Flavors of the Sun

Sardine Tagine today! A favorite

Today, Fatiha made for us a tagine with sardines, which I am told by my friends in Essaouira are at their peak right now. Instead of a layer of onion, this tagine starts with sliced carrots, which protect the delicate fish from the heat and act as a sort of diffuser. Next come the sardines, which have been marinated in a Moroccan chermoula featuring a good bit of fresh coriander/cilantro. After the fish, come the vegetables, which today were bell peppers, and potatoes. The spices included cumin, black pepper, paprika, and salt. Garlic, more coriander/cilantro, and some parsley were added as well. Finally, a bit of water. And that’s all. So simple. And utterly delicious.

Note the side dish of harissa, the spicy North African chile paste so popular here.

The Real Deal: A Mexican Parrillada

Facebook does put together lovely memories. These came in today attached to a Grateful Dead song for added fun. As much as I love Morocco, it makes me homesick to see these photos of Mexico. But in a good way.

Today was a rabbit kind of day. Growing up in the rural South, as I did, I was no stranger to rabbit, although my mother usually simply fried it. Today we ate it with a simple vegetable salad and a very special bread from the mountains, which is cooked in a tandoor style oven and is called “tanurt.” The rabbit (called “qoun” here as opposed to the word “arnab” that I remembered from the Arabian Gulf) was prepared with walnuts and “tfaya,” a mixture of onions, raisins, sugar or honey, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, salt, (often crumbled saffron threads) and butter. I struck the jackpot today because both rabbit and tfaya are favorite dishes.😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋

Morrocan beef tagine with okra and tomatoes— a dish that I knew about, but had never tried. It’s a favorite dish of one of my good friends who says his mother always prepares it in the summer for him. If it looks like it’s swimming in fat, it’s just the way the light caught the liquid in the tagine. Being a Southerner deep in my bones, I love okra in all its forms. I have prepared it for Moroccans as an appetizer the way my mom often would, soaking it in milk first, and then rolling it in cornmeal before frying it. But cooked with the meat here, and with the addition of gentle Morrocan spicing, this dish was really delicious..

Celebrating Eid— after the fact

Lamb kebabs, marinated in olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and other dried herbs, plus boulfaf or lamb’s liver wrapped in caul. The Greek horiatiki salad was my contribution.

Cultural note:
The liver brochettes, also known as kouah, are a prized tradition  associated with the first day of Eid al Adha, when the liver, kidneys, heart, and other offal are readily available after the ritual slaughtering of the sheep for the feast. The liver is one of the first dishes to be enjoyed during this feast, and it is cut into cubes and covered with lacy strips of caul fat. (L’faf needs to be rolled with something inside – – this is the base of the word , hence another name, for this, particular kebab is boulfaf). Because there is a relatively small amount of liver available, I was touched and honored that Raihana brought some of this treasure back to me from the mountain home of her family. Knowing that I had sent all of my staff home to enjoy the holiday with their families, she brought me these special treats so that I could have a true taste of Eid. 

Note: a friend just told me that boulfaf is the same thing as katban.  Can you tell that I love learning about these things?

Two of the photos are from a kebab I shared with a glass of tea with my neighbors, who gathered me off the street to join them. And the kebabs shown with the Greek salad were brought to me from the mountains. We cooked them over a brazier in the courtyard of the Riad. Delicious. And so simple. Meat, salad, and bread…

Tqlia

This week in the Riad Hayat prepared Tqlia, or cow’s stomach. Known as tripe in English and menudo in Spanish, this dish is not for the faint -hearted.

Delicately spiced with ginger, black pepper, turmeric, and tomatoes, the resulting stew is rich and a bit heavy. But delicious. I have eaten it similarly prepared in the Atlas Mountains at the home of friends. But I think my staff here at the Riad just wants to make sure that I try as many Moroccan dishes as I can. And I am happy to comply!

Today’s Meal at Riad Dar Talah

Terda, is a Moroccan sauce with vegetables, legumes, spices and olive oil sprinkled over torn pieces of leftover bread.

It’s pretty safe to say that every culture has some form of bread that forms a basis of its traditional diet. And it stands to reason that there are recipes to use up stale versions of that bread. Morocco is no exception as was proved with our delicious Terda that we had for lunch today.

