Ourika

I’m starting to figure my way around a bit. We took the bus home yesterday, and then today I went into the city on my own by bus-I’m looking for a phone since my ancient nokia (4 years old!) won’t roam here. Later Abderrahim took the three of us students and his son Amine to Ourika, a mountain village about an hour out of Marrakech.  The drive was lovely- through scrubby desert, similar looking to Nevada, passing lots of cacti, tree nurseries, kasbahs and little villages. The entire time we were driving toward huge, snow covered peaks, the Atlas I imagine, it was gorgeous and the air was really clear.  We arrived in a little town of Ourika, green foothills with a river running through.  There were ‘restaurants’ (I use the term loosely) with tables set up along the river for meals or drinks.  We sat right on the rocky bank and had mint tea, inches from the roiling water. Then wandered up the village and back, admiring the views and architecture. Ourika is very popular in July & Aug with Marrakechites (??) and folk from Casablanca when it is brutally hot (can get to 120+). There are lots of little restaurants with terraces overlooking the river and mountain villages. We were the only non-Moroccans there, which I enjoyed.

Couscous Friday!

Wow, couscous day! Couscous refers to the whole dish or meal, not just the grain. We sat down to a platter of food, probably 24 inches in diameter, piled high with all sorts of vegetables, garbanzo beans & meat. Everyone has a spoon and you eat from your area of the dish. You add more of the cooking liquid if you like it more moist.  It was delicious.  They accompany it with something called Leben (lay-bén) which is called, if I understood correctly, petit lait in French. The closest I can figure is somewhere between buttermilk and runny plain yogurt. Relatively thick & sourish. I liked it.

Zahra tells me that making couscous the way her mother makes it is very time consuming and labor intensive. (I know ‘grandma’ was starting preparations when we left for our first exam this morning).  

You first coat the uncooked couscous grains with oil, then mix in water by hand.  You put it in the steamer for a half hour or so, then take it out and break up the grains, add more oil and more water, then steam some more.  When it’s done, it is hand mixed again to make sure there are no clumps. ‘Grandma’ cooks the meat and some of the vegetables in separate pans, to keep flavors separate.  There were turnips (both long & round) carrots, cabbage and maybe onions. Zucchini (courgettes), too, and it was cooked separately to keep its shape & color. All is strategically laid on top of a flat plane of couscous so everyone has access to all the vegetable types and some meat.  (As I prefer, meat is more of an accent than the main focus of the meal.) It was delicious and now I’m having a quick rest before we head off to the medina for the first time!