Bébert’s Moroccan Condiments brewing in Big Indian

When Bébert Attias was growing up, the youngest of seven kids, he watched his mother make compotes, chutneys, hot sauce, and preserved lemons. Now living in Big Indian, he produces the sweet and savory relishes of his youth and sells them as Bebert’s Moroccan Condiments.

Bébert is a French Jew who grew up in Casablanca, where Jews mixed easily with Muslims. He lived for a time in France, then came to the U.S. in 1965 and worked as a chef in Manhattan. His Café Dada, on West 54th Street in the 1980s, served the movie industry, including such customers as Woody Allen, Gérard Depardieu, Cheech and Chong, Meryl Streep. Bébert cooked at several hotels, including the Pierre, Crowne Plaza, Hilton, and Marriott, from which he retired last year.

He’s been coming to the Catskills since the 90s. A year ago he decided to create a line of condiments to sell. With a certificate in food processing and canning through Cornell University, he began making small batches, using fresh ingredients, in a friend’s commercial kitchen in Kingston. Cornell also tested his products to ensure that they were safe to consume and contained enough acid to preserve the food.

In their little house at the edge of the woods, Bébert and his partner in life and business, graphic designer and artist Diane Adzema, broke out samples of their four jarred condiments, smearing bits onto matzoh because of its neutral taste.

“We keep it simple,” said Bébert. “All these products were invented before refrigeration. They’re high-acid, so they have a long shelf life.”

His Casablanca Chutney is made from onion, raisins, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, pomegranate juice, and spices, cooked for five hours. “This was Mama Mimi’s favorite recipe,” he noted. “She used to lock it up,” so the result of her labors did not disappear in one day. It’s different from Indian chutney, due to the concentrated balsamic vinegar that results from the long cooking time.

Fruit compote is made from fruits in season, which might be blueberries or peaches in summer but is limited to cranberries at the moment, just in time for Thanksgiving. Pomegranate juice and lime balance out the sweetness, making the cooked fruit an excellent complement to pancakes, yogurt, desserts, or bread. Unlike jam, compote contains no pectin.

My favorite was the preserved lemon, which consists of lemon slices packed in brine (using kosher salt) and allowed to ferment for six to eight weeks. The process distributes the flavor, mellows the acidity, and gives even the rind a creamy texture. Used in North African tagine, a slow-cooked stew, preserved lemons also go well with vegetables, salad, and meat dishes. For processing, the lemons are often cut in halves or left whole, but Bébert takes the time to slice them for convenience of use.

His biggest seller is Mogador Harissa, the North African chili pepper paste that contains cardamom and coriander, more aromatic and thicker than a Mexican hot sauce. It makes a spicy marinade for meat, fish, or seafood and a good accompaniment to couscous, vegetables, and bean dishes. Michael Koegel of Mama’s Boy Café, Bébert’s first Phoenicia customer, uses the harissa in some of the special sauces at the recently opened Mama’s Boy Burgers in Tannersville.

Bébert also sells blends of dry herbs (an herbes de Provence mixture) and ground spices used in Moroccan cuisine.

In February, he plans to open a café in Fleischmanns, taking over a section of Zoom Gallery, where he’s also setting up a commercial kitchen. The condiments will be made there, and he’ll be serving pastries and “the best coffee anywhere,” from an espresso bar.

Meanwhile, the condiments are available in ten local shops, from Roxbury to Red Hook, including the Emerson Resort complex in Mount Pleasant, Migliorelli’s in Mount Tremper, and Cheese Louise in Hurley. You may also order online through an elegant website (designed by Diane), and the jars will be shipped to you, unless you want to pick them up in Big Indian. The website also has links to recipes ideal for using the condiments. See www.bebertsmoroccancondiments.com/.