An introduction to Moroccan Cooking

If Moroccan cuisine is an art, the colours on the palette are the spices: cumin, turmeric, paprika, black pepper, ginger and cinnamon – all freshly ground - and lots of fresh coriander. If you are going to attempt to cook Moroccan food you will also need to keep a good stock of fresh tomatoes, onions, green and black olives, lemons and olive oil.

Moroccans use fresh lemons when they are available and preserved in salt or oil when they are not. In the countryside all Moroccan housewives preserve their own lemons and olives but they are also available in the souks all year round. Fresh fruit and vegetables are also plentiful in the souks, but are very seasonal, one month you will find mountains of fresh peas, the next it will be cabbage and so the simple tajine comes in an almost infinite variety of combinations of meat, veg and spice.

The traditional Moroccan kitchen is fairly basic – you will not find acres of clear worktop with drawers and cupboards full of equipment and tools. Moroccan cooking has, I suppose, evolved from a nomadic lifestyle – mostly prepared by hand with one knife, cooked in one pot and then, if possible, eaten from the same pot.

Because Moroccan is not a written language, the typical Moroccan housewife does not follow recipe books, but cooks from memory what she has learnt from her mother and aunts ... and mother-in-law. She adds a handful of this, a drop of that – nothing carefully measured. Everyone has their own variation on the classic dishes and makes the best of whatever is in season.

So here is a quick recipe that combines the flavours and colours of Morocco quite beautifully and simply.

Moroccan Salad

3 firm ripe tomatoes – peeled, seeded and chopped into half cm dice (though you can leave the peel on and seeds in if you want)

1 small onion – finely chopped

1 fresh green pepper – seeded and chopped (or you could use cucumber)

A handful of fresh coriander – finely chopped

Good teaspoon of freshly ground cumin

1 tablespoon of cider vinegar or lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients and leave to settle in the fridge.

You can serve as a starter (on some crisp lettuce leaves with a few black olives for garnish) or as a side salad - it goes really nicely with grilled meat and fresh bread.

Getting from a to b – Part 1

In Marrakesh, as in the rest of Morocco, there are multiple choice taxis.

The Grand Taxis are for use outside of the city (or from the airport). They are usually cream coloured Mercedes with their number and home town painted on the door. Moroccan’s use them like small buses for longer trips between cities, cramming 6 to a taxi (4 in the back and two on the front passenger seat). Each seat is sold at a standard price and you just turn up at the taxi station and wait for the taxi to fill up (hopefully with 5 skinny people). If you are in a hurry or would prefer more space you can pay for 2 or more seats. You can also book the whole taxi. The fare to Agadir in the south is currently 120dh so you should expect to pay around 720dh. If you are a tourist you could also just hire a grand taxi through your hotel. You will get a newer plusher model, but you can expect to pay anywhere from 900 to 1500 dirham. Remember that price is always negotiable.

For around town you have the “petit taxi” usually a Peugeot 205 or similar small hatchback, which are licensed to take 3 passengers only. In Marrakesh they are yellow, but the colour varies from city to city. These taxis all have a meter, but it is a good idea to make sure that they know you want the meter or “control” switched on for your journey, otherwise you should negotiate price before you get in. Some Petit Taxis also run like buses on a predefined route. You can get in or out anywhere along that route but always pay the same fare - in the region of 3 or 4 dirham per person. Once you get to know your neighbourhood you will soon work out where the Petit Taxis run and where the terminus is.

Travelling round Marrakesh in a petit taxi as they dodge in and out of the rest of the traffic (pedestrians, donkeys, cars, taxis, mopeds and trucks) heading down impossibly narrow streets at breakneck speed, is probably as much excitement as you will need for a day. When they recently ran the first Marrakesh Grand Prix, I half expected a petit taxi to win!

Luckily in Marrakesh you also have the option of the horse drawn Caleche. Nothing could be nicer than a gentle trot round the medina walls as the evening brings some cooler air. You can rest assured that the wellbeing of the horses is monitored closely by SPANA (a charity set up to ensure the welfare of horses and donkeys) and they are environmentally friendly – with their own horse drawn pooper catchers. The rates are posted in the carriage – usually somewhere under 100 dh per hour. As always - discuss what you can expect to pay with the driver before you get in.

Getting from a to b Part 2

Be warned - road traffic accidents account for an average of 10 fatalities a day in Morocco (figures from 2000). This must make travelling by road the most dangerous thing you can do in Morocco.

You can put this down to 3 things:

• in Morocco you can more or less buy your driving license and MOT
• bicycles, motorbikes, cars, buses, lorries... donkeys - all tend to be overloaded
• a generally fatalistic approach to life

The speed limit on motorways is 120km per hour, on other main roads it will vary between 80 and 100, dropping to 60 as you go through towns. There are a lot of police checkpoints along the road, so don’t even dream about speeding. If you do get stopped you need to have all of your papers handy (car insurance and grey card and your driving licence and passport or ID). A lot of policemen will just wave you on when they spot you are a foreigner. If not you may be lucky and get away with offering to pay an on the spot “fine”, otherwise your papers will be taken to the nearest police station and you will have to go along and pay the 400 dirham fixed penalty (unless it is something more serious).

