Morocco -- Food

One of the reasons I decided to go to Morocco was because the country is famous for its food.

According to Wikipedia, the cuisine is extremely refined, thanks to Morocco's interactions and exchanges with other cultures and nations over the centuries. Moroccan cuisine has been subject to Arab, Moorish and Berber influences. The cooks in the royal kitchens of Fes, Meknes, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tetouan refined it over the centuries and created the basis for what is known as Moroccan cuisine today.

 

Morocco's first inhabitants, the Berbers, left their mark on the country's cuisine with staple dishes like tagines and couscous. New spices, nuts, dried fruits, and the common combination of sweet and sour tastes (such as a lamb tagine containing prunes), arrived with the Arab invasion. Olives and citrus fruits can be traced to the Moors. The Ottoman Empire can be thanked for introducing barbecue (kebabs) to Morocco. The French, although their colonization period was quite short, left behind a tradition of cafés, pastries, and wine. (Fodor's Morocco)

Drinks

Mint tea is at the very heart of not only Moroccan cuisine but of the culture itself. Whether in cosmopolitan Casablanca or a rural Berber village in the Atlas Mountains, there is one universal truth: até will be served. Recipes vary from region to region—and even from family to family—but all contain a mix of green tea, fresh mint leaves, and sugar. Coffee is served black (café noir), with a little milk (café crème), or half milk/half coffee (nuss nuss in the Morocan dialect). Orange juice, freshly squeezed, is abundantly available in cafés and restaurants.

Mint tea is a symbol of friendship and hospitality.  It is served before and after meals. business transactions. even during shopping.  Pouring tea is down with a raised pot so that air can flow through the liquid and create a foam on the top of each glass.

Tea came to Morocco through the British around 1880.     

Bread

Bread is truly the cornerstone of a traditional Moroccan meal, eaten at every meal (except with couscous) and also as a snack with mint tea. Bread is a symbol of generosity and hospitality. and it is treated with respect.  Due to bread's cultural and religious significance, it is never thrown away. Families put their leftover bread aside, either for the poor or to feed their animals.

Bread in Morocco comes in many shapes and sizes. The most common is a simple round, somewhat thick and slightly puffy, white bread with a chewy texture and soft crust.  This makes it perfect for sopping up sauces and scooping up food.  Depending on the region, this same bread can be found in a whole-wheat form. In the countryside, breads vary from village to village. Batbout, a soft, pitalike bread is often sold in bakeries stuffed with kefta (seasoned ground meat) and hard-boiled egg slices. Hacha, another type, is a panfried semolina bread.

Spices are also used to scent and flavor the bread.  Sesame (to make it crunch) and anise seeds (a licorice flavor) are often sprinkled in the dough.  Bread is baked fresh every day.  Many people bake their own bread. but others can get hot fresh bread from a street vendor in bakeries and in souks

Spices

Since ancient times. Moroccans have been using spices and herbs to enhance their cooking without making the dishes overly hot and spicy.  Phoenician traders passing through Morocco on ancient spice routes introduced Moroccan cooks to spices.  Centuries later. Arabian invaders. who prized spices more than jewels. added to the Moroccan people's knowledge of how to use spices.

Moroccan cooks have more than two hundred different herbs and spices to choose from.  Spice stalls in Moroccan open-air markets called souks (sooks). overflow with baskets. jars. tins. and sacks full of brightly colored herbs and spices.  Their scents perfume the air.

Several notable spices and herbs are common in Moroccan cuisine: cumin, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, saffron, turmeric, sesame seeds, fresh parsley, cilantro, harissa (red chili pepper and garlic paste), olive oil, and olives. Preserved lemons are another key ingredient in many tagine recipes and some salads.

Moroccans rub herbs and spices on meat and fish. and add them to stews. soups. salads. breads. desserts. and beverages.  Most Moroccan dishes contain a variety of spices.  For a dish to be considered well-cooked. no single spice should ever overpower the others.  Instead. there must be a balance of flavors with each dish having its own distinctive taste. color. and perfume.  In fact. Moroccans say that they can tell what their neighbors are cooking by the aroma of the spices drifting out of their kitchens.  

Moroccans rarely measure spices.  Instead. they taste and smell whatever they are cooking to achieve the right balance.  They use different spice mixtures for different dishes.  The most popular of all Moroccan spice blends is called ras el hanout (raz-al-han-oot). which means "the shopkeepers choice."  It contains anywhere from ten to one hundred different spices; although the average is twenty-five.  Each spice vendor has his or her own secret blend.  No two are alike. and every cook has a favorite.

Breakfast

Breakfast in Morocco means mint tea or coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, bread (often topped with olive oil and/or honey), and omelets with khlea (preserved dried meat). Two delightful Moroccan breakfast treats are raif (also call msemn in certain regions), a mix between a crepe and flat pastry, made with intricately layered dough, which is then fried; and baghir, a pancakelike delicacy that is not flipped and has many tiny bubbles on the top side, due to the yeast. Both can be topped with honey or jam.

Moroccan Salads

Zaalouk in foreground with salade marocaine on top left

Moroccan salads mirror the nation's history and culture.  Salads with bulgar (a type of cracked wheat). came with the Berbers.  The Arabs introduced sweet and savory salads. while Spain contributed tomatoes and peppers.  French-style salads use uncooked greens. 

