manger a maroc

I think that perhaps we picked the best time to go to Morocco, solely because of the CITRUS. Citrus fruits and flavors are among my favorites. The tangerines I ate in Tanger were possibly the best I've ever had!

One of Morocco's best-known dishes is tagine (French pronunciation—Google Translate will pronounce both for you!). Tagine is the name of the vessel it is cooked in, as well as the name of the dish itself. A tagine is a ceramic dish with a basin/bowl and a domed lid, comme ça (they're so pretty!). The meal is typically a stew made with meat (usually lamb or chicken), and some combination of olives, dates, and spices. The one above is chicken tagine with olives and confit lemons. The seasonings are typical middle-Eastern fare: ginger, turmeric, saffron, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, or some combination of these. They are served piping hot right in the dish in which they were cooked, and they smell heavenly.

I didn't include a photo because it essentially looks the same in Morocco: COUSCOUS. Couscous is something I make often at home as an accompaniment to vegetables or other dishes so I was so excited to eat this day in and day out in Morocco. I ate couscous most often while in Morocco, because though I gave up vegetarianism the summer I lived in Italy, most of the time I still observe/prefer a mostly vegetarian diet. (You can order couscous with meat, but it is easier to order vegetarian couscous than a tagine where meat is the centerpiece.)

It is interesting that the markets are full to bursting with beautiful fresh produce, yet in Morocco I noticed they cook their vegetables almost beyond recognition. They were still delicious, but by the end I was really craving fresh vegetables (or those minimally altered by cooking). The chickpeas were perfectly prepared in my opinion, and consequently couscous with chickpeas was my favorite.

On our first night in Marrakesh, Tippe and I discovered these pastries in the medina. We could never get a straight answer on what they were called or what they were made out of (we heard alternately peanuts and coconuts, so who knows), but they cost 1 dirham (10 cents!) and were delightful. They have a similar tackiness in texture and subtle sweetness as French macarons and resemble them somewhat in shape—a little larger, but with two halves, although lacking any obvious filling, unlike a macaron. Take care if you have food allergies, but if not, these are everywhere in Marrakesh.

More fruit in the markets in Tanger—those pomegranates!!! For your reference, the price of those pomegranates is 7 dirhams per kilogram—that's 70 cents for 2.2 pounds!! (the kilo conversion rate is one I memorized long ago in Italy because #overweightluggageprobs). Apples are more expensive than pomegranates!! There are pomegranates everywhere and they are fragrant and vibrant and beautiful—another thing I would have gladly eaten all day long.

One of the best things in Marrakesh is the abundance of juice stands in the Place Jeema el-Fna—they are everywhere, and the booths are numbered so you can tell them apart (their proprietors are always calling out funny things like "Let me give you my number!"). You can get a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for 4 dirham (40 cents) and for 10 dirham ($1.00), a glass of "jus mixte" (orange, grapefruit, and sometimes pomegranate depending on the booth). This booth had the usual fare plus pomegranate and some other tropical fruits. YUM.

Every marketplace had huge bags of mint for sale, which is most often used to make mint tea. I love herbal tea, and the fresh mint tea was so lovely. It is sometimes made with mint and other herbs, but I found I preferred straight mint; when combined with other herbs it was a little more leafy tasting and not as palatable (even with sugar). Below—one of many varieties of Moroccan bread.

I love olives (I have a summer in Italy to thank for my conversion) but not all olive varieties are created equal. I prefer some more than others, and some are quite piquant. In that way, they are much like apples, where there are many varieties that vary quite largely in taste, texture, and sweetness. In practically every restaurant, they would bring out a dish of olives prior to the meal, which I loved. These two photos of olives and olive sorting are from Fes, in the medina marketplaces. Many olive stands would also have fresh-pressed olive oil in repurposed soda bottles; the fresh-pressed oil has a similar look to apple cider—fresh but a little murky as it does not go through the same rigorous processing before it reaches your kitchen.

Also I debated whether to mention this, but I think it is good to take note—I got really bad food poisoning right in the middle of our trip. It was thankfully short-lived, but it was awful while it was happening (plus the morning after I was terribly carsick for our whole 4 hour bus ride to Fes through the Rif mountains—no thank you). With streetside food vendors, meat of sometimes dubious origin, and water that is not safe to drink, there is lots of potential for food-borne illness. We drank and brushed teeth with bottled water and tried to eat places that looked reputable, clean, and the food well-prepared, but I think it's just something that comes with the territory (Laurens also got really sick from food poisoning at the end of our trip). 

To end on a less sobering note, I really loved the food in Morocco, despite the pitfalls. I love farmers markets, cooking, and eating, so it was a delightful trip for my senses. If I am ever in Morocco again, I would choose to spend more time in one spot, in an Airbnb rental with a semi-stocked kitchen, then to prepare more meals at home-away-from-home after shopping in the market. Next time, I suppose; if there is a next time (who wants to come)!

My consolation in this is that in one of my favorite cookbooks—Heidi Swanson's Near and Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel (it is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have ever seen)—there is a whole section dedicated to Morocco, so I can make medina-inspired meals at home. Yes please.