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Wordful Wednesday: Whatever The Cost
“Immediately when you arrive in Sahara, for the first or the tenth time, you notice the stillness. An incredible, absolute silence prevails outside the towns; and within, even in busy places like the markets, there is a hushed quality in the air, as if the quiet were a conscious force which, resenting the intrusion of sound, minimizes and disperses sound straightway. Then there is the sky, compared to which all other skies seem fainthearted efforts. Solid and luminous, it is always the focal point of the landscape. At sunset, the precise, curved shadow of the earth rises into it swiftly from the horizon, cutting into light section and dark section. When all daylight is gone, and the space is thick with stars, it is still of an intense and burning blue, darkest directly overhead and paling toward the earth, so that the night never really goes dark.
You leave the gate of the fort or town behind, pass the camels lying outside, go up into the dunes, or out onto the hard, stony plain and stand awhile alone. Presently, you will either shiver and hurry back inside the walls, or you will go on standing there and let something very peculiar happens to you, something that everyone who lives there has undergone and which the French call ‘le bapteme de solitude.’ It is a unique sensation, and it has nothing to do with loneliness, for loneliness presupposes memory. Here in this wholly mineral landscape lighted by stars like flares, even memory disappears…A strange, and by no means pleasant, process of reintergration begins inside you, and you have the choice of fighting against it, and insisting on remaining the person you have always been, or letting it takes its course. For no one who has stayed in the Sahara for a while is quite the same as when he came.
…Perhaps the logical question to ask at this point is: Why go? The answer is that when a man has been there and undergone the baptism of solitude he can’t help himself. Once he has been under the spell of the vast luminous, silent country, no other places is quite strong enough for him, no other surroundings can provide the supremely satisfying sensation of existing in the midst of something that is absolute.
He will go back, whatever the cost in time or money, for the absolute has no price.”
― Paul Bowles, Their Heads are Green and Their Hands are Blue: Scenes from the Non-Christian World
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
One of my favorite go-to recipes for a quick dinner is chicken stir fry. We’ve been eating a lot of rice and while I normally would serve stir-fry with more rice it was time to change things up. There really is no “right” way to make these. The ingredients can be whatever you have on hand.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts cut into cubes
- mixed vegetables
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup nuts such as cashews
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1/2 c chicken broth
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 head of Bibb (Boston) lettuce washed and separated
Directions
1. Heat vegetable oil, ginger, salt, and garlic on medium heat in a large pan and add the cubed chicken.
2. Brown the chicken and when almost cooked through add the hoisin sauce and chicken broth.
3. Once the liquid heats up again, add the vegetables and cook everything until tender. Add the nuts last so that they keep a crunch.
4. Fill each lettuce leaf with the chicken filling and serve hot. This is also great the next day served cold.
Pin It Read More1920′s Morocco: The Great Depression
Although the Great Depression didn’t reverberate around the world until the very late 1920′s, this was not an easy decade in Morocco. In the first six years of the decade the Rif Wars raged between Berber nationalists and Spanish imperialists. Known as the Second Moroccan War these battles raged from 1920-1926. By 1924 the French also got involved to put down the rebellion. Several thousand Moroccans, Spanish and French lost their lives and in the end the the Rifian forces gave up due to the superior technology and manpower of the foreign forces.
Moroccans during this decade lived virtually the same as they had for the decades previous. While the French and Spanish built up the country, they did so to better lives for themselves with little concern given to native Moroccans. Estimates state that the French living in the country were making 8x’s the amount of money as a Moroccan. It was also during this time that wealthy Europeans and even Americans began to visit North Africa as the “exotic” Africa.
In 1925 the Marriage of King Mohammed 5 took place. This vintage video shows some of the ceremony.
This next video is a newsreel from the 1930′s. It is classic orientalist narration which is a bit hard to listen to. All of the 1920′s footage is without sound so I’m sharing this one. Around the 4 minute mark they show the “native quarter”. I enjoy the peek into the past but didn’t enjoy the narrator!
Now my very favorite video find while doing research was this Great Depression Cooking video. I know the recipe is from Tunisia but it’s not far removed from the Moroccan version and I love the story 94 year old Clara tells about her father! I’d imagine that this dish is something that might have been on a table in the 1920′s in Morocco. It’s only vegetables and couscous, simple and low cost ingredients.
Wordless Wednesday: Painting A Car
What’s better than letting a 5 year old paint a car? Nothing!
Read MoreThe Gluten Free Bread That Made MarocBaba Smile Again
from Go, Eat, Give
This is a scene from a hanut or corner store in Morocco. Hanuts are everywhere, in fact it’s nearly impossible to go more than 2 blocks without coming across one. They sell all types of things but most importantly they sell bread. See the counter lined with breads? I can count at least seven different kinds. Of all the elements of Moroccan food bread is the most important. It’s cheap (1 -2 dirham a loaf or about 40 cents) and it’s used both as a means of filling up and as a utensil. Bread is eaten three times and a day and even more.