Moroccan salads may be either raw or cooked. The most typical raw Moroccan salad (often called salade marocaine) is made of finely diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley, and salt and then topped with olive oil. Cooked salads, such as zaalouk and bakoula combine different vegetables and spices, all cooked together and served either cold or hot.

Tagines

A tagine is both the name for the stew served in most Moroccan homes for lunch and dinner and the name of the traditional clay pot with a tall, cone-shaped lid in which it is generally slow cooked over low heat. This allows the liquid to thicken and become syrupy.  The flavors blend and the meat and vegetables pull-apart.  

Moroccan tagines use chicken, beef, or lamb as the base along with a variety of other ingredients. Vegetables can include carrots, peas, green beans, along with chickpeas, olives, apricots, prunes, and nuts. Typical tagines include chicken and preserved lemon; lentils with meat and prunes; chicken and almonds; and kefta and egg.

Tagines originated from the Berbers who used them as portable ovens.  They changed over time as different cultures spread their influence in the country. The pots are glazed clay vessels with heavy round bases and cone-shaped lids.  This shape retains heat and traps steam so that whatever is inside does not dry out. Sweet and savory tagines come from Arabs.  The Berbers liked butter as a key ingredient while the Spanish and Moors used olive oil. 

Couscous

Couscous is probably the most famous Moroccan dish, combining tiny little balls of steamed wheat pasta with a meat and vegetable stew that is poured on top. The meat base for the stew can be chicken, beef, or lamb and the vegetables usually include a combination of turnip, carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, and zucchini with chickpeas and raisins sprinkled throughout. Couscous is typically a Friday lunch meal but can be served at other occasions as well.

Couscous originated with the Berbers who topped the grain with butter.  The Arabs added sauces containing chickpeas vegetables dried fruit meat and spices.  Couscous is Morocco's national dish.

The grain and sauce are served as one dish usually on a glistening brass tray.  The grain is arranged in a pyramid with a hollow in the top so the sauce can be poured into it.  Diners roll bits of couscous into a ball dip the ball in the sauce and pop it in their mouths--a practice that takes some skill.  "The popping motion is important becuase if performed inaccurately the ball will crumble before it makes it into your mouth" explains Moroccan chef Lahcen Beqqi.  

Seafood

Along the Moroccan coasts, fresh seafood is readily available. Seaside restaurants will serve the catch of the day grilled, fried, or in a tagine—an entire fish, baked with tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and spices.

Barbecue

In Morocco, eating establishments can basically be divided into two categories: the typical sit-down restaurant and what appears at first glance to be a questionable, seedy grill shop. Don't dismiss the grill option out of hand—they usually offer tasty, high-quality meat, at reasonable prices. Customers either buy their meat on premises or at a butcher shop next door. A nominal fee will be charged by the grill shop for grilling the meat. The shop also typically offers a menu with salads, grilled tomatoes and onions, french fries, and beverages to go along with the kabobs.

  

Pastilla

Pastilla is an elaborate meat pie combining sweet and salty flavors. Traditionally filled with pigeon, it is often prepared with shredded chicken. The meat is slow-cooked with spices and then combined with crisp, thin layers of a phyllolike dough; the mixture includes cinnamon and ground almonds. Pastilla is reserved for special occasions due to the complexity of its preparation. It can also be pre-ordered in some pastry shops.

Dessert

After a meal, Moroccan desserts are often limited to fresh seasonal fruit. Many types of Moroccan pastries and cookies exist, almost always made with almond paste. These pastries are often reserved for special occasions or are served to guests with afternoon tea. One common pastry is kaab el-ghzal ("gazelle's horns"), which is filled with almond paste and topped with sugar.

Mhencha (ma-hen-sha). or the snake. is another popular pastry with thin light dough.  It is typically a long coil of warka dough filled with almond paste. then wrapped around itself and resembling a sleeping snake.  It is topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon.




 Fekkas (fik-kas) taste more like crackers than cookies.  They are made with flour. salt. sugar. butter. sesame seeds. anise seeds. almonds. and raisins.  The dough is rolled into a log and partially baked. then left overnight to harden.  The next day the log is thinly sliced and baked again to take the moisture out of the dough.  The result is a dry. hard. crunchy. slightly sweet cookie with a licorice-like flavor--and good for dunking in tea.

Dietary Rules 

Most Moroccans are Muslim and they follow dietary rules set down by the Koran. their holy book.  Acceptable food is said to be halal. which means lawful.  Unacceptable foods are said to be haram. or forbidden.  Haram foods include pork and pork products such as gelatin. animal blood. the meat of carnivores (e.g.. dogs. wolves. rats. lions. and bears). birds of prey such as eagles. and land animals without external ears such as snakes.  Eating the meat of animals offered in religious sacrifice or those killed by other animals. beating. strangulation. or by accident is also not permitted.  Alcoholic beverages are also forbidden.

To be halal. animals must be slaughtered in a way that causes it the least pain.  This involves quickly cutting the major arteries in the animal's throat. which drains all the blood out of its body.



Proper Table Manners

Traditionally. Moroccans eat with the fingers of their right hand.  Their left hand which is used for personal hygiene is never used.  Damp warm towels are passed around before and after the meal to ensure everybody's hands are clean.  The food is placed in the center of the table for all to share.  Bread is passed around and used to scoop up food.  This picture shows the family eating with utensils--another influence from the West.


