(Fig. 1: Ancient Moroccan city, photo from G Adventures)
I have always been obsessed with the idea of travel. Ever since I was young, I have loved visiting different places, and seeing the what the world had to offer. Recently, I also developed a love for cooking and for different types of food. So now whenever I travel, I love tasting and experiencing each cultures different foods, even if it’s just another State in the U.S.. In this blog I am going to explore and travel the world by the food. I hope to talk about countries that I have been too, and countries that I want to go to.
One of the first countries foods other than America that I tasted was the savory food of Morocco. Both of my parents served in Morocco with the Peace Corp (that’s where they met) for around 2 years. With this time spent, they brought many different Moroccan dishes with them. As a picky child, I enjoyed some of the meals they cooked, but others I hated. Other the years, two dishes stand out as being particularly good.
However, before I get to those dishes, I would like to discuss what makes Moroccan food so distinctive. I think what makes the food so special is the spices that are used. Having made some Moroccan dishes, the amount of spices that go into them sometimes boggles my mind. The most common of these spices are cumin, pepper, salt, cinnamon, turmeric, paprika, and ginger. Other spices that are used include mace, cloves, saffron, cardamom, and many more. All these spices combine to make an amazing combination of savory flavors that explode in your mouth. Moroccans also eat lots of fruit, both in their dishes and just plain. They eat fruits like figs, dates, olives, apricots, and prunes. These sweet flavors are sometimes incorporated into the main dishes, but often times are used in desserts.
(Fig. 2: Moroccan Spices, photo from Moraccanviews)
Religion is a big deal in Morocco, and therefore, food is often shaped around religion. Islam is the dominant religion in the country, and is the official state religion. Almost no traditional Moroccan meal has pork in it, and all of the food is Halal. Also meals are sometimes ceremonious, like couscous being served on Friday, the day of Prayer. Bread is also sacred in Morocco. If a piece is dropped on the ground, then it must be picked up, and it is forbidden to throw away bread. Families will either give their leftover bread to livestock, or they will keep it and give it to the poor.
(Fig. 3: Chicken Tagine, photo from ethnicspoon)
Now, onto my two favorite Moroccan dishes, the first of which is tagine. Tagine is a thick stew that consists of a combination of meats, herbs, spices, vegetables, and fruits. All of these flavors combine to make an amazing filling dish. A tagine can be vegetarian, but most contain meets like chicken, lamb, fish, beef, and mutton. It also has vegetables like potatoes and carrots, as well as fruits like dates, prunes, lemons, and olives. A person making tagine can mix and match what types of fruits, vegetables, and meats they put in the dish but the spices almost always stay the same. The spices (cumin, turmeric, pepper, salt, cinnamon, ginger, paprika) combine together and make the meals flavor incredible. Even writing about it now is making my mouth water. All of the ingredients of a tagine are put together into a conical clay dish called a majmar, and stewed for hours. A majmar is not necessary, but something about it makes the meal tastier.
(Fig. 4: Vegetarian Couscous, photo from jeanieandluluskitchen)
The second meal is couscous, and it is incredibly versatile. I like to compare it to pasta in Italy, as it is a staple food. You can simply prepare a pot of just couscous and enjoy that, or go all out and make an incredible meal with it. My family primarily makes a chicken couscous, and it consists of chicken (of course), carrots, onions, peas, raisins, olives, dates, and prunes, as well as spices. These ingredients are then stewed and served on top of couscous. We do not eat ours the traditional way, which consists of rolling the couscous into small balls, and eating them.
If you have not had moroccan food yet, then I highly recommend it. You will be surprised by its intense and awesome flavors.
I think you really develop your topic by connecting your love for cooking and traveling together so that it is interesting and informative. In your next blogs I would love for you to go maybe more into detail about where you have travelled but also what made you fall in love with the concept of cooking in general. It always amazes me how much other countries value food compared to the U.S. In this country we accumiate millions of tons of food waste every year. I really value that countires like Morocco not only view food religiously, but they strive to never waste and always making use of leftovers. I enjoyed your link to the recipe for the Tagine (if only I could attempt to make it in my microwave). I like how you incorporated the vegetarian option as well, showing that even a meatless dish can be packed with spice and flavor. Overall I like how you encorporated all aspects of culture, religion, and cooking style.