Maroc Mama – Tastes, sights, smells and peeks from the kitchen of an American wife living in a Moroccan home.

Maroc Mama

Here is a look at why this blog was nominated for the 2011 Bombies.

Roast chicken’s and I have a mixed relationship. I like them but I don’t like dealing with them. I will never forget my first experience with a whole chicken. It also began my entry into the world of exploring where my food actually came from. Before I went to Morocco I had never touched raw meat. Ok maybe I did one or two times, but I am more than certain I had never cleaned or touched a whole raw chicken. One day my husband decided we should have a few of his friends over for dinner and could I cook?

Not wanting to appear completely incompetent domestically I agreed. We went shopping in the afternoon to the market stalls, not the grocery store. This should have been one of my first clues that things were going to go downhill. When we got to the chicken man, he proudly held up two chickens for me to pick from. I am pretty sure that my jaw dropped to my feet. I closed my eyes and pointed at one. In a few seconds I heard a THUD and then a lot of scratching and kicking. I had to walk away before I threw up. This was followed by “do you want that cleaned?” Uhh yes. In about 10 minutes I was handed a warm chicken in a plastic bag. Taaa daaa! We walked home and I went in the kitchen to look at the chicken. It was still warm. I now was facing down a dead, warm, raw chicken. I couldn’t even call my mom to figure out what to do next. My husband was baffled as I tried to explain just how different this experience was from what I was used to.

To nominate a blog for the Best of Morocco Blogs, just make sure it fits the criteria at this post and then let us know about it!

Cafe Clock – A Fez cultural zone, featuring recipes, cultural events, news and everything Fez.

Cafe Clock

http://cafeclock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/King-Mohammed-IV-300×225.jpg

Here is a look at why this blog was nominated for the 2011 Bombies.

Each year, Moroccans comemmorate the exile of Mohammed V on 20th August and then, on 21st August, the birthday of his Grandson, the current King Mohammed VI.

Ten years and one day after his Grandfather, Sultan (later King) Mohammed V, was sent into exile (only to return triumphant), Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan was born, the eldest son of King Hassan II of Morocco.

Mohammed VI was born on 21st August 1963 and succeeded his father on 23rd July 1999.

On Saturday, 21st August 2010, HM King Mohammed VI celebrates with his people his 47th birthday.

To nominate a blog for the Best of Morocco Blogs, just make sure it fits the criteria at this post and then let us know about it!

Sousoukitchen – The best of Moroccan and International recipes.

Sousou Kitchen

Here is a look at why this blog was nominated for the 2011 Bombies.

I post you the photos today that I received from some of my dear visitors, I thank you for this trust for having tried my recipes, I encourage others to test my recipes and to send me photos which.

Chocolate Cupcake:
Here are some chocolate cupcakes that my daughter helped me with , they are very simple to make. I assure you that it is a lot of fun to let the children make them.

Rziza Handmade by My mother:
Here is Rziza from my mother that most of you have been awaiting, Rziza prepared by the machine, that I posted you recently, you will find it HERE. We eat Rziza with some honey or we cut it in…

Happy El Eid !!
After presenting you the recipe of Rziza of my mother, allow me to share with you this tagine of meat and cardoons, prepared in Morocco. It is my mother who cleaned cardoons.

Stuffed Dates:
Here is a simple way to eating dates especially during this month of Ramadan, stuffed with almonds and walnuts, if you do not want to add colors, leave it natural.

To nominate a blog for the Best of Morocco Blogs, just make sure it fits the criteria at this post and then let us know about it!

My mother is called Hajja Souad. She was born in Rabat and the young fishermen used to call her the Princess of the Sea. She was there every day even in the winter and she made a recipe that the family named after her because she loved to pick oysters. She still makes this dish and we all still call it:

Princess of the Sea.

Ingredients:
* oysters
* red pepper, cumin, salt
* garlic
* parsley and cilantro
* olive oil
* lemon juice
* 1/2 cup of water

First put the oil in a tajine and then add salt, red pepper, cumin, garlic, parsley, cilantro, and put it on low heat on the fire. After a few minutes add the oysters and water. Next put the tajine on the fire for around 20 minutes to cook. Finally pour the juice of the lemon over the whole thing and enjoy the Princess of the Sea Tajine.