Sources copied from:
                Fodor's Travel:  http://www.fodors.com/world/africa-and-middle-east/morocco/feature_30009.html
                Barbara Sheen (2011). Foods of Morocco. Farmington Hills. MI:  Kidhaven Press.
                Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_cuisine

Morocco -- A Culinary History

Morocco

by Jeff Koehler

Moroccan cuisine reflects the country's complex history and diversity of influences. from the ancient Berbers to those who have come and stayed. come and left, or just passed through--the Phoenicians and Roman. and Arabs. Muslim and Jewish exiles from Andalucia, trans-Saharan caravans across the interior and Portuguese along the coast.  English traders who introduced tea in the eighteenth century, and French and Spanish who ruled as colonial administrators in the twentieth.  Each culture has left its mark.

Beginnings
The country's storied past begins with the indigenous Berbers.  A sizable percentage of the country's population today identify themselves as Berber, with many more having Berber ancestry.  Berbers are found predominantly in the mountainous regions and the fringes of the Sahara, where they have retained their own language and customs while absorbing waves of influences.  Great Berber dynasties once controlled not only Morocco but south into western Africa and north into Spain.

The name Berber possibly derives from a Greek and Roman expression referring to those who did not speak the Greek or Roman language, and was later popularized in other languages.  While the name has lost its pejorative connotations (the same root spawned barbarian), many Berbers prefer to call themselves Imazighen (or similar, depending on the dialect), which means "free men" or "noble men."  Berbers are not a homogenous people. and their language has three main dialects:  Tachelhai, in the southwest, the High Atlas, Draa Valley, and Souss; Tamazight, in the Middle Atlas; and Tarifit (or Riffi), in the Rif Mountains.  "But we have many shared characteristics," one High Atlas Berber explained to me.  "A shared history, the same roots, similar characters in many respects, lifestyles, food..."

Berber cuisine remains generally rustic, sometimes almost frugal. reflecting the often harsh conditions and austere landscape where they live, but also a deep history that was once nomadic and seminomadic, with little time for various courses or flourish.  They might have settled, but the ancestral cuisine remains.  Grains, legumes, and vegetables continue to be mainstays of the diet.  "We are largely vegetarian not by choice but by poverty," a man in one arid valley wryly told me.  But Berbers are credited with developing some of Morocco's most prominent dishes, including the tagine and couscous, which they call sksou.  Berber versions of these dishes are, not surprisingly, typically hearty with vegetables (and flavored with a bit of lamb or beef. even turkey) and show little of the complex seasoning found in other, more urban places like Fez.

Berbers are also credited with two national comfort food. the smooth. tomato-based soup called barira and bessara, a puree of fava beans thinned into soup and spiced with cumin and paprika and served with olive oil, as well as strips of preserved meat called khlea.  They are also known for a number of interesting flatbreads, including a layered one called rghayif  that is eaten with honey.

The moussem, or saints' day celebration. often celebrated around a pilgrimage to a mausoleum. remains important.  These celebrations are firstly religious and secondly social and commercial, and involve days of music, dancing, and festivities, with the rather exuberant Berber character coming through.  In verdant areas abundant with flocks of grazing sheep, the centerpiece of the feast is often a whole spit-roasted lamb, or mechoui, surely one of the country's greatest culinary experiences.  Some of the more high-spirited moussems are in Tan Tan, famous for its camel and horse fantasia that gathers numerous nomadic Saharan tribes together, one based around the rose harvest in the Anti-Atlas town of El Kelaa des M'Gouna. and in Moulay Idriss in the hills above Meknes.  

Phoenicians. Romans. and the Early Invaders
Morocco has a number of Phoenician and Roman settlements.  Along the coast, ancient Punic colonies or city-states--namely Lixus (near modern-day Larache), Tingis (Tangier), Chellah (Rabat). Mogador (Essaouira)--brought advances in farming and agriculture techniques, and settlers planted olives, vines, and fruit orchards.  After the fall of Carthage (in modern-day Tunisia) in 146 BCE. Rome secured its influence in the region, established Roman North Africa, and ruled from the Nile to the Atlantic across the top of the continent.  In Morocco. Romans rebuilt the city of Volubilis (outside Meknes), expanded wheat and olive production and vineyards, and produced their beloved fermented fish paste called garum.  These foods helped feed the vast Roman Empire until its collapse at the end of the fifth century.  It's also likely that during their time in the area. Romans introduced cooking in clay vessels, which Berbers later adapted into tagines.

Arabs
After the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 CE. Islam swept westward from the Arabian Peninsula through the Middle East and Egypt and into North Africa by the beginning of the eighth century.  Along with a new religion (and its dietary restrictions), a new language, a new model of government, and a sophisticated level of culture. the Arabs brought spices from the east--cinnamon. nutmeg, ginger, turmeric--and gradually introduced Persian and Arabic cooking influences.  These included cooking meats with sweet fruit. using a mixture of spices as well as aromatics, a fondness for using nuts in cooking, and a passion for delicate sweetmeats with almonds. honey, and sesame seeds.  Almost immediately, the Arabs established the great city of Fez, the heart of Morocco's Arabic--as opposed to Berber--culture.