MarocBaba grew so attached to bread growing up that he physically can not eat a meal without bread. What I used to think was just a preference to have bread with a meal I’ve come to realize is much much more. He just told me a story from growing up about bread. Whenever he (or anyone else) would drop a piece of bread on the floor or if it went too stale to eat they would first kiss it before discarding it. Even then the bread goes into a special bag with the garbage because it’s fed to animals. That’s some serious starch love.
So when we found out a few months ago he had celiac disease the first thought that came into both of our heads was “but what about the bread?” I’ve spent months trying to make a good gluten free bread that is similar to Moroccan khobz and while some of them have been ok none of them have been great. I’ve gone through lots of different flours, learning how they all work, which ones absorb water quickly, which bind better, which taste like chalk (ew chickpea flour is not my favorite!) and which have a nicer taste. Then a few weeks ago I gave up. I started buying gluten free sliced bread from the store and while it was expensive I just had enough.
This weekend I was ready to give it one more chance so I turned to a resource I knew I could trust. Shauna at Gluten Free Girl. I knew she had to have a good bread recipe and sure enough she did!
The recipe is for a Gluten-Free Crusty Boule and actually comes from the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day. Shauna and her husband helped the authors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë Francois with the gluten-free recipes and share this one on the Gluten Free Girl website. The best part is that in comparison to other gluten-free breads I’ve made, this one is really easy. I followed the recipes exactly but omitted the add-ins. It was amazing. After tasting it my kids said,
“are you sure this is gluten-free bread? I don’t think it is. It tastes like real bread. “
It’s gluten-free bread and it’s good.
Shauna and Danny thank you for bringing this to life on your site and for giving my Moroccan husband a little bit of his homeland back. I know he’s forever thankful (and so am I!)
Egg and Ground Meat Tagine {Kefta Mkawra}
If you have been a long time reader here you may be noticing some recipes that I posted a very long time ago are reappearing. I have been doing my best to better document ingredients, measurements and tips and tricks of some of these favorite dishes. I have also been retaking the images. I hope you’ll agree with me that my pictures have improved and include more step by step images. Just in case you forgot how bad they were I’m putting the picture I originally posted with this recipe at the end of this post.
This recipe is one that I used to make very often because it is easy to do and doesn’t take long to cook. But as we’ve cut back on red meat, and almost cut it out completely, I hadn’t made it in a long time. Instead of ground beef, which is traditionally used, I substitute ground turkey or ground chicken. Any ground meat will work so feel free to experiment or use what you have on hand.
Using 1 pound of ground meat mix in 1 tbsp crushed garlic, 1/2 onion diced finely, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp mild paprika and a small handful of chopped Italian parsley. Mix well with your hand to combine all of the ingredients. Roll into small balls slightly larger than a grape.
In your tagine add 2-3 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 onion minced finely. Place the tagine on the stovetop on medium heat, using a diffuser if you have an electric range. While this is heating up grate the insides of 3 large hothouse tomatoes (or a similar variety) into a bowl and discarding the skins. Mix into this 1 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp spicy paprika (sudaniya in Morocco), 2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chopped Italian parsley and 1 tsp garlic crushed. Pour this into the pre-heated tagine.
Arrange the meatballs in the tagine so that they each have a little space to soak up the sauce. If you have more meatballs than space in the tagine reserve them for another dish. You do want to make sure there is enough room for some sauce to remain. Cover the tagine and continue to cook on low to medium heat. Check after 30 minutes. Once the meatballs are cooked through, crack 3 eggs and place on top of the meatballs and sauce. Cover the tagine again so that the eggs can cook through. Some people like the eggs to be steamed just until they are set but the yolk still is runny, however I cook mine until the yolk is hard. Eat by scooping up bites with crusty bread.
Here’s the link to my original post of this and the picture I spoke of…
Oh and one more thing before I go….it’s launch day!!!
Today I’m launching MarocMama on the Road all about travel and MarocMama at Home about everything else! I hope that if either of those topics interest you, you will join me there and I also hope you will stick with me here too. There are a lot of other great things coming in the next few months as well – it’s going to be a great time!
1910′s Morocco: The Protectorate
If there is one European power who has made an indelible mark on Morocco it is France. Beginning in the 15th century the Portuguese invaded and controlled the Atlantic coast but made no inroads to the country. As early as the 1830′s France expressed and began exercising interests in Morocco. Throughout the 19th century European powers such as Germany, Spain and Portugal all expressed some degree of power in the nation however it was France who ultimately gained a “sphere of influence” that was recognized. By 1906 special policing of the nation was entrusted to France and Spain. There was increasing tension between the European powers throughout the early 20th century culminating in the signing of the Treaty of Fez in 1912 making Morocco a protectorate of France. Morocco was never fully a colony of France as was neighboring Algeria or Tunisia. It was still a sovereign state, the sultan reigned but he had little to do with the ruling of the country. Through this same treaty Spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern and southern zones of the country. Spain was given control of pieces of Morocco in the far north as Tetouan and South to Cape Juby. Tangier received special international status.
