FOOD FOOD AND MORE FOOD

I have to dedicate an entire blog post to Moroccan food. Before coming to Morocco, I had never eaten “Moroccan” type food and I am pretty glad I waited. The food here is delicious and I wouldn’t want an unauthentic form to have ruined my expectations. First off, we have a cook who works for our Community Based Training Group in our village and cooks us some of the most amazing food I have ever had. She is a local woman who spends 6 days a week cooking us lunch and two snacks everyday. Our snacks always consist of some sort of delicious homemade pastry as well as tea and coffee. Our lunches start with an amazing vegetable/ fruit/ rice combo plate called “salad” and then a main course of something delicious.

Here are a few Moroccan dishes I have tried so far:

Tajine: It is basically a Crock Pot roast but about 100 times more tasty. It is made by slow cooking veggies and meat in oil and some spices in a special shaped cook-ware.

Cous Cous: A Moroccan staple and one of my most favorite dishes cooked here. The veggies are boiled and cooked while the steam from the boiling pot cooks the cous cous. To top it all off, the juice from the pot covers the cous cous, making it an unbelieveable meal.

Lentils: Lentils cooked in sauces and eaten with bread, yummy.

Bean type soup: I am not sure what kinds of beans are used in this but it is cooked similar to the lentils and eaten with bread, it is delicious.

Rice Mush: Essentially rice overcooked with salt and flour, making a rice type paste. It is usually topped with sugar or buttermilk and it quite starchy but good when your in the mood for a simple meal.

Noodles: Homemade tomato/ pesto type sauce served over noodles.
Other than that, they eat a lot of bread and drink a lot of very sweet tea. Snack time is always bread and tea-time and bread is homemade and readily available. Breakfast usually consists of bread, tea and jam or Laughing Cow cheese. Snack time is quite similar.

Needless to say, carb lovers rejoice in Morocco while Atkins Dieters cringe at the thought. I happen to love bread and sugar, so the bread and tea has been working out great for me.

It is also important to mention that tea-time is a big deal around here and no one is too busy for a cup of tea. Also, people eat out of a communal plate. I have grown quite fond of this method of eating and it allows you to eat as much or as little as you want. If bread is served, the bread serves as your fork/ spoon, if bread is not served, spoons are used. I have also noticed that very few liquids other than teas are drank during dinner, water is usually available by request. Most meals are finished off with a piece of fruit, a nice way to curb the sweet tooth in all of us.

I was really apprehensive of the food situation before coming and I was afraid that I would be in another Thailand situation where lots of foods that were eaten were either too spicy or too different for my tastes, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the food. Frankly, I love it. I look forward to Cous Cous Fridays (which replaced the El Rancho Fridays I had grown to love) and I enjoy about 98% of what we eat. It has been a nice comfort in a new place to eat some yummy and while unfamiliar, delicious foods.

As a final thought, this does not represent the scope of all Moroccan food, just what I have experienced in my small village so I am sure there are many more food adventures to come.