The Muslim conquest continued on to the Iberian peninsula in 711 and in a decade had penetrated into France.  (Muslim rule gradually shrank southward over the next 750 years.)  Al-Andalus, as Muslim Spain and Portugal was known, was a sophisticated, cosmopolitan meeting place of the Orient and Occident where the art of cooking reached lofty heights.  The region would be interlinked with Morocco until the final collapse of Muslim rule on the Iberian peninsula at the end of the fifteenth century.

Imperial Morocco
Under a succession of imperial Berber dynasties, the region gradually moved from a patchwork of states into a unified entity with a sense of identity.  The Almoravid Empire (1062-1145) stretched at its peak north into Spain, east to Algiers. and far south into what is today Mauritania. Mali. and northern Senegal, some 2.000 miles from north to south.  Perhaps, though, its greatest accomplishment was founding Marrakech.  The Almohad Empire (1145-1248) showed Morocco at its most potent, controlling territory that reached north into Spain, south into Mauritania, and east all the way across modern-day Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.  The Marinid Empire (1248-1465). though lacking the vast geographic range of its predecessors. managed to hold Morocco together for nearly two hundred years from its base in the great medieval city of Fez.  An Arab dynasty. for the first time, took control in the mid-sixteenth century.  The Saadians (1554-1659) traced their lineage back to the prophet Muhammad, as do their successors, the Alaouites (1665- ) who remain in power today.  Both began their consolidation of power in the south. at the fringes of the desert with access to the trans-Saharan trade routes.

This was also the age of the great Saharan caravans that traveled north from Mali, Ghana, and Senegal with gold, slaves, cloth, and spices, and carried salt in the other direction.  The peak of the trans-Saharan trade lasted from the eighth century until the end of the sixteenth century, with the collapse of the great Songhai Empire in West Africa and trade shifting more to the Atlantic.  (Railroads at the beginning of the twentieth century and Land Rovers essentially smothered out what remained.)  Goods carried on ancient caravans of long columns of laden camels passed through oasis towns like Sijilmasa (in the Tafilalt oasis, but today merely ruins) to Marrakech, Fez, and Meknes, to Tanger, and onto Mediterranean Europe, where the demand for gold coinage was nearly insatiable.  Those in Morocco called the area to the south Bilad al-Sudan, "the Land of the Blacks."  The name refers not to the modern-day country of Sudan, but to the geographic region stretching across North Africa from the Atlantic to the Nile, from the southern edge of the Sahara to the tropical equatorial region.  A handful of products retain the legacy of this African trade in their names, most prominently hot red pepper, felfla soudaniya, or often just called soudaniya.

Reconquista and (Re)Settling
Almost immediately after the eighth-century invasion of Spain began the long and steady Catholic reconquista, a gradual process that ended in 1492 with the fall of Granada.  When Spanish rulers expelled Muslims--after Granada's fall, and then with edicts over the next few centuries--many headed south to North Africa.  Historians figure that some 800000 Andalusians settled in Morocco, where they added new "Andalusian" neighborhoods to cities such as Fez, and built whole new cities such as Chefchaouen or Tetouan, which they rebuilt over ruins.  The refugees brought with them the Arabic-Berber (sometimes called Moorish) flavors that had been refined and heightened in Spain.  These can be tasted in, for instance, the blending of the sweet and savory (or even sour), certain spice mixes. and ways of preserving fruits.

Jews
Expelled from Spain along with Muslims, many Jews immigrated to Morocco.  Although their presence in Morocco dates to Roman North Africa in the early centuries of the Common Era, various large waves of these immigrants from Spain made the greatest impact.  Controlling much of the trade of Morocco's two great commodities--sugar and salt--they often lived in mellahs, Jewish residential quarters.  Mellah comes from the Arabic word for "salt."  Some historians think this name originated not with the role of Jewish immigrants as salt traders but with the salty stream running through Fez's Jewish quarter, or even with the community's onetime role in salting the heads of executed criminals to display on city walls. 

The Moroccoan Jewish community was once formidable.  A 1936 census counted 161,942 Jews in the country.  By 1948--the peak--the Jewish population is generally given as 265,000, with flourishing communities in Fez and Marrakech. in the coastal cities of Casablanca, Rabat, Essaouira, and Safi, and inland in Tiznit. where Jewish craftspeople were renowned for their silver jewelry.  That year. with the creation of Israel, the first exodus left the country.  Another wave departed in 1963, once the suspension on emigration (enacted with independence in 1956) was lifted, and more followed with the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.  Perhaps fewer than five thousand remain today, with most living in Casablanca.

Many traditional Jewish dishes were lost when the community left, such as dafina. a spicy-sweet stew traditionally cooked on the Sabbath with calves' foot and tongue. dumplings, and dates.  A handful of dishes have been integrated, however, and are not considered strictly Jewish today, including hargma, a popular stew of calves' feet and chickpeas.  Jewish influence can also be seen in ways of preserving foods and in some pastries.

European Influence
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Portuguese punctuated the Atlantic coast with a number of fortified ports, including Tanger, Asilah, Anfa (now Casablanca), Azemmour, Mazagan (now El Jadida), Safi, Essaouira, and Agadir.  They sought direct trade from south of the Sahara for gold, and coastal outlets that would allow them to avoid the Genoese dominance of Mediterranean maritime trade.  They also wanted to tap into Morocco's rich lands of cereals and fish.

