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Tag Archives: tajine

Couscous Friday

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco, Observations

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

cooking together, couscous, couscousery, Friday, lamb, mail, moroccan cooking, Morocco, National Dish, semolina, sense of urgency, serving dish, tajine, tiny granules, tire store, vegetables

Friday in Morocco means one thing: couscous.

The national dish is made in households across Morocco every week and is greatly anticipated. Fridays are traditionally considered a holy day in Morocco and many businesses are closed for the day or afternoon – – or at the very least, a long, long break in the middle of the day for mosque (for the men). Life takes on a slower pace on Fridays. And at the same time there’s a sense of urgency about everything: “We better get to the bank before mosque. It’s Friday!” “We have to hurry to the tire store to get new tires this morning. It’s Friday!” “I couldn’t mail the package to you. It’s Friday.”

Couscous is the best part of Friday. It’s made in restaurants and at home and it seems everyone looks forward to it this week just as much as they did the last week. Moroccans seem to love their couscous even more than the ubiquitous tajine.

When eating couscous with my friend’s family last month, the family commented how long they’d had their couscous serving dish: 12 years. The 15-year old daughter commented that ‘it’s like my little sister!’

The process for couscous is not a small or quick task. Vegetables need to be cut and sliced to the correct sizes, meat (usually lamb) needs to cook until tender, and the couscous itself (semolina: tiny granules of durum wheat) requires a tender process of cooking and stirring – – almost kneading – – until it reaches its perfection. This requires pouring hot water over the grain and “stirring” it with your hands and then putting it back in the pot and repeating the process 15-20 minutes later, 5 or 6 times. It’s a hot, steamy business, this couscous-making.

Finally, the ingredients are all added together in specific order (meat in the middle of the dish itself, couscous all around, then vegetables added on top) and it’s brought to the table where everyone forms golf-ball sized clumps of the hot grain in the right hand and it’s popped into the mouth! Yum!

And the other thing about couscous: it uses a special pot called a ‘couscousery’ which I always say to the tune of “Chim Chiminey” from Mary Poppins. It makes me happy to say it. It’s a special pot system that resembles a steamer and a large pasta pot in my world. I’ve been taught to make this treat but it seems best when I make it in Morocco, with people filling the kitchen with noise and laughter; people I’m growing to love.

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Food, glorious Moroccan food!

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

culture, fes, fruit, market, Morocco, souk, souq, tagine, tajine

Before
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A decoration in an alleyway
A decoration in an alleyway
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Souk in Fes
Souk in Fes
Colorful munchies
Colorful munchies
Olives
Olives
Dried beef in fat! Mmm. My favorite on eggs
Dried beef in fat! Mmm. My favorite on eggs
Gooseberries in Fes
Gooseberries in Fes
Olives in Fes
Olives in Fes
Ice cream cones!
Ice cream cones!
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Market on side of road
Market on side of road
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Couscous Friday
Couscous Friday
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Baaa

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

barbecue, bread, brochette, cutlets, fez, food, lamb, Meknes, Moroccan salad, olive oil, olives, succulent meat, tajine

Lamb in tajine is amazing. Lamb brochette (skewered meat, barbecued) is fantastic. But the cutlets eaten today in a small town outside Meknes is something I will never forget. Ever. These cutlets are cut directly from the lamb that’s hanging on hooks right in front of you. So in other words, it’s fresh. The guy stands there with his big knife and cuts off what you desire. Then the butcher chops it all up for you in the cut you request. Then the waiter brings it by to show you before it’s barbecued. Then the Moroccan salad arrives along with some olives from the region (Meknes is famous for its olives and olive oil). All this along with bread to sop up extra juices along the way. As if all of this isn’t enough! Then the guy delivers the freshly cooked lamb and you think to yourself that there’s no way you’ll ever be able to eat that pile of just-meat. Especially after the salad and olives and the ubiquitous bread. But then you take the first bite of the crispy-fat and the succulent meat and you’re hooked. I can guarantee that. It is a flavor that I will not forget and that I’m afraid I am now hooked on and will crave. Forever.

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Have tajine, will travel!

23 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by seejanesblog in Morocco

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

food, moroccan cooking, tajine

It’s Memorial Day weekend coming up and I’m already packing my car for the long weekend – – and for the opening of my cabin. This year it’s different since I’m bringing a tajine along with all of my spices suitable for Moroccan cooking, including my recipe books and my Moroccan Arabic books. Usually I make tuna salad or broil steaks but this year the focus is on tajine and further perfecting my Moroccan cooking skills. And since it’s predicted to rain pretty much non-stop (and I’m not dreading that), I have plenty of time to read the recipe books and do some cooking in the tajine. I might even try my hand at baking some bread and making a Moroccan salad. Can’t wait. When I return to Morocco in September, I want to be proficient with my cooking skills to at least help make dinner at Mokhtar’s family’s home when we visit M’Hamid. We shall see…

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