Our Many Moons of Honey: Food in Our 3rd Moon

Mint tea

I’m sure this post comes as no surprise to those that have followed us thus far. Food is one of our biggest passions so we will be keeping this up as we go along. In our third moon we had the pleasure of eating our way through Morocco. The staples in Morocco are things made from dough (bread, flat bread, various types of pancake like things, etc), olives, dates and dried fruit, couscous, tajine (made from root vegetables and various meats excluding pork), La Vache Qui Rit and Kiri cheese, argan oil and let’s not forget mint tea. Mint tea is the cornerstone of Moroccan society: it is not just a beverage it’s a way of life in Morocco. It ends every meal and all socializing and business is conducted over mint tea. The service itself is a ceremony. The tea arrives in small metal pot filled with fresh mint and hot water accompanied by a large block of sugar. Before you drink the tea the host will take most of the sugar and crumble it into the pot. Then the ceremonial pouring and repouring of the tea begins. The tea is poured into one of the small glass glasses and this is not just any pour, the pot is tilted and is gradually raised above the glass to a couple of feet as the liquid slowly fills the glass. The liquid is then poured back into the metal pot. Seeing the pride in the eyes of the pourer as they go higher and higher with the pot is absolutely pricess. These two steps are repeated quite a few times before the tea is finally poured for drinking. The end result is a very sweet warm minty beverage.

Super greasy and super tasty breakfast

Next is breakfast. Breakfast on the go Moroccan style almost always involves either a Moroccan pancake or a deep fried dough. A Moroccan pancake or ‘Rghaif’ is a flaky yet dense dough which when fried resembles something like a flattened croissant - pancake hybrid. You can have it plain or as we saw it, with argan oil and/or honey in the south, or with cheese and honey in the north. All absolutely delicious. There is also a much larger version which we think is called a ‘Beghrir’. The super greasy deep fried dough that is the heavier deadlier breakfast can be had with or without an egg fried into it. Let us describe the cooking process with an egg: first the man grabs a ball of dough and flattens it into a hockey puck, this puck is dropped in a huge tub of sizzling cooking oil. After two minutes of bathing in the oil the man grabs the sizzling fried dough with his bare hands rips a hole in the middle, throws it back into the oil and cracks an egg into the hole. After a single flip and about a minute of cooking time the finished product is placed on a single napkin for consumption. Oh God is this greasy heart attack ever worth it. We suggest washing it down with a cup of coffee followed by a bath. In contrast to this street fare, a typical hotel breakfast pretty much always consists of bread, jam, butter, orange juice and coffee. We also had the pleasure of having breakfast with a Berber family in their home. The menu consisted of a Berber porridge (rice, millet and lots of milk), home made Moroccan bread, jam, honey, argan oil and of course mint tea.

Hotel Atlas' tajine kefta kiri (just finger licking good)

Lunch and dinner are pretty much the same, with lunch seeming to be the larger meal. At restaurants, meal. At restaurants, meal. At restaurants, the meal always starts with bread, butter and spiced olives. In the western restaurants and hotels you always get cutlery however Moroccans use the bread as their utensils and always eat only with their right hand. The main course usually consists of some form of a tajine, kebabs or couscous. Quality and flavor certainly depended on the cook. We had some great food and some pretty bland food. So what is a Tajine you ask? Tajine is a Moroccan stew cooked in a conical earthenware pot that keeps the juices in and the meat tender and moist. They come in all shapes and sizes from a basic vegetable tajine to a meat tajine with vegetables and/or olives and/or lemons and/or cheese. While we are on the topic of tajines we have to say that the best one we had all trip was the tajine kefta kiri at hotel Atlas in Mirleft cooked by the Kadija. This a tajine made with meatballs in a rich tomato sauce with kiri cheese and toped with a sizzling egg. A tajine masterpiece. We hope to have this again… inshallah. The bread that comes with all the meals as a side or utensil is called Khoobz. It’s a Moroccan style pita bread that’s about an inch thick, crusty on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Snack options in Morocco are the above mentioned pita breads cut in half and stuffed with minced meat and onion. We also came accross the most amazing churros, which were these little deep fried rings of dough sprinkled with sugar. And last but not least you can help yourself to a bowl of snail soup for which you get a hook to pull the snails out. Unfortunately or fortunately we didn’t try the snail soup, but the locals line up for it.

We didn’t always eat out, as we had a kitchen for the first week we had the pleasure of doing our own grocery shopping and cooking. The shopping itself is an experience and a half. You walk down a market street with your choice of fresh produce, spices and grains. If you want a chicken you pick the one behind the guy selling them and he then kills it and cuts it up for you. Talk about fresh, organic and tasty.