In 1830. France took control of neighboring Algiers from the Ottomans, who had ruled since 1520.  With the exception of the norhteastern border city of Oujda, Morocco was able to hold them at bay until the early twentieth century.  French occupation began in 1907 with Casablanca, and in 1912 the country was partitioned into two Protectorates governed individually by France and Spain, with Tanger designated an international zone.  France ruled the majority of the country from its new capital in Rabat.  The French built ports in Casablanca and Kenitra and new towns in Rabat, Fez, Meknes, Marrakech, and elsewhere, largely leaving the ancient medians untouched.  They introduced baguettes among flatbreads and morning croissants among rhayif; a slightly different version of cafe culture, with the terraces sprawled out on wide, ville nouvelle boulevards; and a wine industry.

Spain's early impact in Morocco came in the Mediterranean coastal enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta, which Spain held beginning in the fifteenth century.  Under the Protectorate. Spain ruled the Mediterranean north of the country, with Tetouan as its capital, until the 1956 independence.  For a large part of the twentieth century, Spain also controlled the deep south with the colony of the Sahara Occidental (Western Sahara. until 1976), the Tarfaya Strip to its north (until 1958), and the beach town of Sido Ifni (until 1969).

The lingering Spanish influence remains clearest in the north, where tomatoes and paprika are more widespread in the cooking than in the south. and where fish is frequently fried without a spicy marinade.  Today, many Moroccan immigrants to Spain come from the north.  When they return--to spend their holidays or to live--they bring with them a new layer of influence.

Independent Morocco
Morocco became independent in 1956 and has been led by a series of kings--Mohammed V. Hassan II, and, since 1999, Mohammed VI.

During the centuries of imperial rule. royal kitchens have ensured a high-level consciousness of the culinary arts.  In 1979, King Hassan II set up a royal cooking school on the grounds of the palace in Rabat.  It continues to run and each year accepts forty Moroccan girls under twenty-five years of age (many from the countryside) for the two-year program.  The girls are trained in the high art of classical Moroccan cooking by sheer repetition.

Morocco continues to assimilate influences in the kitchen while keeping its unique culinary identity.  A recent, important influence is a woman known as Choumicha.  One of the best-known personalities in the country, Choumicha has become something of a culinary media empire, with books, TV programs, and, for a time, a cooking magazine.  On TV. she prepares traditional recipes with elderly women around the country and also adapts Moroccan dishes for a modern, more time-pressed audience.  She has published a large, lovely cookbook, though it's her small, inexpensive booklets with recipes focusing on a single theme such as tagines or desserts that are hugely popular with Moroccans.

For many years. travelers heard that to eat well in Morocco, to eat authentic Moroccan cuisine, they had to dine in a private home, something that is difficult for the casual visitor.  But that has happily changed with the explosion of riads--a style of house that opens to a courtyard. and now refers to a small bed-and-breakfast, with just a couple of rooms, in the median.  A local cook or two prepare meals for a handful of clients, using ingredients bought in the neighborhood markets, and the meals are frequently served family style.  The experience feels like being a privileged guest in a private home.

And there is the surprising. and welcome. trend of very good, inexpensive eateries in gas stations along motorways and on the edges of towns.  At many Petromin, Baraka, Petrom, Afriquia, and Shell stations across the country, rows of tagines slow-cook on embers while freshly made flatbreads bake in traditional earthen ovens.  You can tell the best ones by the number of cars in the parking lot.

International supermarkets can be found on the outskirts of larger cities, with Marjane (considered the best), Carrefour, Acima, and a local chain called Aswak Assalam offering both local products and imported ones. usually from Europe.

The culinary mosaic continues.  To grow, sure, but also to be more accessible.

 

Morocco -- Arts and Crafts

by Victoria Tang in Fodor's Guide to Morocco

 

Shopping in Morocco is an unforgettable experience.  In cities like Marrakesh and Fez, the souks are both magical and chaotic, their narrow alleyways overflowing with handcrafted products created using centuries-old techniques.

Open bazaars and medieval markets display the bright colors. bold patterns. and natural materials found throughout Morocco's arts and crafts tradition.  Items are proudly made in artisan workshops dating back to ancient times.

Handmade Moroccan arts and crafts demonstrate the influence of Berber, Arab, Andalusian, and European traditions.  Using natural resources like copper, wool, silver, wood, clay, and indigenous plants, artisans and their apprentices incorporate symbolic motifs, patterns, and color into wood carvings, textiles, ceramics, jewelry, slippers, clothing, and other decorative arts.  Traditional processes from the Middle Ages are still used in many cases and can be observed from start to finish.  Be prepared to negotiate a good price for anything you would like to buy:  bartering here is expected and considered an art form in itself. 

Visiting Morocco's souks also gives you the opportunity to view the techniques still used to mass-produce a wide assortment of authentic goods by hand.  While prices in Morocco may not be as cheap as they once were, hand-crafted goods can be found at any price point.  Even the highest-quality pieces are half of what you'd pay back home.


Pottery

Morocco's most stunning ceramics are the distinctive blue-and-white Fassi pieces.  Many of the pieces you'll find actually have the word Fas (the Arabic pronunciation of Fez) written in Arabic calligraphy and incorporated into geometric designs.  Fassi ceramics also come in a beautiful polychrome of teal, yellow, royal blue, and burgundy.  Another design unique to Fez is the simple mataysha (tomato flower) design.  You'll recognize it by the repetition of a small. four-petal flower design.  Fez is also at the forefront of experimental glazes--keep your eyes out for solid-color urns of iridescent chartreuse or airy lemon yellow that would look at home next to a modernist piece by Philippe Starck or Charles Eames. 

