Moroccan Thanksgiving 2011

OR: The Thanksgiving of the Pomegranate Chutney

A post dedicated to Hillary G. who is one half of the reigning King and Queen of creative jam making and canning and who would be very excited to make up a bunch of this in cute jars for gifts, and of course selfish consumption. Oh, yes, Hillary, we will have a major session upon our return!

We pulled off a satisfying meal with all the major players and a few special guest appearances.  Our biggest happy maker was an improvisation for cranberry sauce in the form of Pomegranate Chutney. Usually Ryan's parents make a big jar of delicious spiced whole crans with plenty of orange peel and it continues to dye our sandwiches and left-over plates for days following Turkey Day.  This year I couldn't find cranberries but was lucky enough to meet Ann, a former Peace Corps volunteer who lived in a small village outside of Agadir for two years. She is really into food and is working on a Moroccan cookbook, but more importantly knows how to make deliciousness out of all that IS available in southern Morocco...and thus Pomegranate Chutney.  She made this recipe riffing off a great aunt's Peach Chutney recipe. I had to improv even more by not adding any dried cranberries, using a dollop of raspberry jam for some pectin energy, and adding coarse black pepper.  The result was an awesome chutney jazz that is juicy, spicy and fruity, and perfectly suited to a Thanksgiving meal and even better on a post-Thanksgiving leftover baguette sandwich!

 Pomegranates are purely a fruit of paradise, they are temptation with a peel, and they are also a total pain to de-seed.  Luckily, amazing tips I didn't know came with Ann's recipe.  Slice the crown off the pom. quarter the rest and drop in water. Work out the seeds underwater.  The seeds float to the bottom, the juices don't get EVERYWHERE, and the parts you don't want FLOAT!  I love food trickery like this!

(also pictured is our BPA free cutting board that I brought all the way here!)

After cooking all the spices, onion, honey, vinegar and sugar down and stirring, stirring, stirring, the chutney cooled into this bejeweled beauty and took its place in the fridge until go-time.

We got to chopping sage and parsley and readied the rest of our ingredients.

A big score was that I found dried out bread at the store. This bag is the size of my torso and had enough for a huge pan of stuffing and enough left over for a huge pan of breakfast strata.

Entire sack = $0.46! I'll never be able to buy bread cubes in the US again.

The other special guest also came from Ann's inspiration: Moroccan Sweet Carrot Salad. A classic Moroccan salad in the sense that it is a few ingredients, put together simply, with ultra satisfying results.  This salad is 3-4 carrots grated finely, (pictured below) 1-2 apples peeled and grated coarsely, a touch of sugar and a touch of water, let juicify and combine in the fridge to ultimate Moroccan perfect yet again! It was such a great complement to all the starchiness and actually looked like bright yams on the plate.

Ryan wanted to document the fact that I actually cleaned up the entire kitchen BEFORE the meal. This is something I know is Cooking 101, but I rarely do entirely.  In a tiny kitchen where we had to use the top of the refrigerator for a surface, you just can't wait to clean! What you see in the picture is the extent of our counter space.

One slight frustration I've encountered is we can't find measuring cups or spoons A N Y W H E R E! I left mine at home thinking it would be a cinch to get some here. Nope. Luckily, one day I noticed my sports water bottle has cups AND milliliters on it. It has now become our go-to measuring device which is totally inconvenient, but will have to do until we can call in for reinforcements.

Ryan was on pie duty and had to improvise mostly in the tools and equipment department.

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters crossed the Atlantic waters with us too!

Wine bottle rolling pin, just like the pioneers.

We drained the apples after they were tossed with sugar and cinnamon, and then combined the juice with more butter and a little flour to make it extra thick and caramely, recombined with the apples and voila...

Cute little pie.

With some roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and homemade gravy in addition to the stuffing

 (double serving for me please), chutney and carrot salad, our Thanksgiving meal was complete.

Hope all of you at home had a good one too!

Breaking Bread: Tafarnout That Is...

We are thinking about Thanksgiving these days, brainstorming a cozy alternative which will in no way compare, but will have to do. Above are some shots of the traditional bread that is popular in the south. Fahmi and I are taking in the scene while the lady quickly and adeptly places the discs of dough right onto the hot stones, flips others, and scoops up others that are finished. It is all very fast and graceful, like a giant bread producing violin bow.  On this trip we had the best tagine around and the waiter piled a stack of these loaves on our table 5 high. We pulled at them delicately because they are still piping hot and then you plunge chunks into the tagine juices and scoop up plump raisins, vegetables, and pieces of tender chicken with your bread and fingers. It is heaven.

How It's Done In Morocco: Greetings

To illustrate more cultural aspects of Morocco and elements of our day-to-day lives here, I'll be posting a series of 'How It's Done in Morocco' messages. As in any culture there are no absolutes, and of course there are exceptions and differences, but these are cultural interactions that we observe on a daily basis, so I would argue they are a strong part of the society.  Greetings in Morocco are wonderful.  Many people greet by kissing on the cheek (sometimes one on each cheek or if they haven't seen each other for a while, 2 sets of one on each cheek)  Mostly men with men, and women with women, but I have seen on a number of occasions men and women greeting this way in public and I've especially noticed it with the younger crowds (who I get to observe constantly as we are situated between a couple of schools and happen to have a 'secret' or at least private garden seating area behind our apartment that draws them nightly!)

The physical greeting has variation, as it is also commonly a simple handshake. The verbal greeting is a list of questions inquiring about the other, their health, their family, etc.  Most often you hear 'Ca va bekhair?' which is a French-Arabic hybrid along the lines of 'