Tajine and Couscous and Tea, oh my
The cuisine in Morocco has been a major highlight. Living with a host family is a blessing, because I have the privilege of savoring and learning how to make authentic Moroccan cuisine. My host sister Ilham kindly wakes in the morning and cooks myself and the other student I”m living with breakfast. We are served Harira, mint tea (which is green tea imported from China with delicious mint & literal blocs of sugar), Khobz, and mini tajines with olive oil, butter and honey. Frozen dates and fekkas are usually on the table, as well. We are usually rushing to eat and our host sister will typically go back to bed after feeding us (she is very kind to wake just to make us food).
We are usually left for lunch on our own every day. There are many restaurants and cafes nearby the CLC but the variety is limited. Most of the cafes serve the same dishes: tajine, couscous, pasta, crepes, kebabs, sandwiches. The few I tried have been alright, but nothing special. The prices range from 20 dirham to 70 dirham which is about $2-$7. However, on Fridays we eat couscous. The couscous is prepared in large tajines and served communally. On top of a mound of couscous is meat (chicken, beef, or lamb) and an array of colorful veggies. Everyone sits in the salon around the couscous and is handed handfuls of bread as utensils (no plates). A cold glass of lebneh is a common compliment to the couscous. The communal eating is a great way to ensure the family is together for meals. It is also customary to eat only what is in front of you. One should not reach over the table or take a prime piece of meat on the far side of the dish.
Once home from our lectures or site visits, the host family would prepare “atay” and have some treats on the table. This was typically a one to two hour affair and was a relaxing way to cool down from the heat.
Dinners varied as much as each Moroccan family varied. My family had dinner ranging from 8 pm to 12:30 am. It all depended on what we did that evening and how hungry everyone was at the end of the day. The first night we ate around 10 pm and had a table full of fresh fish, bread, tomato and cucumber salad, dates, and watermelon. Another night we would have delicious chicken tajine. This was a dish of fresh vegetables, meat, and spices cooked in a clay pot over hot charcoal. Sometimes a simple meal would be a chicken pasta. While other times we were cooked potatoes, cucumber and tomato salad sardines, bread, and lots of fruit. It’s safe to say I was never left hungry in Morocco.