Safi

Safi's flourishing pottery industry dates to the 12th century.  Produced near the phosphate mines known as Jorf el Asfar (asfar. like safran. means yellow), because of the local yellow clay, the pottery of Safi has a distinctive mustard color.  The potters' elaborate designs and colors rival those of Fez but are in black with curving lines of leaves and flowers, with less emphasis on geometric patterns.  The pottery is predominantly overglazed with a greenish blue, though brown, green, and dark reds are also used.

Sale
In Sale, potters work on the clay banks of the River Bou Regreg estuary to produce glazed and unglazed wares in classic and contemporary styles, from huge garden urns to delicate dinner sets. 

Buying Tips
Look for kiln markings left after the ceramics have been fired.  Pottery fired en masses is put in the kiln on its side, so the edges of bowls are often painted after they have been fired.  The paint tends to flake off after a while, giving the bowls a more rustic, or antiqued, look.

Another technique for firing en masse is to stack the bowls one on top the other.  This allows for the glazing of the entire piece but results in three small marks on both the inside and outside of bowls from the stands on which they were placed.  Small touch-ups tend to disrupt the fluidity of the designs, but such blemishes can be used as a bargaining angle to bring down the price.

You can spot an individually fired piece by its lack of any interior faults.  Only three small marks can be seen on the underside of the serving dish or bowl, and the designed face should be immaculate.  These pieces. often large, intricately glazed serving pieces, are the most expensive that you'll find.


Rugs
Moroccan rugs vary tremendously in quality and design.  There are basically two types:  urban (citadin) and rural (Berber); each type has endless varieties of shapes, sizes, and patterns.  In general, smaller bazaars in the souks carry rural rugs, while larger bazaars and city stores carry a selection of both.

Urban rugs have been woven in Morocco since the 18th century.  They have higher knot counts (they're more "finely" woven) than rural rugs, which technically makes them of higher quality.  Urban rugs typically have seven colors and varied patterns including bands of different colors with geometric and floral designs.  They are woven by women in cooperatives. Rabat and Sale being the main centers, but also in Meknes. Fez. and Marrakesh.

Rural carpets. some of which are known as kilims (tapestry weave or flat weave) are identified first by region and then by tribe.  They are mostly woven by hand in the Middle Atlas (Azrou and Oulmes) and on the plains around Marrakesh (Chichaoua) by women.  They're dark red and made of high-quality wool and have bands of intricate geometric designs.  A single rug can take weeks or months to complete.  No two rugs are ever alike.

Buying Tips

• Check the color.  If artificially aged, the back will be lighter than the front.  Natural dyes are very bright but usually uneven.  Artificial dyes can bleed when swiped with a damp cloth.

• Check the weave's knot count.  Urban carpets should have a high knot count--about 100 per square inch.

• The age of rugs.  Rugs don't have labels with identification, provenance, or origin date.  Rural rugs are rarely more than 50 years old.

• Carpet prices.  Good-quality rugs are expensive.  Expect to pay 200-750 dirhams per square foot.  Flat-weave rugs are generally cheaper than pile rugs.  Cotton is much less expensive than wool.  It's worth taking the time to check comparable prices at one of the fixed-price state-run cooperatives.

Silver

The most popular silver jewelry in Morocco is crafted by Berbers and Arabs in the southern High Atlas and in the Anti-Atlas Mountains.  Taroudant and Tiznit are the most well-known jewelry-producing areas.  Desert nomads--Touaregs and Saharaouia--craft silver items for tribal celebrations.  Smaller items include fibulas (ornamental clasps to fasten clothing). Touareg "crosses," delicate filigree bracelets, and hands of Fatima (or khamsa, meaning five, for the five fingers) that are said to offer protection from the evil eye.  There's also a good variety of Moroccan Judaica that includes silver yads (Torah pointers). Torah crowns, and menorahs.  Silver teapots, serving trays, and decorative pieces capture the essence of Moroccan metalwork with geometric designs and ornate detail.

Leather

Moroccan leather, known as maroquinerie, has been sought after worldwide.  Fez and Marrakesh have extensive working tanneries, producing large quantities of items for export.  Sold inexpensively in local markets are bags, belts, luggage, jackets, vests, and beautifully embroidered goat skin ottomans.  Leather and suede babouches are the ultimate house slippers; myriad colors and styles are available, and they make an inexpensive gift.

Textiles

For centuries, weaving in Morocco has been an important artisanal tradition to create beauty and spiritual protection.  Looms operate in medina workshops. while groups of tribal nomads can be seen weaving by hand on worn carpets in smaller villages.  The best buys are multicolored silk-and-gold threat scarves, shawls, and runner, as well as hand-embroidered fabrics used for tablecloths, decorating, and traditional caftans and djellabas.

Wood

From the forests of the Rif and Middle Atlas. cedar wood is used to create beautiful mashrabiyya latticework often found on decorative household chests, doors, and tables.  Essaouira is the source of all thuya-wood crafts.  Here, only the gnarled burls that grow out of the rare coniferous tree's trunk are used to carve a vast variety of objects, from tiny boxes and picture frames to trays, games, and even furniture often decorated with marquetry in ebony and walnut.

