Holiday in Morocco: Slideshow
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So much of what I love about Morocco is that I experience living history.
I wandered through Souks that have existed since the Middle Ages, that Edith Wharton wrote about in the 1920’s, that combine Berber, Hebrew, Roman and French influences. And nowhere is this more evident than in the food. The recipes and cooking vessels themselves are the same ones that have been used for centuries.
I knew about tagines as a vessel and recipes from my earlier adventures in Morocco. This time, I saw mini tagines filled with artfully arranged vegetables, ready to be eaten or taken home. This was a type of Moroccan to-go food but completely fresh. Even my hotel served basted eggs in bright red mini tagines. The vessel itself made simple eggs more inviting and exotic.
In Marrakech, I was introduced to the tangia. The word “tangia” refers to both a type of elongated double handled terra cotta pot and the food inside. The pot is filled with beef, lamb, chicken or whatever the owner chooses, lots of spices and sealed with heavy brown paper, and secured with butcher’s twine. It is cooked for hours until the meat is tender and succulent.
Historically, these tangias were taken to the hammam or steam bath and cooked all day in the ashes from the coal. Today this is the Moroccan version of a slow cooker or crock pot. People order them in various sizes from specific vendors and pick them up at the end of the day on their way home. My guide, Aziz, informed me that the smaller ones were for bachelors, Moroccan take-out. But definitely not fast food.
As to what’s in the tagia, it can be anything from chicken, lamb or beef and of course any part of the animal from nose to tail, including hooves. I was offered a taste from a small tangia that had chunks of lamb and smelled enticing. I just couldn’t manage it. It was early in the morning and I was filled from eggs and bread and honey.
I guess I’ll have to go back to Morocco.
When you read about the food in Morocco or traveling to Morocco, you will come across references to the endless and non-stop selection of sweet pastries. I didn’t remember this from my last visit but the books do not exaggerate.
It starts at breakfast with an unlimited selection of donuts, cookies, fruit tarts, Berber pancakes drizzled with honey, deep fried deliciousness. Then you visit the Souk. Here, you are dazzled by more pastries. Simple phyllo triangles filled with almond paste and drizzled with honey to exquisite tiny pieces of art with sesame seeds, pistachio nuts and rose water, as colorful and decorative as the most beautiful Islamic mosaics that decorate the Mosques.
Don’t even get me started on restaurants. After lunch or dinner, there is usually a formal dessert with some type of pastry and Creme Anglaise, followed by fresh fruit and then followed by more sweet temptations.
It’s hard to resist. Resistance will not work. The best you can do is limit your pastries to 1 time a day, or maybe 1 1/2 times.
My Moroccan Feast had me wistfully thinking about my trip to Morocco so many years ago, and wondering how it had changed since my visit. I decided to take a quick trip to Morocco between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now, there is no “quick” way to get to Morocco from Los Angeles, but it’s well worth the hours of travel.
The day I was leaving for the airport, my new Bon Appetit magazine arrived. I tossed it in my tote to read on the long plane flight. While the issue was captioned “Super Holiday Specials”, tucked inside was a two-page article on Marrakech. As my girlfriend would say, “It’s a sign!” It got better. The final stop on my trip was in Marrakech. I had already arranged with my private guide, via email, to have lunch at Nomad. I was thrilled to find Nomad listed as one of the hot new restaurants by Bon Appetit.
My interest was primarily food and so my guide and I started out early in the morning to explore this amazing marketplace called the Souk. Even though I had already eaten breakfast, I couldn’t resist buying fresh dark bread from a vendor who was there to supply the merchants. I saw a group of guys having their mint tea and bread with honey and butter. They saw me eating the same bread and invited me to share the honey and butter.
Our fascinating tour of the Souk took me through the meat markets, date sellers, fruit and vegetable markets, olive stalls, gorgeous pastries and the freshest mint I have ever smelled. All the produce is organic because pesticides are too expensive for the farmers. The meat markets sell nose to tail — every part of animal is eaten — not because it’s in fashion. This is how it has always been done.
