Argan/Amlou source?

I picked up a Moroccan travel/cookbook recently (one of the perks of running a bookstore is the Book Expo -- lots of freebies), and it talks about an oil calleed Argan, from an olive-like fruit grown only in Morocco. The oil is combined with other ingredients into a sweet paste called Amlou used in pastries or just spread on bread. The Argan oil is supposed to be an exotic flavor somewhat like hazelnut. (It's also supposed to work well as an anti-wrinkle agent in cosmetics)

I haven't been able to find a US source for it, only European ones, such as http://www.argan3.com, where it's rather expensive ($17 for 200ml plus shipping).

Has anyone ever seen this elsewhere? The Spice House and Penzeys both turned up zero, as have most of my other searches. Has anyone ever tasted it to know if it's worth the price?

Hi,

Kitty Morse, the best known authority of Moroccan food, visited Culinary Historians last year. I just checked her website where I found:

Haddouch Gourmet Imports, Inc.
Haddouch Gourmet Imports, Inc., imports Moroccan olives, olive oil and argan oil. Contact: Mail order through www.haddouch.com. Contact Mustapha Haddouch at [email protected].

I have a friend whose son-in-law is from Morocco, when she returns I will inquire with her about argan; if nobody replied yet.

Regards,

Argan refers to an oil from a nut. The oil is extracted/expelled after it has passed through a goat. One tough nut shell, I guess.

When we visited a Moroccan friend who now farms in France last spring, he had a daily breakfast (after checking on the cows and goats) of peppermint tea, toast, and a pool of olive oil, honey, and a small bit of argan oil (it is very expensive, and times are tough on family farms in France).

It is a fairly strong oil, in the way that some nut oils are.

Our friend told us that he ate the same breakfast as his grandfather, who lived to be 95.

Cathy -- I went ahead and ordered from that link, which actually routes to mustaphas.com. It's not actually cheaper than the other sources, but they're not pushing it for BS health reasons, just good eats, so I'll trust them for quality product. No amlou, but I probably have fewer uses for that (I cook savory, Sue cooks sweet more often).

I've already got ideas from the cookbook for some tajines, and I think it will probably work well as a salad dressing with salty feta or goat cheese, some preserved lemon (made it myself a couple months ago) and sherry vinegar. Not sure which greens to use, but lots of chopped tomatoes, cukes and onions are appropriate for the region.

Thanks!

I received my order from Hattouch/mustaphas.com today. I was a little concerned, because I never got a "shipping now" e-mail, their 800 number was out of order, and I got a bounce off the e-mail too! But their long distance number (gotta love nationwide cell service) reached them, and I found it was on its way.

I didn't open the harissa, having just eaten chips and salsa, I felt I couldn't give it a good evaluation.

But I had to try the argan oil.
The label shows a tablespoon as 6g monounsaturated, 6g polyunsaturated and 2.5g saturated fat -- not bad for health qualities. \

The oil itself is somewhat cloudy, and a deeper amber than most olive oils, similar to non-toasted sesame.

The fragrance is very toasty and nutty.
I tasted a small amount on a spoon: the toast comes through strongly, the nutty less so (kind of almond-like). It also has a floral aspect, somewhat like rosewater.

I'm going to try this tonight in a salad dressing with lemon juice, spinach, cucumbers, olives and goat cheese, and see how it comes out. It looks like it's a good drizzle oil for things like eggs, roast lamb or chicken... I'll have to experiment.

Joel