Here are just a few examples of dishes from other countries made with stale bread:

Mexican Chilaquiles—and Capirotada
Middle Eastern Fattoush
Italian Panzanella—and Ribollita
Greek Skordalia
Spsnish Gazpacho—and Torrijas
Colombian Changua
British and American Bread Pudding
Freanch Pain Perdu (French toast)
Moroccan Terda

Hayat made terda for us today for lunch using a few vegetables that we had on hand, such as baby eggplant, potatoes, chiles and tomatoes. Also included are lentils and fenugreek seeds and lots of garlic. Chicken was the protein that she chose, although it’s possible to make it with just vegetables. The spicing with simple, using turmeric, ginger, pepper and lots of fresh coriander. The the resulting dish was pure comfort food.


Yesterday, not only was Alfredo Castrejón’s birthday, but also El Día del Padre. What better way to celebrate then with a Tostada Party, complete with a paleta cart. Although I am happy living in Morocco,  I still miss my Mexican family. And the food!

These photos are from yesterday in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

 With temperatures around 96°F/31°C today in Marrakech, lunch needed to be something cooling. I entered the kitchen with a vague idea of making a curried mango salad, and somehow it just grew and grew out of proportion.

I I poached chicken breasts in water with a lot of garlic, fresh ginger and coriander/cilantro. I later shredded the chicken to be the protein base of the salad.

For a dressing, I mixed yogurt and mayonnaise, adding freshly grated ginger, mustard, honey, Moroccan harissa (chile paste), finely chopped, preserved lemon, and ginger. Salt and pepper.

The solid ingredients were: raisins, chopped cashews and almonds, celery, green grapes, peaches, mango, red and yellow bell peppers and a sliced red chile. For herbs I added chopped coriander, mint, and basil.

I must say that it was a huge success. Perfect for a hot day, and because the poaching broth was so good, we also cooked some rice to go with it. Which seems odd, but worked rather well. 

Facebook note: because it’s so hard for me to type on the phone, which is where my photos are located, I always dictate. I don’t always catch my mistakes at any of you who read my post are aware. But today I had to go back and delete at least 10 commas that dictation had just randomly sprinkled, like the salt and pepper. I mentioned, all through my sentences. Drives me mad . And it also spelled Morocco incorrectly, but luckily I caught that one. Can you imagine?

Couscous Day!

Friday is Couscous Day in Morocco. Throughout the country, Moroccans gather with family and friends on Fridays to share couscous, and to pray together.  While it’s specific origins have been somewhat obscured through time, it is known that the North African Berbers have eaten some form of couscous for thousands of years, whether made from wheat, barley, or corn. Some people erroneously think that couscous is a grain, but it is actually a form of tiny pasta. Typically, some form of animal protein formed the base – – from the body, parts of chicken, beef, or lamb. It is also typical to serve it with seven vegetables.  In addition to the vegetables, a rich sauce, redolent of ginger, pepper, and turmeric, in which the meat or chicken has been cooked in is served alongside the couscous.

 Today at my riad Hyat prepared a traditional beef tagine. Lacking any real talent to eat it properly with my hands as is custom, I am embarrassed to say I used a knife and fork. It didn’t make it any less delicious!

Cultural Note: Some of you will remember a couscous dish I posted photos of earlier in the year. That one was made with the head of a lamb, served whole atop the couscous.  any of the animal parts can be used, but only if the animal is slaughtered appropriately (hilal) as the executioner asks for blessings from God. 

S’ffa (Seffa) Medfouna

S’ffa is a Moroccan dish made of sweetened semolina couscous, or vermicelli, with butter, cinnamon, powdered sugar, and almonds. “Medfouna”  refers to something buried, in this case chicken that has been cooked with saffron.

Cultural Note:  in the desert area around Merzouga, medfouna refers to a type of stuffed Berber pizza,
which can be cooked over an open fire.

We had a simple version for a birthday lunch for Raihana Chtibi today . So good.

The powdered sugar, which is judiciously applied to the top of the dish, almost disappears as it melts into the vermicelli, but you can still see the cinnamon. The traditional way to eat. This would be with the hands.