My last Friday there, I was told by my guide that he would leave me around noon to attend prayers. Friday is the most important religious day of the week and also the day that a large family meal is shared. I told him it was fine and suggested that he leave me at a caftan store where I knew I could easily kill some time trying on caftans. He left and I started to try caftans when the store owner asked if I minded if he left me to go to prayers. I said, “Not at all, go.” So I was left in the store with a very attentive stock boy and exquisite caftans. These were the finest I had seen in all Morocco.
I had finally made my selections just as the store owner and my guide returned. It was now about 2:00 in the afternoon and I told my guide that I needed to go to lunch, wondering just how far Nomad was. The store owner immediately said, “Please stay and have lunch with us. My wife is delivering food from home. We eat in a few minutes. Be my guest.” I looked to my guide to see if this was really okay and he said, “It’s up to you.” Of course, I said, “Yes.”
I stayed and sat on a low stool around a table and joined the men for lunch. Other merchants from nearby stalls appeared and joined us. It’s a custom in that part of the Souk that the men share Friday lunch and rotate who supplies it. I felt completely at ease and totally welcome sitting there, sharing their Friday midday meal. When the gigantic platter of couscous with meat and vegetables arrived, I couldn’t imagine how we would consume all the food. But we did. After the owners ate, another group of guys appeared and the giant platter was soon empty. I never got to eat at Nomad. I’m sure it’s great but not as great as my Friday couscous in a caftan store in the Souk, in Marrakech.
If you have the opportunity to go to Morocco, go! The food is incredible, the beauty everywhere; and most important, the people are warm, friendly and generous.
Paperless Post New Year’s Day Brunch Invite
The inspiration for the table setting came from many different sources. The first piece I found was the beaded fuchsia sari. Saris are not completely beaded but I thought I could cut it apart and put it back together for the top of the table. It worked and you can see the result.
For the tabletop decor, I knew I didn’t want to use the typical Moroccan lanterns you can see everywhere. I wan’t sure what I wanted but when I discovered the hammered copper candle holder, I knew that was it. Even though it was a large candle holder, I immediately visualized it with flowers poking through the wires.
In my travels, I passed a store specializing in Moroccan imports. The store was piled high with dishes and tagines. I fell in love with the beautiful, hand-painted dishes and was on the verge of buying them when I thought to ask if the dishes were food safe. The store owner hesitated and said, “Well… They should be.” This gave me pause. I didn’t buy them. But now I was on the hunt for Moroccan looking dishes that were food safe. On Amazon, I found a line of dishes manufactured in Tunsia (hand painted) there were certified food safe by the states of Washington and California. The manufacturer is Le Souk Ceramique and you can find these at my Amazon Affiliate Store. I knew I was using my white dinner plates because the food was so colorful.
Next, I needed salad plates and I found these amazing dishes manufactured by Pfaltzgraff. I loved the turquoise tone on tone pattern. They looked Moroccan and I knew I could use them on many different occasions, for many different themes. These are also at my Amazon Affiliate Store.
So, now I had a fuchsia tabletop, turquoise salad plates, Moroccan patterned platters. I added orange napkins to complete the picture. This combination of colors seemed exotic, Moroccan and a feast for the eyes that matched the food. Some of the other solid colored platters I already had.
Finally, I couldn’t do a Moroccan feast without those small Moroccan glasses (available at my Amazon Affiliate Store). In my travels, I found someone selling an entire case of 72 glasses. Seventy two glasses might seem excessive to some people but not to me. I used most of them to form a star on the courtyard table. When people entered the courtyard, they were greeted by Moroccan glasses and candles that set the tone for the evening.
Here’s what’s on my table:
It was a bit of a challenge selecting the right beverage to accompany the Moroccan Feast. The food was so flavorful I wanted something that would really compliment the menu.
French rosé is lively and fragrant and I thought would be perfect for this party. I also selected two other wine choices for the party: a very light white wine (Pouilly Fuisse which I buy at Costco) and a deeper rich red Bordeaux. Everyone started with the rosé during the appetizers and no one wanted anything else.