Lalla Oumkeltoum is my grand-mother, she’s 60 years old and she was born in Fez. When she was a girl she loved to make cookies and cakes for her family. In fact, she still does. This is the recipe her mother taught her:

Lalla Oumkeltoum’s Cookies
Ingredients:
* 4 eggs
* 1 kg of flour
* 2 cups of sugar
* 1/2 cup of oil
* molten butter
* bag of vanilla
* chocolate

First add the chocolate, eggs, sugar, vanilla into a bowl and beat them until smooth. Next add the oil and butter. After that add in the flour little by little. Let it rest for two hours and then make small round cookes and cook for 30 minutes. Finally, decorate with chocolate.

On every Friday my grandmother receives her close relations and has tea together with the family. She serves these cookies with the tea and has been doing this since she was young. She has always been known as a woman with refined dishes, wonderful cakes, and food everyone loves to taste. – Ghali B.

For more great recipes check out
The Moroccan Cookbook.

Lalla Zina is my grandmother. She’s 70 years old and she was born and grew up in Fes. She is a true Fassi woman. When she married my grandfather she was just 17 years old. She used to go to her cousins houses and they would all cook and make recipes together. This is her favorite Fassi recipe.

Lalla Zina would make this for her cousins and brothers when they would have parties. She says when they got thirsty she would make them simple green teas. Our whole family loves it when she makes this for us. ~ Salma B.

Lalla Zina’s Fassi Couscous
Ingredients:
* 1 cup couscous
* 1.5 pounds of tofu
* 1 onion
* 1 cup of potatoes
* 1 cup of carrots
* 1 cup of mushrooms
* 1 cup of celery
* 1/2 cup of walnuts
* 1 can of chickpeas
* 1 can of tomato sauce
* 1/2 cup of raisons
* 1 1/2 cups of water
* 2 teaspoons of curry powder
* 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
* 1 tsp of paprika
* 1 teaspoon of salt

Preparation:
First, in a large pan, brown the tofu, onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and nuts. Then add the remaining ingredients, bring it to a boil, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Next boil 1 1/2 cups of water with 2 tbsp of oil. AFter that, add couscous, stir, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Finally serve the vegetables over the steaming couscous.

My mother was born in 1969 in the town of Bhalil not far from Fes. She grew up there. When she was a young girl, she was a good student and in her free time she helped her mother at home, like all good Moroccan girls do. Her mother taught her traditional recipes from the Berber culture that are so delicious. This is one of them.

Pigeons with Sauce
Sauce Ingredients:
* 4 pigeons
* 2 onions
* 2 heads of garlic
* parsley’
* cilantro
* salt
* pepper
* ginger
* saffron
* red pepper
* small cup of vegetable oil

Bread ingredients:
* 1 kg of flour
* tsp of salt
* 1/3 litre of water

To make this meal first slice the onions and put them in the bottom of a pressure cooker. Next put the four pigeons in (clean them first though!) Then chop up the garlic. After that add the salt, pepper, ginger, red pepper, and a small pinch of saffron. Finally add the oil and seal the pressure cooker. Cook for 35 minutes.

While that cooks you can make the breadd. Add the flour, salt, and water together mix well and bake in a very think pan until brown on the top.

To serve break the bread into four pieces. Arrange them on the plate. Put the pigeons in the middle and pour the sauce and onions over the top. This is a traditional Berber dish reserved just for VIPs.

My mother likes to make this in summer when the wheat is fresh and the pigeons are young.

]]> http://moroccoblogs.com/moroccan-family-recipes-3-pigeons-with-sauce/feed/ 0 http://moroccoblogs.com/moroccan-family-recipes-2-grandmas-grilled-fish/ http://moroccoblogs.com/moroccan-family-recipes-2-grandmas-grilled-fish/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:03:02 +0000 admin http://moroccoblogs.com/?p=1075 If you have a Moroccan Family Recipe you’d like to share send it to reviews@moroccoblogs.com

Mrs. Fatiha is my grandmother. She was born and grew up in Fes and she is about 80 years old. She maried my grandfather when she was just 15 years old. At that time she used to go camping with her cousins and friends at the beach and she liked to cook this recipe for them.

