Tajine zitoune comes from Algiers, and zitoune simply means olives, which tells you where the attention goes. Chicken is browned with onion, simmered in a light sauce colored gold with turmeric or saffron, and joined late by a generous pile of green olives that have been boiled briefly to calm their salt. A little flour and lemon at the end turn the cooking liquid into a silky, tangy sauce. In Algeria it is a dish for guests and for Ramadan evenings, the kind of thing that appears when somebody has been looking forward to it.

Despite the name, no clay tajine is required here; in Algeria the word describes the stew as much as the pot. A heavy casserole does the job beautifully. The olives are not a garnish but the second star, so buy good ones, and the result is gentle, savory and bright, with none of the heat people sometimes expect from North African cooking.

The olives

Ingredients

• 2 cups (300 g) pitted green olives

The chicken stew

Ingredients

• 3 lb (1.4 kg) bone in chicken thighs and drumsticks
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 small pinch saffron threads
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups (720 ml) water
• 2 medium carrots
• 8 oz (225 g) white button mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley

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