Argan Oil

Much valued by the Berbers, argan oil has been used for centuries as an all-purpose salve, a healthy dip for homemade bread, protection for skin and nails, a treatment for scars and acne, a hair conditioner, a skin moisturizer, and even a general cure for aches and pains.  With its strong nutty and toasty flavor, argan oil is popularly sold in the food souks of Essaouira, Marrakesh, and Meknes in its purest form for culinary use.  The oil is often mixed with other essential oils for beauty and naturopathic treatments.

The origin of the oil is from the Argania spinosa, a thorny tree that has been growing wild in Morocco for some 25 million years.  Today. the tree only grows in the triangular belt along Morocco's Atlantic coast from Essaouira down to Tafraoute in the Anti-Atlas Mountains and eastward as far as Taroudant.  It takes about 35 kg (77 pounds) of sun-dried nuts to produce one liter of oil.  

The Art of Negotiation

Everywhere in Morocco you will haggle and be hustled by experienced vendors who pounce on you as soon as you blink in their direction.  Your best defense is the proper mindset.  For your first souk visit, browse rather than buy.  Wander the stalls and see what's for sale.  Don't enter stores or make eye contact with vendors, or you will certainly be pulled in.  You can also visit one of the state-sponsored artisan markets found in most large Moroccan cities, where prices are rather high but fixed.

Once you've found what you want to buy, ask the price (in dirhams).  Stick to the price you want to pay.  The vendor will claim you are his first customer and never look satisfied.  If he won't decrease the price far enough, walk away.  Chances are the vendor will run after you, either accepting your best offer or making a reduction.


Currency Exchange

1 dirham = 12 cents (US)       $1 = 8.27 dirhams

Morocco -- The Moroccan Pantry

by Jeff Koehler

Morocco:  A Culinary Journey with Recipes 

Typical ingredients used for Moroccan cuisine:

Almonds - used in most meals for crunchiness scattered on the top of a dish.  Toasting or frying almonds deepens their taste and gives them their crunch.

Argan oil - is a rich nutty, dark golden oil and one of the country's most prized and most expensive food products.  The limited and labor-intensive production is done today almost exclusively in women's co-ops.

Couscous - refers to the dish and the tiny "grains" formed from hard durum wheat or sometimes corn.  Couscous comes in various types and sizes.

Dates - are a staple as well as a  symbol.   They are traditionally offered to guests with a glass of milk and are the first item eaten with the breaking of the fast during Ramadan.

Dried figs - are either pale yellow, flattened and stacked or strung together or they are fatter and pear-shaped.

Dried apricots - contribute an appealing tartness. brilliant color, chewy texture to tangines, and are often coupled with prunes.

Honey - used to caramelize onions and fruits for tagines, found in desserts and sweets, eaten for breakfast with flatbreads, or drizzled over yogurt.  It's also a base for many traditional medicines and ancient therapeutics externally and internally.  Honey has a symbolic role at weddings. births, and during mourning when it's served for three days following a death.

Khlea - dried. seasoned (salt, garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, crushed coriander seeds) strips of beef (sun-dried. boiled) are an ancient way of preserving meat.  

Lben - buttermilk from cows, sheep, goats, camel

Olive oil - accounts for 16% of oils used.  There are 16,000 traditional oil mills.

Olives - go back to the first millennium BCE when Phoenicians introduced the olive tree and Romans expanded cultivation.  Moroccan groves produce table olives and olives for oil.  

Preserved lemons - a trademark of Moroccan cuisine, they are a unique ingredient whose tight, tart flavor adds a pungent boost to dishes from salads to baked fish and chicken tagines.

Prunes - dark, shriveled, and sticky dried plums.

Raisins - sweet. dried grapes are integral to many sweet-and-savory combinations with dark or golden raisins in countless dishes from vegetable couscouses to desserts.

Semolina - ground hard durum wheat that is fine or coarse and used for couscous.

Smen - clarified and preserved salted butter with a distinctive earthy or cheesy flavor and aroma to a number of traditional dishes.

Vermicelli - short. thin noodles added to soups and even steamed in
a couscoussier, sweetened, and eaten on their own or as a side dish.

Walnuts - commonly found in desserts.  The wood of the walnut tree is used to make fine wide. shallow platters (gsaa), used for preparing couscous and dough. 

Warqa (or Ouarka) - fine, paper-thin pastry sheets used for savory stuffed pastries and layered desserts.  They are made by smearing a fine coating of damp. sticky, elastic dough across a wide, hot griddle before peeling it off after 15 seconds.  Phyllo dough and Chinese spring roll wrappers are slightly thicker and a substitute.

