Ellie Bouhadana’s mejujim glitters like a plate of fine jewels. It makes sense, then, that the Moroccan dish of stuffed, spiced sardines is a staple for lovers. “This dish basically means marriage or partnership,” says Bouhadana. She changes it slightly in her version, but explains the traditional method and its relation to love. “You’re getting one sardine and you put it down flat, then you fill it with green spicy sauce, and then you put another sardine on top, and you flatten them together and you fry it. So it’s like the sardines are getting squished together in marriage and partnership and they’re in love.”
For Bouhadana, author of cookbook Ellie’s Table and former chef at Melbourne’s Hope St Radio, food is inextricably linked with love – whether romantic or, as it has always been, familial. “I grew up with food everywhere, with big family meals once a week,” she says. “It was what I really looked forward to on a Friday night – shabbat with my cousins, my aunties, my uncles squished together around the table. Now I try to recall those flavours and make them for pop-ups or events – still in a homey way, but with a bit more of a restaurant moment to it.”
While mejujim is traditionally served at weddings, these days Bouhadana trots the dish out at regular family gatherings – “chaotic” affairs with dozens of family members picking through a massive spread of dishes. The closeness of the family and the central role of food means that everyone tends to share their own versions of these classics.
“With Moroccan ethnic cooking, every grandparent or auntie knows better than the next,” Bouhadana says. “My cousin, he’s like, ‘No, this is how I make [mejujim].’ He came up to me with his phone – and it’s a Saturday where, technically, you’re not allowed on your phone if you’re a bit religious – and he pulls up his recipe, and he’s like, ‘trust me, this is the recipe’.”
As her family has done with their own versions, Bouhadana says it’s okay to take things in your own direction with this mejujim recipe – particularly when it comes to some of the fresh ingredients. “Using what herbs you have that are super fresh is important, so don’t go out of your way to get something that’s not in season,” she says. What you use, then, is what’s freshest. “Coriander, parsley, chives. Yellow bullhorn peppers instead of capsicum, or different green chillies – when I’m overseas, there are so many different kinds of chillies.”
Ensuring you’re using fresh fish is important, too – Bouhadana strongly recommends checking in with a local fishmonger to get the best quality sardines. And one more thing to keep in mind: taste as you go.
“For me, the real cooking means tasting things and making sure everything’s balanced,” she says. “Like adding lemon to balance out all the spicy chilli in the dish. That’s probably been my best lesson, checking for salt and acid.”
Watch: Flavours That Bring You Back Home with Ellie Bouhadana
Big families gathered around small dining tables. Grandmothers hands shoved in pillowing dough. Stories shared over steaming plates. In this video, Ellie shares her passion for gathering around the table, exploring how cherished family recipes and comforting dishes can evoke warmth, love, and a deeper sense of connection.
Recipe: Ellie Bouhadana’s stuffed sardines with green herbs and ras el hanout
Serves 5 as a starter
Prep time: 1 hour and 10 minutes, plus 2 hours chilling time
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
10 fresh sardine fillets, cleaned and butterflied
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Batter
400ml ice cold sparkling water
110ml ice cold beer
200g plain flour
115g cornstarch
15g baking powder
A good pinch of salt
Green herb filling
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup coriander, roughly chopped
6 spring onions, finely chopped
2 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 yellow banana pepper, charred and peeled
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp ground cumin
½ tbsp ras el hanout
2 prawns, peeled and deveined
3 tsp flaky salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup lemon juice
Method:
To make the batter, place all batter ingredients in a blender and blend well. Strain the batter mixture through a fine sieve. Chill the batter in the fridge, ideally for at least a couple of hours.
To make the green herb filling, place the chopped herbs and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. You can also do this in a mortar and pestle. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to a thick paste. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon.
Take one sardine fillet and spread 1 tbsp green sauce down the centre of the fish, then fold the sardine together. Repeat with the remaining sardines and green sauce.
Heat enough olive oil in a pan to ensure the sardines will be covered. When the oil is hot, dip the sardines into the batter then drop them into the pan and cook until crispy – about 2 minutes per side in batches. Take care not to overcrowd the pan.
Transfer the cooked sardines to a paper-towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt. Serve with lemon.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Cartier. Ellie Bouhadana wears Cartier Love and Juste un Clou. Shop the collection online or at your nearest Cartier boutique.
