Food!

I have to talk a little bit about the food here.  It has been really good and really varied. I’m lucky in that I live in a house with three adult women (the host ‘mom’, her sister, and their mother) and they all take part in cooking.  We start each dinner with a traditional moroccan soup (rich, thick with beans and/or lentils, very flavorful) and crusty bread.  The main dish is usually in a large pan which put in the middle of the table, and you dish out of it with bread and/or your fingers.  They have often given me a plate and fork, as a newbie here, and I’ve done both, on the plate or out of the communal dish.  Last night we had something very yummy, but not very moroccan.  Mashed potatoes with some meat & spices (nutmeg & bay), formed into balls, then baked with a creamy white sauce (bechamel) and a bit of cheese, I think.  Oh man, was that comfort food!!

The previous night we had Lane’s favorite (Lane is another student staying here. She’s from New Orleans and has been here for a month learning Arabic from Abderrahim and his son Amine).  Chicken with preserved lemon, a moroccan tradition, some sauce & veg.  You use bread to pick it up, and to mop up sauce.  Yum.

On Sunday, I think, Zahra put an enormous platter of what looked like celery on the table.  There was a lot of liquid & olive oil on it. I’m not sure what the celery stuff is called, Zahra assured Lane that it’s moroccan and that we americans had never eaten it before. Once we started digging down through the veg & sauce, I saw there was meat, some beef, that we then ate with bread and more sauce.  Olive oil is the elixir of life!

And one can’t forget the tea!!! Most meals end with very sweet mint tea in small glasses. It’s really good and settles the stomach.  I haven’t seen the mint tea where the glass is stuffed with fresh mint leaves, but I’m sure I will. It’s about dinner time, so time to see what culinary wonder is on the menu tonight!