All in all, Moroccan’s have a fairly relaxed attitude to traffic law. There is a joke that sums it up.

Policeman to Motorist “Did you not see that the light was red?”

Motorist “Yes, of course”

Policeman “So why didn’t you stop?”

Motorist “Well, I didn’t see you”

nb that was a Moroccan joke

Even if there is a policeman in view, don’t expect any lane discipline. At traffic lights especially they squeeze 4 abreast and inch forward in their impatience to get through - and then have to wait for someone behind to sound their horn as they are so far forward they can no longer see when the lights change.

Moroccan drivers also use their horn when they pass anything. This is not an aggressive “get out of the way” toot, but is intended to be helpful. They assume that you, like most Moroccan’s will not follow “mirror signal manoeuvre”, and will probably not look over your shoulder or even look in your rear view mirror before pulling out or turning. It is all fairly good natured – you will not see much in the way of road rage or aggressive driving in Morocco.

Once you get out of the cities, the main roads are remarkably good and traffic free. So if you drive sensibly and always bear in mind that the other drivers on the road are Moroccan, you will probably be OK - despite what the statistics say.

An Introduction to Eating

In Morocco eating is something that is taken very seriously and this has resulted in a rich tradition of delicious food. If you are lucky enough to be invited to eat with a Moroccan family you are in for a lovely experience... but there are a few things to remember. The most important is not to wear anything too tight. You will be encouraged to eat till you pop so try and remember to pace yourself! It is also a good idea to remember that you will probably be sitting on low chairs or even cushions on the floor so for ladies, mini-skirts and low cut tops are going to be more revealing than you intended and should probably be avoided.

On arrival (remembering to slip off your shoes as you enter the carpeted room) you will be offered mint tea and little cakes or biscuits.

Before you eat you wash your hands. A splendid kettle of warm water is carried round, usually by a younger member of the household, and as you hold out your hands over an equally splendid basin they will pour a stream of water for you to wash in. This is repeated at the end of the meal and sometimes between courses.

You can expect to be served salad followed by tajine followed by couscous followed by a mountain of fresh fruit. The tajine and couscous will be served in a large communal bowl in the centre of the table. Although you can hold your bread in your left hand you must remember to eat only with your right. You can scoop up the tajine using small pieces of bread, but couscous is much trickier. With luck you will be given a spoon while the more skilful roll a small handful into a ball and pop it into their mouth. You eat only the food in front of you and remember to leave the meat till last. Although no one will say anything, it is really bad form to reach over the table and scoop that succulent bit of carrot from in front of someone else. In all likelihood your host will keep pushing tender morsels over to you and “La Shukran... Baraka... Saffi”* will probably be some of the most used words in your Arabic vocabulary.

It is quite OK, and probably wise, to leave soon after eating, if you stay too long your hosts will feed you again (even though you feel as if you don’t need to eat for another week). As you try to leave your host will hold you by the hand and beg you to stay for another meal, the night, a week.... So be prepared, have a good excuse ready and remember the incredibly useful phrase “Inshallah” is an acceptable response when you are asked to come back soon.

*no thank you... enough... really enough

Marrakesh, the Red City, pearl of the south, ancient and exotic.

Marrakesh was founded in the 11^th century to profit from its position on a high plain in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains. A welcome stopping off point for traders at the northern end of the Salt Route from Timbuktu, Marrakesh became the capital city for the fabulously wealthy Almoravid dynasty (the Moors who defeated El Cid). And, after nearly a millennium, it is still a vibrant centre for trade and for travellers.

Marrakesh has the beating heart of a great city and it is in the heart that it takes you. I first came to Marrakesh four years ago, just for a short Christmas break and fell in love almost as soon as my feet touched the ground. We spent the customary few days wondering around the souks and palaces, and joining the evening crowds in the Djema el Fna. One morning we found ourselves accompanied by a man who asked us if we would like to look at carpets. I replied that “I would rather look at houses”, partly in the hope that this would deflect him and partly because the idea of living here had been growing in me. Of course this was not a problem and, after looking at carpets, we looked at houses. To cut a long story short (and you will hear the long story eventually), within a year I found myself owning a house in the medina of Marrakesh.

Marrakesh is like Morocco, ancient and alive, exciting, bewildering, old, ugly and beautiful..... and very likely to cast a spell on you. If you need to be in control, for things to happen at the appointed time, if you would rather that things went smoothly or not at all – then Morocco is not for you. But if you still get a thrill from the unexpected and the beautiful, can laugh when you stumble and still have curiosity about what is round the next corner, then maybe Morocco will delight you. There is no point struggling to keep your head – just surrender. You will get lost, you will buy something that you don’t really need and you will probably pay more than you could have.... but you might as well just accept that and enjoy the experience. In time you will get wiser, you will learn to navigate the narrow twisting streets of the souks and you will get to know the price of things as well as their value. I hope that this blog will help you in that process.