Once the protectorate was in place French settlers began to establish themselves in line with the French rulers to create a strong French alliance in the country. While the French pacified native Moroccans they promoted things such as economic development, urban planning and the building of roads and the infamous French boulevards, creation of a railway system and a modern agriculture sector geared to the French market. Thousands of French emigres entered Morocco and bought up agricultural lands pushing out native Moroccans.
The legal, governmental and education systems began transitioning to use of the French language. This in turn disenfranchised the majority of Moroccans who were not of the elite class. Many facets of life would soon “French-ified”, including food.
Walk around any city in Morocco and stop in a cafe serving food and you will most like see “le petit déjeuner” or breakfast on the menu. This is a quick meal usually consisting of some type of bread, croissant or pain au chocolate. This breakfast is often eaten in Moroccan homes as well. Second only to round loaves of khobz bread is the baguette a staple Moroccan starch.
Lunch in France is an affair, traditionally the larger meal of the day lasting between 1 and 2 hours. This is not only a French phenomenon but the countries that were once under French control still maintain this tradition today.
Dinners do look a bit different though in both French and Moroccan homes a salad or two will be served with a main course. Bread is also a staple for the meal. Dessert in both instances will most likely be fresh fruit. Meals in both countries tend to be much later in the evening than in the US.
Cooking techniques
I really don’t have a way to verify that any of these are directly related to French influence I only found them to be very similar in nature. This could be just tradition or they could play off of each other. I think that each cooking tradition is bound in the tradition of hearty peasant food.
- In both countries there is attention paid to knife skills. A Moroccan cook pays attention to the size of her dice for salads, making sure that everything is uniform. The same can be said for France.
- Vegetables are the star not meats unless it is a special dish.
- Herbs and spices are mixed to enhance the flavor of food.
- One pot dishes reign supreme in homes. For the French the cassoulet and in Morocco the tajine are the method of choice for many home cooks.
- Pastries. French pastries are beautiful and traditionally made in small sizes. In Morocco this attention to detail and focus on creating bite-size sweets exists however the ingredients used are more reminiscent of Arabic cuisine.
Some of my favorite French/Moroccan recipes include;
Tartine with Honey Creme, Goat Cheese and Za’atar
Semolina Honey Cake (the semolina and honey reminder me of Morocco)
Traditional Moroccan Bread
Now it’s your turn! What are some of your favorite Moroccan recipes with a French connection? Or, a favorite historical bit about Morocco from 1900-1919? Leave a comment below!
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Beggar’s Linguine and an OXO {Giveaway}
For a long time I’ve been battling recipes that have weight measurements instead of volume measurements. I just couldn’t get myself to buy a kitchen scale but as we’ve moved to a largely gluten-free home it’s become a necessity. So many gluten-free baking recipes call for a weight measurement and while I can estimate what the conversion is in volume somehow it just doesn’t turn out right. Recently OXO put up their kitchen scale to bloggers interested in trying it out. I knew that it was my perfect opportunity! But as fate would have it when I went to make a photograph a gluten-free bread recipe using the scale I realized I was out of several of the flours I needed. Isn’t that life? Instead I went with a different recipe that has intrigued me for months.
One of my favorite cookbooks from last year was Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
It’s a heavy book, beautifully photographed and full of delicious recipes. There is one recipe for Beggar’s Linguine that has piqued my interest but I always brushed aside because I just knew MarocBaba wouldn’t like it, let alone like it.
I was wrong.
I changed some of the ingredients and swapped out regular linguine for gluten-free rice noodles but it was still very good.
The base of the recipe is a mixture of nuts and dried fruits. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly so this is my version of it. For the nuts I added pistachios and almonds chopped coarsely – about 1.5-2 oz of each.
I then used 4oz of noodles (this was for 2 people). I also added in a handful of pitted dates chopped roughly.
In a large skillet I melted 3 tbsp of good quality butter on medium heat. The rice noodles don’t actually boil but soak in very hot water for a few minutes. Once they are ready, drain the water and add to the melted butter. Toss in the nuts and fruit mix-ins and season with salt and pepper. You could also add garlic, chopped onions or other seasonings.
It is done when everything is mixed together well and heats up – about 5 minutes total. Serve on plates with a generous dusting of parmesan or another salty cheese. Make sure to serve hot!
I really love my new OXO scale and I think you would like one too – so I’ve got one to give away!!! Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter widget to be eligible to win. Contest ends 04/05/12. Giveaway is open to US residents only.
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