Moroccan Grilled Fish
Ingredients:

* 1 kg of fish
* salt
* potatoes
* carrots
* lemon to remove the smell
* pepper

First wash the fish well and cut the carrots and potatoes up. Mix the salt, lemon, and pepper and put the mixture inside the fish. Put the fish, potatoes, and carrots on the grill over hot coals. The fish is ready in just 15 minutes and so delcious. It’s a simple dish but you really have to try it.

]]> http://moroccoblogs.com/moroccan-family-recipes-2-grandmas-grilled-fish/feed/ 1 http://moroccoblogs.com/moroccan-family-recipes-1-meat-with-black-prune/ http://moroccoblogs.com/moroccan-family-recipes-1-meat-with-black-prune/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:38:37 +0000 admin http://moroccoblogs.com/?p=1072 Zineb I. sends us this recipe for our Moroccan Family Recipes Series. If you have a great family recipe you’d like to share with readers at MoroccoBlogs.com just send it to reviews@moroccoblogs.com

Idrissi Mohammde is my father. He is 60 years old. He was born in Fez and grew up there. When he married my mother he was 24 years old. After a few years they moved to Holland. He’s both a traditional and a modern man, but he thinks that life has changed a lot. When he was in Holland he used to work as a Chef. Hu used to make international food but his favorite dish was Moroccan.

My father used to work in a famous restaurant in Holland. One day he received an invitation from a TV show to show them how to make a Moroccan recipe. He went and demonstrated his favorite dish on TV. It was so delicious and all the people tried it. After a week, a supermarket in Amsterdam was selling magazines with my father and his recipe in them and from then on they started to call him Mr. Prune.

The Meat With Black Prunes
Ingredients:
2 kg of beef
3 onions
a bundle of parsley and a bundle of coriander
2 scrubbed garlic
tsp of ginger, saffron, salt, and pepper
1 kg of prunes
100 g sesames
honey
cinnamon

First wash all the meat, coriander, parsley and onion. Next put the meat in a pressure cooker, cut the onion on it and add the coriander and parsley to the meat. After that add two scrubbed garlic with a pinch of saffron, ginger, pepper, salt, and close the pressure cooker, put it on the fire and wait for 25 -30 minutes.

Put the prunes in a pot of water and let simmer for 15 minutes.

After the 30 minutes, the meat is half cooked so take the prunes and add them to the meat. Then add the honey, cinnamon, and close the pressure cooker for another 15 minutes. Finally put all the meat and prunes on a dish, add the sesame seeds to decorate it and enjoy.

]]> http://moroccoblogs.com/moroccan-family-recipes-1-meat-with-black-prune/feed/ 1 http://moroccoblogs.com/morocco-travel-tips-from-fez-alc-students-10/ http://moroccoblogs.com/morocco-travel-tips-from-fez-alc-students-10/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:29:20 +0000 admin http://moroccoblogs.com/?p=1055 My class at the American Language Center in Fes was terribly excited to have the opportunity to present travel advice to potential visitors of their city. Once again, I gave them the choice of me posting their work to MoroccoBlogs.com or Vagobond.com and they overwhelmingly chose Morocco Blogs. It seems that the students and many of their families already know and like this site and so this is where they want their work to be seen.

This series will showcase their advice to visitors of their city in Fes, Morocco. All work is published with the permission and consent of the authors.

Of course, not all of them had wonderful things to say….

Dear Visitor,

I’m very happy you are going to visit Fez. As you know, it is the oldest city in Morocco and one of the fourth biggest cities here. It’s a wonderful place and you have to visit the old Medina. It’s an interesting sight to see.

Take pictures of this exciting place and the nice people who live here. Of course, you should visit the many great Moroccan restaurants if you want to try great Moroccan food like bastila, couscous, tajine, rfissa, and harira. They are very delicious.

You don’t need to bring a lot of cash with you because everything is cheap here. There isn’t enough public transportation in Fes so you are probably going to walk a lot. You might also want to bring a gun or a knife because there are really a lot of thieves.

When you finish your visit to Fez, I hope you will tell me how you found it. Then, maybe I can come visit you in your country or city. Have a nice trip.

Mehdi
15 years old

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