Morocco

Well, I’m all on my onesies for this one, guys.  While Henwietta is physically in El Salvador for work, I am imaginarily crossing the Straits of Gibraltar and stopping directly south of Spain in Morocco.  I think she probably got the better deal this time, but I am hoping some Harira, Vegetable Couscous Tfaya, Cinnamon Oranges, and Mint Tea can help me feel less salty. 

To give you a little bit of an idea of where I’m at, Morocco is in northwest Africa and is on both the Atlantic and Mediterranean.    Culinary wise, it’s interesting because it has so many influences- Arab, Berber, European (French and Spanish), etc.  

The drink: Mint Tea.  This is green tea steeped with mint and a little bit of sugar.  Apparently making proper Moroccan mint tea is an art.  I’m sure that I am no tea making artist, but I have to say this tasted pretty good.  When I finally make it there in real life, I’m bringing back a tea set!

Today I chose to make Harira, a traditional soup, especially eaten during Ramadan.  Start by making the stock by browning chicken, adding shredded onion, celery, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, cilantro and parsley, as well as pureed tomato (skin and seed the tomatoes before pureeing) and a few cups of water.  Let it simmer and enjoy the delicious fragrance as it fills your kitchen.  Then, add 2 quarts of water, 4 tablespoons of both lentils and rice.  And again, you let it simmer away.  At this time, mix together 1 cup of flour and 2 cups of water.  Add the slurry to the soup after everything’s cooked, let it cook for 5 more minutes, and you’ve got yourself one tasty bite.  Harira took a while to make, but if you enjoy more of a nice and easy approach to cooking (who doesn’t), you could totally make the stock a day or two before to shorten the prep time the day of.

 

When I lived in Malaga (southern Spain) there was this restaurant called Mediterraneo II.  It has the most amazing couscous known to man.  I was determined to create this dish that easily rates in my top 10 best things ever eaten.  With that said, I looked up a few different traditional Moroccan couscous recipes and combined them to make the couscous of my dreams.  For the couscous itself, I brought water to a boil with some butter, cinnamon, and cumin.  After it comes to a boil, you remove it from the heat and add the couscous.  Couldn’t be any easier.  The vegetables were carrots and zucchini cooked in a little bit of olive oil, water, cinnamon, all spice, salt, and pepper.  Again, easy as pie.  The part that makes this dish totally awesome, in my humble opinion, is the Tfaya (a raisin and onion sauce), so listen closely:  Thinly slice an onion.  In a bowl, put ½ cup of raisins in some water and drain them after 10 or 15 minutes.  Put the onions, soaked raisins, 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of pepper, ½ teaspoon of ginger, some salt, ¼ teaspoon of saffron, and ½ a cup of water.  Cover it and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.  Mix it all together and what do you got?  Vegetable Couscous Tfaya. I may have to practice a little bit more to get it to Mediterraneo II status, but man, was this good.

Finally, dessert.  After failing epically during our first attempt at dessert (The Churro Debacle of 2013, for those of you who have forgotten), I thought keeping it short, simple, and foolproof was the way to go this time.  Hence: Cinnamon Oranges.  I know, I know, you’re thinking, “Cinnamon and Oranges…Who cares?!”  Well, dear Sir or Madame, you need to stop being such a snob and do the following: Cut off the skin of a couple of oranges, and then cut them into rounds.  Mix together a couple of tablespoons of fresh orange juice with a little cinnamon and sugar.  (They use orange blossom water traditionally in Morocco.  Left it out this time since I couldn’t get my hands on it.)  Coat those bad boys, put them on a plate, and sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top.  No disaster this time!

 

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