Table Of ContentMOROCCO
A CULINARY JOURNEY WITH RECIPES
SPICE-SCENTED MARKETS OF MARRAKECH
from the
DATE-FILLED OASIS OF ZAGORA
to the
text and photographs by
JEFF KOEHLER
Copyright © 2012 by Jeff Koehler.
All rights reserved. No part of
this book may be reproduced in
any form without written permis-
sion from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data available.
eISBN 978-1-4521-1365-4
Designed by Alice Chau
Typesetting by Helen Lee
Map illustration on page 19
by Stephanie Welter
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com
for Maia, Alba, and Eva
CONTENTS
Introduction • 8
A Brief Culinary History • 14
A Cook’s Tour of the Land • 18
The Moroccan Pantry • 41
BREAD AND SAVORY PASTRIES EGGS AND POULTRY
• 57 • • 131 •
SOUPS AND LEGUMES FISH AND SHELLFISH
• 71 • • 151 •
STREET FOOD COUSCOUS
• 81 • • 169 •
FRESH AND COOKED SALADS SWEETS AND DESSERTS
• 97 • • 187 •
MEATS DRINKS
• 113 • • 207 •
Selected Bibliography • 216
Acknowledgments • 217
Index • 218
INTRODUCTION
The food of Morocco is rich, sensual, and colorful, harmonious blending of sweet and savory. Take just
sophisticated and artfully presented. From the vast two of countless examples: chicken topped with
array of small plates offering fresh and cooked “salads” caramelized tomato compote and toasted almonds
that begin or accompany meals to the delicate sweet- and veal shanks with stewed pears that carry a sweet
meats (and, inevitably, mint tea), this North African freshness hinting of cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.
kitchen not only delights but surprises. Knives are not found on Moroccan tables—
It begins with the blending of flavors. The sweet- tradition, sure, but also because they’re not needed
ness of chilled cooked carrots countered with earthy when meat cooks to the falling-off-the-bone tender-
cumin, fresh parsley, and intense, unfiltered olive oil. ness of a typical tagine. Yet as succulent as that
Grated raw carrots soaked in freshly squeezed lamb or beef or chicken might be, it sometimes
orange juice with a touch of sugar and a few drops seems that the sole purpose of a tagine is the final
of aromat ic orange flower water, served equally as sauce, the rich melody of concentrated flavors
a salad or as a dessert. A purée of cucumbers with mopped up with hunks of bread.
orange juice, sweetened slightly with sugar but also Couscous is another dish synonymous with
a generous pinch of a dried wild oregano called Morocco and, like the tagine, is an ancient creation of
—intimating the arid countryside—is a delight- the indigenous Berbers. The name refers to the dish
zaâtar
fully refreshing drink or dessert on warm afternoons. as well as to the tiny “grains” made from hard durum
In winter, glasses of mint tea laced with fresh, silvery wheat (or barley or even ground corn) that are
absinthe leaves, marjoram, or lemon verbena, even double- or triple-steamed in a basket over simmer-
saffron threads. And the main dishes! Braised lamb ing, flavorful broth. This simple staple is turned into
topped with orange segments soaked in aromatic a traditional, celebrated centerpiece every Friday,
syrup and with thin, candied strips of peel; kid goat when extended families gather around a shared
with dried figs and thyme; veal with caramelized platter of couscous for the week’s most important
apricots and jewel-like prunes. These are inspired, meal. Topping the mound of tender couscous might
delectable combinations. be chicken and caramelized onions and raisins along
with a scattering of crunchy almonds, seven different
vegetables, or large pieces of pumpkin flavored with
lamb. Typically served alongside are glasses of rich,
One of the country’s most important—
slightly acidic buttermilk called .
lben
and original—cooking methods is the Moroccan cuisine remains centered around such
, a stew or ragout slow-cooked in family meals. In a small village in the Ourika Valley, on
tagine
the western slopes of the High Atlas, a young Berber
an eponymous earthenware casserole
woman explained to me how her family eats a tagine
with a conical lid.
nearly every day, “It is placed in the center of the
table for the whole family. One table, one dish. It is
unacceptable to eat apart.”
The key is the lid, which captures the moisture rising “Eating is not an individual experience,” echoed a
from the cooking meat, poultry, or fish, and enables friend from the agricultural heartland between Fès
it to condense on the lid’s walls, so that it can fall back and Marrakech. “Everyone is equal when eating. It’s
onto the stew, keeping the dish moist while retaining about sharing.” Along with that sense of community
its flavors. over a meal, he continued, “there is a close connec-
Tagines frequently exhibit Moroccan cuisine’s fond- tion to the food. People usually eat with their [right]
ness for combining textures and marrying bold flavors, hand—using bread, making balls of couscous. It’s
and showcase one of its distinguishing traits—the about touching the food, feeling it.”
MOROCCO • 8 • INTRODUCTION
For many, that connection begins by shopping—
in the small markets along crowded lanes; from the
butcher or fishmonger, the vendor of couscouses
and flours, of olives and preserved lemons, of fresh
herbs; from neighborhood (shops), often
hanouts
tiny but packed with a huge array of items on their
shelves; or, in the large cities, in enormous super-
markets. Remaining strong, even vital, is the tradition
of the weekly that gathers together fruits and
souq
vegetables, spices, livestock, and whatever else might
be bought, sold, or traded. In the countryside, and
especially at crossroads towns—Ouazzane in the
north, Agdz in the Drâa Valley, Tiznit and Guelmim in
the south—sprawling, weekly markets gather on the
outskirts and draw thousands from the region to the
selection of products brought in from the country-
side: heaps of yellow melons dabbed with identify-
ing markers of paint, papery purple red onions,
clementines, boxes of sticky dates, mounds of small,
pointed almonds and dried turmeric roots. There
is an enclosed section for livestock—live sheep and
goats, chicks and chickens, and in the south, at the
famous Guelmim market, camels (not for transport,
but meat).
Seafood is abundant in this meat-rich country.
The lengthy seacoasts offer sardines, sea bream, tur-
bot, sole, conger eel, mackerel, swordfish, and tuna,
crab, shrimp, lobster, and oysters. Fish is often mari-
nated in —a lively blend of fresh parsley
charmoula
and cilantro, garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, lemon juice,
and olive oil—and then fried, cooked in a tagine, or
stuffed with chopped tomatoes, fleshy violet-colored
olives, and preserved lemons and baked. Grilled sar-
dines are a coastal street food favorite. Generously
sprinkled with sea salt and set just above embers,
they’re cooked for a couple of minutes on each side
until the skin blackens and buckles, and devoured
while barely cool enough to handle. The flavors are at
their robust finest, the flesh sparkling and briny and
shaded with smoky oils.
Rarely, though, are flavors as straightforward as
grilled sardines. Moroccan cooks draw liberally from
an ample spice box: ginger, saffron, cinnamon, and
cumin are just four favorites among many. They blend
