I was going to wait to blog until I could add pictures, but my camera is broken so I have to wait until I can upload pix from annette's camera. So I will just add them later.
Marrakesh is the first city we got to in morocco. We stayed right in the medina in the heart of it all. Such an overwhelming area of the city. As soon as you enter the medina there is a barrage of sounds, smells, and sights that assault you. First there are all the people. People that want you to go into their restaurants. People that want to show you around. People that want you to buy their goods. They are constantly calling out to you and you have to work very hard to sort through it all.
Right in the middle of the medina are the souks, which is basically rows and rows and rows of anything you might ever want to buy. I could only walk through them for a little bit because I hate shopping, but even for that little bit of time, I got exhausted.
My favorite part of the medina was all the food smells in the air. The spices were to die for. People would sell spices at booths so you could see all the colors and textures. Reds, oranges, yellows. Rough, grainy, smooth. Here a picture would help. I discovered my new favorite food, tajine. It is basically a stew cooked over fire in clay pots. I love it!!
We spent a few days here then headed to the moroccan desert. We had to take a bus from the city center and that was quite an experience! First off, we were the only women on the bus. At least when we first got on. Even though we were an hour early, the bus was already pretty full. We had to meander our way to the back to try to find seats. Luckily, there were a few left. Once we sat down, we became the object of everyone's stares. It was a bit awkward because it was clear that we were being talked about, but we obviously could not understand a single word. It was an 11 hour bus ride, but the seats did not recline at all, which was quite uncomfortable. Also the bus got freezing cold after sunset. But as bad as we had it, there were people that had to stand on this bus. Seriously people stood for the whole 11 hours! We had some pit stop breaks, but they stood for all the time the bus was moving. So really I have no right to complain. Anyhow, that is all for now. Signing out.
where in the world have i gone?
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Tajines in Moroccan cuisine are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. They are traditionally cooked in the tajine pot, whose cover has a knob-like formation at its top to facilitate removal (sometimes called a 'handle'). While simmering, the cover can be lifted off without the aid of a mitten, enabling the cook to inspect the main ingredients, add vegetables, move things around, or add additional braising liquid.
Most tajines involve slow simmering of less-expensive meats. For example, the ideal cuts of lamb are the neck, shoulder or shank cooked until it is falling off the bone. Very few Moroccan tajines require initial browning; if there is to be browning it is invariably done after the lamb has been simmered and the flesh has become butter-tender and very moist. In order to accomplish this, the cooking liquid must contain some fat, which may be skimmed off later.[1]
Moroccan tajines often combine lamb or chicken with a medley of ingredients or seasonings: olives, quinces, apples, pears, apricots, raisins, prunes, dates, nuts, with fresh or preserved lemons, with or without honey, with or without a complexity of spices. Traditional spices that are used to flavour tajines include ground cinnamon, saffron, ginger, turmeric, cumin, paprika, pepper, as well as the famous spice blend Ras el hanout. Some famous tajine dishes are mqualli or mshermel (both are pairings of chicken, olives and citrus fruits, though preparation methods differ), kefta (meatballs in an egg and tomato sauce), and mrouzia (lamb, raisins and almonds).
Other ingredients for a tajine include any product that braises well: fish, quail, pigeon, beef, root vegetables, legumes, even amber and aga wood.[2] Modern recipes in the West include pot roasts, ossobuco, lamb shanks and turkey legs. Seasonings can be traditional Moroccan spices, French, Italian or suited to the dish.
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