Moroccan Matbucha Cooked Tomato Salad

Matbucha, said with a gutteral "ch" is a cooked tomato relish, that is cooked for many hours over a low flame, and whose recipe differs greatly depending on whom you ask!  Here in Israel it is called a "salad" and is a universal dish eaten with challah at the shabbat table, together with an array of other salads (many other salads if you are Moroccan) that precede the fish course on Friday night.

Since matbucha is actually of Moroccan origin, I'm going to go out on a limb and tell you that the recipe I use is the real thing, and truly the most delicious. My recipe didn't actually come from my husband's family but rather from a Moroccan woman who told me "this is the real way" and after trying it myself and making it for many years, I have to agree. The only thing at all difficult about this salad is that you need to cook it for quite a few hours, and to watch the pot, but I was thinking that it could certainly be made in crock pot for those of you who dare!

This salad is so popular in our family, that if it were absent from the shabbat table I can almost be certain that there would be actual crying, Between you and me, I would miss it too so I'm planning on testing my theory!

Matbucha can be made charif, spicy, or not, or just a little depending on your families tastes, and any leftovers are delicious for days, as even as a pizza sauce or with toast bruschetta-style. Or use it as a spread in a sandwich of some kind, if there are leftovers that is!

And of course, matbucha is generally served a just one of a nice selection of tasty salads, but more on that later, shabbat is ocming and I've got to go tend to my Moroccan fish.

For the recipe, consult my previous post moroccan matbucha. And take note, I usually make mine with little to no oil for health purposes, where as the more traditional matbucha is surely loaded wiht quite  a bit more oil. You decide, we like our salads light and fresh tasting, meaning using quite a bit less oil, which is better all around.