm on a bed of couscous. The leaves have turned silky in the cooking and the mushroom flavours flood through the dish, lending a savoury note to the couscous.

There is a selection of home-made hummus too, including garlic and lemon, beetroot and cumin and harissa (the vibrant red North African sauce made from chilli paste and garlic).

Tarik's love affair with food began as a child. "I was always helping my mum in the kitchen. We were a family of foodies. We make our own olive oil from olive trees in the mountains.

"In Algeria, all the food was seasonal. If we had peas, I would be shelling peas. From the age of eight I liked to make cakes too."

As a teenager, Tarik broadened his culinary skills and began cooking tajines, couscous and fish – all North African staples. "I would fry some sardines and then grab a lemon off the tree and squeeze it over the fish," he said.

He hopes to be serving these in the summer, along with lighter menu choices such as salads and falafel with pitta breads. Also to come are "briks", filo-pastry parcels stuffed with a variety of fillings. A favourite traditional brik includes tuna, capers, red onion, green olives and egg, says Tarik. A veggie alternative would feature spinach and feta.

North African food shares many flavours from the world, says Tarik. "There are Spanish, Ottoman, Arabic and French influences as well as the native Berbers. The Muslims brought spices, the Romans brought olive trees and wine and the Berbers the tajine and couscous."

North African food is a rarity in York, so Tarik hopes his street café will hit the spot.

He said: "There is no place in York that makes this kind of food. You can't really beat it."


Recipe

Tajine De Poulet et Citron Confit
Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 kg of skinless chicken thighs (bone in) 
• 600g of peeled white potatoes quartered lengthways 
• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped 
• 1/4 tsp of saffron strands soaked in a little warm water
• A small jar of green pitted olives
• 2 small preserved lemons, skin and pulp cut into thin slivers
• juice of half a lemon 
• 1tsp of ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon 
• 2 tbsp of chopped flat-leaf parsley 
• Small bunch of chopped coriander 
For the spices and preserved lemons I use Rafi's Spicebox on 17 Goodramgate, York

Method:

Heat a heavy-bottomed, shallow, lidded pan on a low heat. 

Add the oil. Once hot, lightly brown the chicken thighs on both sides then add the onions and garlic and continue frying while stirring from time to time, until the onions became translucent. 

Add the spices, the saffron water, the cut preserved lemons, lemon juice, the chopped parsley and half of the chopped coriander.

Toss it all together well.

Arrange the potatoes on the top, then add enough water to just cover them. You can substitute the water with chicken stock

Scatter the green olives on the top.

Cover tightly and gently simmer for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are soft.

At this stage you can reduce the sauce to a thick consistency if desired by taking the lid off and continuing to simmer until this is achieved. 

Season to taste and top with the remaining chopped coriander.

Serve with some crusty French baguette.

Bon appetit!