Hergma

Hergma
Plate of stew on tablecloth
Moroccan-style hergma
Alternative names
  • ifenza
  • kerʻine
  • loubia bil kerʻine
Typestew (offal); tagine/lablabi
Associated cuisineMaghrebi cuisine
Created byMizrahi Jews
Main ingredientscow's trotters, sheep's trotters or goat's trotters
Ingredients generally usedwheatberries, chickpeas
Similar dishes
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Hergma

Hergma (Arabic: الهركمة, lit. 'trotter' (synecdoche); Moroccan Arabic: كرعين, romanized: kerʻine; Algerian Arabic: لوبيا بالكرعين, romanized: loubia bil kerʻine; Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⵉⴼⵏⵣⴰ, ifenza) is a Maghrebi cuisine stew featuring stewed trotters (the feet of ungulate animals). The dish is largely cooked on Eid al-Adha with the trotters of the sacrificial animal, but also served year-round at souks, and enjoyed during Ramadan. In Moroccan cuisine, hergma is a tagine; in Tunisian cuisine, hergma is a lablabi featuring other offal along with the trotters, such as heart and tripe.

Preparation and consumption

The trotters are considered a core ingredient due to the gelatin that emulsifies into the broth, making it thick. Trotters used include cow's trotters, sheep's trotters or goat's trotters; pig's trotters are haram/treif. Hergma is served as a street food at souks as well as a breakfast food; it is eaten by hand with khobz.

In Algerian cuisine, hergma (loubia bil kerʻine), particularly in Algiers, is made with beans and lentils. It is typically served alongside babbouche, a snail dish. In Moroccan cuisine, the dish is a type of tagine, baked in an earthenware pot; a typical recipe for Moroccan hergma is sheep's trotters with wheatberries, chickpeas and raisins. In Tunisian cuisine, hergma is a soupier lablabi featuring other offal along the trotters, such as heart and tripe.

History

Hergma is descended from the Sephardic cuisine dish hamin (adafina), a Sabbath stew brought by Jewish expats to the Maghreb from the 1492 expulsion of Jews from Spain. The term "harqma" was documented in the 1505 Vocabulista arauigo en letra castellana by Pedro de Alcalá; definitions included cow's trotters, ratatouille, intestines, and butcher's scraps.

Hergma was a favorite dish of Hassan II of Morocco.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ also hregma, ḥarqma
  2. ↑ also kour3ine

References

  1. ↑ Quitout, Michael (2002). Parlons L'arabe Tunisien Langue [Speaking the Tunisian Arabic Language] (in French). Paris: L'Harmattan. p. 99. ISBN 2-7475-2886-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wright, Clifford (28 February 2012). The Best Stews in the World: 300 Satisfying One-Dish Dinners, from Chilis and Gumbos to Curries and Cassoulet. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-55832-747-4.
  3. ↑ Fox, Thomas; Abu-Talib, Mohammed; et al. (Ben Thami, Ahmed; Chreibi, Allal; Kanouni, Habiba; Ligon, Ernest; Mekaoui, Mohammed) (1962). Herrell, Richard S. (ed.). A Dictionary Of Moroccan Arabic: Moroccan-English. Richard Slade Harrell Arabic Series. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 55.
  4. ↑ Quitout, Michel (12 December 2013). Arabe marocain - Guide de conversation [Moroccan Arabic - Conversation guide] (in French). Assimil. p. 137. ISBN 978-2-7005-0581-8.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Benlafquih, Christine; Kiffa, Nada (25 August 2017). "Moroccan Trotters Recipe - Hergma or Kour3ine". Taste of Maroc. Retrieved 27 February 2026.
  6. 1 2 Mourad, Ahmed (1 March 2025), شخشوخة والمقطعة وبركوكس.. تعرف على أشهر أكلات الشعب الجزائري في الشتاء البارد [Shakshouka, Maktouba, and Berkoukes... Discover the most famous dishes of the Algerian people in the cold winter.] (in Arabic), ngmisr.com
  7. ↑ Laoust, Emile (1920). Challamel, Augustin (ed.). Mots Et Choses Berberes [Berber Words and Things] (in French). Paris: Librairie maritime et coloniale. p. 120.
  8. ↑ Ben Alaya, Wahid (2000). Quitout, Michel (ed.). L'Arabve morocain de poche [Pocket Moroccan Arabic] (in French). France: Assimil. p. 118. ISBN 2-7005-0280-9.
  9. ↑ Lageman, Thessa (2016). "This Fiery Tunisian Soup Is Not for the Faint of Heart". VICE. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  10. ↑ Iverson, Jeffrey T. (17 October 2011), The Conciliatory Chef, TIME
  11. ↑ de Alcalá, Pedro; Varela de Salamanca, Juán (1505). Vocabulista arauigo en letra castellana (in Spanish). Granada : Iuan varela de salama[n]ca.
  12. ↑ "BACHA- TÊTE ET PIEDS DE MOUTON EN SAUCE PIQUANTE - TERROIR BÔNOIS". BACHA- TÊTE ET PIEDS DE MOUTON EN SAUCE PIQUANTE - TERROIR BÔNOIS. Retrieved 2 March 2026.