Aromatic Herbs:

Absinthe
Basil
Bay leaf
Cilantro
Fennel
Garlic
Lavender
Lemon verbena
Marjoram
Mint (peppermint and spearmint)
Oregano
Parsley
Sage
Thyme
Zaatar (thyme and oregano family)

Spices:

Aniseed
Black pepper
Caraway
Cardamon
Cayenne pepper
Chaste tree berries
Chili powder
Cinnamon
Clove
Coriander seeds
Cubeb pepper (resembles black peppercorn)
Cumin
Fennel seeds
Fenugreek
Galanga root
Ginger
Grains of paradise (cousin of cardamom. ginger. artichoke)
Gum arabic or gum acacia
Juniper berries
Licorice
Long pepper
Mace
Mastic
Nigella seeds
Nutmeg
Orris root
Pepper
Rosebuds
Saffron
Sesame seeds
Sweet paprika
Turmeric
White pepper

Spice Blends
Harissa - spicy chili paste
Msakhen - used as a spice aphrodisiac and aid to conception
Ras el hanout - 20-50 spices 

Aromatics
Orange flower water
Rose water

Cold Climate Christmas -- Imagine It in Toronto

 

This article appeared on the Huffington Post on Monday, December 5, 2011

How typical is it to go north for Christmas vacation unless you are a skier or snowmobiler? Not very.

Nevertheless, my husband and I recently went to Toronto for the holidays and were quite surprised by the quality of life in this metropolitan area of 4.4 million people.

As we walked the neighborhoods and streets, tried out ethnic restaurants and talked to local residents at an evening pot luck dinner, we discovered a whole new world free of distractions and the usual sightseeing repertoire and instead learned something about life in this popular Canadian city that is very appealing.

The most significant impression I had of Toronto is that its people are so civilized. Imagine that people in the fifth-most populated city in North America actually praise themselves for their tolerance of ethnic and racial differences, which are evident everywhere you go.

Imagine a place where over 100 languages are spoken and neighborhood utility poles don signs advertising language classes in Spanish -- as well as Persian, Urdu and Turkish. Street posters also declare that "Literacy is a right."

Tolerance for differences is exhibited in other ways. In the St. Lawrence Market you see Asian women making French crepes. Stores and shops are largely staffed by young immigrants. The bank ATMs include directions in Chinese characters. We ate a lovely meal in a Thai restaurant to the tunes of the Supremes' hit "Baby Love" and the "Dirty Dancing'" theme song, "Time of My Life."

While it's not unusual to hear other languages spoken in a major urban area, it is a delight as well as a shock to walk clean and litter-free streets.

Imagine seeing a man on a subway escalator accidentally drop a small wad of paper from his pocket and then pick it up.

Incidentally, trash baskets in public areas are separated into litter, recycled newspapers and recycled bottles and cans. And when the trash overflows, you see empty coffee cups neatly placed on the top of the container.

Recycling bins are everywhere, even next to people's front porches should their home not have a backyard.
Environmental and public health concerns abound in Toronto. Imagine a small fish market with a sign that not only recognizes an endangered species (in this case Chilean sea bass) but informs customers that it will not sell that fish.

Imagine holiday TV commercials with information about the World Wildlife Fund, improving your water IQ, joining Alcoholics Anonymous or considering police your best friends on New Year's Eve.

Smoking is not allowed in public buildings or in restaurants and bars. So those who do smoke do it as they walk or as they stand outside a building. I saw one woman in the celebrated Annex Neighborhood where we stayed sitting on her front porch at 10 p.m. without fear of thieves, murderers or terrorists! Instead, she watched other people walking down the street at night as she took her cigarette.

Actually, she wasn't the only one out at night as it appears to be a Toronto custom to sit on the patio during the winter (at home and at some pubs and grills) sipping drinks and talking to friends. Even the residents of a neighborhood senior citizens complex did it. (And that building was right in the middle of the neighborhood, not separated from the rest of the city.)

Imagine that 40 percent of the downtown population walks to work or that a clean, safe and efficient streetcar, bus and subway system moves 1.4 million passengers each work day. (Curious that there were not many obese people walking the streets either!)

Imagine a night-time window shopping excursion where people crowd the well-lit holiday-clad streets inspecting beautiful outdoor displays of fruits and vegetables, CDs, DVDs, clothes and housewares.

Restaurants are jammed with people and storefronts advertise yoga classes, palm reading, massage work and herbal medicine consulting.

Although I am describing Chinatown on Spadina Street, there are plenty of people out at night on the quirky Yonge Street strip, the Bloor Street upper-end commercial district and the eclectic Queen Street West area.

Torontonians recognize that street life is free entertainment as well as an essential part of vibrant urban life.

And imagine all this activity going on and it being relatively quiet. No boom boxes. No high fidelity-sound cars. No wild teenagers hanging out of cars jeering at passers-by. Just people walking outside, being a part of the scene, even if they are alone.

Imagine living in a city where there were only 59 homicides in 2010, 56 in 2009, 67 in 2008, 84 in 2007. So far, 2011 has only 41.

Toronto does have its downsides: the metro system breaks down all too frequently (it happened one time to us); the cost of living is high; the streets are a little dirtier than they should be; the downtown grates host several street people.

On the other hand, every resident, even the homeless, has access to health care.

The people of Toronto have obviously invested in their city, especially in their neighborhoods, and they are willing to pay the price for the services through taxes or special assessments. For example, some neighborhoods ensure their safety through the protection of private police. The sidewalks and streets of every neighborhood were all shoveled, free of snow to accommodate walking and bicycling.

Old houses are beautifully decorated and well-maintained, an indicator of the citizens' pride in themselves, their neighborhoods and their past. Downtown buildings sport this same sentiment, as the old Victorian brick edifices sit comfortably next to modern office and condo skyscrapers.

Toronto serves as both a model and an inspiration for American cities because it illustrates that what it takes to "make a village" is for the people who live there to summon the political will -- and tax dollars -- to make urban life what it can and should be.