When you say rosé some people immediately think about a very sugary white zinfandel made popular in California in the 70’s or a pink sugary soda flavored with champagne. Ugh! This is not the rosé I am talking about. I’m talking about French rosé.
French rosé is generally less intense than a big red wine and has more depth than a white wine. I prefer French rosé because it is much less sweet than other rosés. In fact, the question to ask when buying rosé is, “Is it dry?” Dry means it’s not sweet. That’s all you really need to know.
When in doubt, look for something from France, preferable from Provence. And serve it well chilled!
This is nothing like the American version of generic pistachio ice cream which usually tastes like vanilla ice cream with a few chopped nuts and a bit of green food coloring. This is a serious rich, deep pistachio flavored wonderfulness! I would expect nothing less from Melissa Clark, one of my favorite food writers.
This recipe was featured in her article The Only Ice Cream Recipe You’ll Ever Need. It uses pistachio paste which is readily available at baking supplies stores and at my Amazon Affiliate Store.
Try it, you will never settle for faux pistachio ice cream again!
PISTACHIO ICE CREAM
EVENT: Moroccan Feast
YIELD: 1 1/2 Pints
Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 large egg yolks
1 cup unsweetened pistachio paste
¼ teaspoon almond extract
Equipment
Ice cream machine
Directions
1. In a small bowl, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream.
2. Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).
3. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Whisk in pistachio paste and almond extract. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours overnight.
4. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until needed.
If this recipe seems familiar, it should: It is basically the same recipe I use for the Pignoli Cookies, but without the pine nuts and lemon zest added.
It’s important to realize that when you have a great recipe, you can tweak it in many ways People who attended both parties had no idea that it was the same cookie recipe, slightly tweaked. Oops, I guess now they know.
These can be stored in airtight container for 2 months.
ALMOND COOKIES
EVENT: Moroccan Feast
YIELDS: 4 1/2 Dozen
Ingredients
2 packages almond paste (7 oz. each)
1 1/4 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
1 ½ teaspoon lemon zest
2/3 cup almond meal
Equipment
Baking sheets lined with parchment paper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Slice almond paste into 3/4-inch slices and place in food processor. Pulse 3-4 times to break up paste.
3. Add sugar. Pulse until well mixed.
4. Add almond meal. Pulse 5 times.
5. Remove almond paste / sugar mixture to large bowl.
6. Add lemon zest.
7. In bowl of free standing mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
8. Stir 2 tablespoons of egg whites into almond paste / sugar mixture. Gently fold in remaining egg whites.
9. Roll the almond paste mixture into 1-inch balls. Don’t worry, dough is very wet.
10. Place on baking sheet approximately 1” apart. Press down slightly with palm of hand or using bottom or a glass. Bake 15-17 minutes, rotating sheets front to back, at least 12 minutes.
Chocolate bark is simple to make and something everyone should try.
I especially like this mix of flavors. The juiciness of the fresh pomegranate seeds, the subtle heat from the crystalized ginger and the crunch of the pistachio nuts combine for an exquisite finish to the Moroccan feast!
CHOCOLATE BARK
EVENT: Moroccan Feast
SERVES: 10-12 People
Ingredients
1 pound dark chocolate
2 cups fresh pomegranate seeds *
6 tablespoons chopped crystalized ginger
4 tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts
Equipment
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Directions
1. Place a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.
2. Melt chocolate, stirring until it is fully melted.
3. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. When chocolate is fully melted, removed bowl from heat and stir in crystalized ginger and 1 cup pomegranate seeds.
5. Pour chocolate onto parchment paper and smooth into an even layer, using a spatula.
6. Sprinkle top with remaining pomegranate seeds and chopped pistachio nuts.
7. Place sheet in freezer and freeze. After frozen, store in an air-tight container.
When serving, you can break it up in small serving pieces or do what I did and leave the slab in one piece and pass the plate around the table, and let guests break off a piece: Very Moroccan style of eating!
* A NOTE: I purchase the fresh pomegranates at Costco, when they are in season.
