Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - A little summary of our culinary journey

Morocco cuisine is very diverse, as the land has been influenced by a number of cultures. It is essentially a mix of Arab, Berber, Moorish, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, African, and Jewish food culture.

Here are some examples of the food that we've had in Morocco:

Harira. It is a semolina-based pasta served with a meat stew like soup . The soup is usually served with a wedge of lemon, which is squeezed into the soup right before eating. By custom, this is the dish to break the fast in Morocco during Ramadan. The soup is thick and rich and it can be considered as a meal in itself.

Chicken tajine with dates. It is cooked in a special tajine pot, which consists of two parts: a base unit which is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom, so that the flavour stays within the pot. We have tried a number of tajine during this trip and it is a "reliable" dish to have in Morocco.

Another chicken tajine



Another chicken tajine



Couscous with vegetables. The broth is very sweet and tasty. I could drink it as a soup!

Pigeon and almond pastilla, made with a combination of sugar, almond and cinnamon with pigeon meat. It is a signature dish of Fez and it has Moroccan-Jewish origins.

The pastilla is a pie which combines savory meat slowly-cooked in broth and spices and a crunchy layer of toasted and ground almonds, cinnamon and sugar, all housed in a crisp layers of crepe-like pastry. It is a very tasty dish and I highly recommend that you find a good restaurant to try this dish.

Paper-thin crepes

Having some crepes for breakfast. They are usually served with honey, but I just had it with butter.

Beans as a snack. You can get them all around the market. SP reckons it is nothing special though.

B'sara, a Fassi specialty. We got this creamed butterbean and garlic soup at a hole-in-the-wall kind of shop just outside the medina of Fes.

Best to serve with lots of olive oil and bread. It was tasty, but personally, it was too strong for me.

We had a brief chat with the locals while having this dish. They were all interested in how we found the place!

Back in the market, the sweet vendors have everything that a sweet-tooth will ever need: giant blocks of nougat!!

You cannot possibly go hungry when walking around town. There are food stall everywhere. This one sells sfenj, which is a kind of doughnut.

This is what it looks like when it comes out of the wok. But then the regular Morrocans will sprinkle sugar all over it or soaked it in honey. Seriously, if you look sweet stuff, this is heaven for you!

But of course, there are something for the people who prefer savory snacks. What's better than freshly fried chips. This guy made his own potato chips on the side of a road! Not exactly cheap (L5 for a small serving), but it was soooooo fresh and yummy. Judging from the colour of the oil, I know it can't be good for me. LOL.

As soon as I had the chips on my hands, all navigational activities stopped. All of course to protect the guidebook from getting oily!

Back in the market, what do you think this is?

Here is a hint to the above question :-)

Spain is quite famous for their Valencia oranges so by its historical and geological associations, Morocco's oranges should be pretty good too. And as we observed, the streets were lined with orange trees. The fruits smell good. Yet, all the oranges remain on the tree. I thought to myself, the Muslims hates thiefs, so no one would dare to pick the fruit from the government's trees. Then, when we walked past the palace in Meknes, we talked to the guards (with sign language of course!) about the trees. They said that the oranges are not for eating. OK, I understand that. It is for decoration only. It seems like a waste though. The guard then plucked a fruit from the tree and asked us to try it. My dad quickly peeled the orange and we all had a piece. Then we realise, the oranges are extremely sour and it was impossible to eat!! It might be a good source of Vitamin C but there is no way I can eay any more of it. So, there you go, my dad left the orange trees alone for the rest of the trip :-P

Another interesting citrus fruit related fact: tangerine is named after Moroccan city Tangier, which the port from which the first tangerines were shipped to Europe in 1841.