Mother of the Bride Spot

Random thoughts on being a Mother of the Bride...although since we are now past The Wedding, perhaps this would be better titled Random Thoughts On Life In General...

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Food -- Moroccan Style

The food in Morocco is really very good -- just not a lot of variety. Perhaps Americans are used to having more variety than we should (one of the causes of obesity??? Inquiring minds want to know....). After all, you can eat something different -- well, not only every day of the week, but probably every day for several months.



None the less, we enjoyed the food. Just before we left, the Chicago Tribune had an article featuring Poulet au Citron -- chicken with preserved lemons and olives. I cut it out as it didn't look as though it would be TOO hard for someone with my lack of culinary skills. After Tim comes home, we're going to give it a try -- I bought a jar of preserved lemons in Marrakech, and some saffron in a little funky grocery in Fes J'Did (a newer version of the old medina) before I left.




One of my favorites was malawi -- a sort of pancake like bread that is made with oil and flour -- takes forever to make as you roll it, stretch it, cook it, fold it, roll & stretch it again. That is what this lady is making in the medina:



But I digress. We had several really amazing meals -- the first on Saturday morning. (Friday was good, but it doesn't count as it was pizza!!). Aziz took us to a restaurant in the medina where I had -- yup, tajine poulet au citron -- the chicken with lemon and olives that I'm going to try at home. But first were the appetizers....





And then the main course. Here's Tim's tajine beef:



And finally, our dessert of Moroccan tea which is a bunch of mint leaves stuffed into a glass and then hot tea poured over it with plenty of sugar:



Bread and olives accompany every meal. Moroccan food is not for the Atkins crowd...



Now -- there are several ways to obtain your food. One is from the grocery store -- there are two Acimas in all of Fes. This one is within walking distance of Jim & Patti's house (our hosts -- friends of Tim's), and a great stopping point for the taxis which you take everywhere you can't walk.




We probably went here four or five times -- always picking up a big bottle of water for the family as well -- only 9 dirhams for a gallon. (9 dirhams is about $1). Don't drink the tap water -- while in "Newville" where Jim & Patti live, it is probably safe, bottled water is recommended. And we usually bought a big bottle of water for each meal as well.

Or you can purchase your food in the medina:








Bob helping with cooking the bread for a family....

You get your chicken VERY fresh....



Tim loves the medina. He lives just outside it in an old riad with a couple of other guys -- more on that in another blog. His favorite thing to do is sit at a cafe and drink espresso and watch life go by. We did this a lot.

Moroccan men sit around and do this all day long. Women are never seen in the cafes in the medina; occasionally they will be seen at a cafe in the new city, but never in the old.

He also takes his gastronomic life in his hands and eats off the streets in the medina....we joined him this one day, but had fast food take out...very much NOT like the fast food take out you will see here in the states:


Cooking our *meat* sandwiches -- Tim loves them. I found them -- um -- interesting.

Lest you think we suffered -- this is where we had dinner after church on Sunday...



There is more -- much more, even just on the food. Remind me to tell you about the snails....




2 Comments:

At 1:42 PM, Blogger RCO said...

Jan, what a great post...loved the commentary and the pictures. Now that is the way to really see and experience a place. Am I jealous? You BET I am!! ;o) We are so happy that you all were able to make the trip. I look forward to more postings and more pictures.

 
At 4:35 PM, Blogger An Ami in Berlin said...

HA!I need that picture of McD's for my post. :) I'm just now catching up on all your wonderful travelogue. Would you like to be my guide?! This was incredible!!!

 

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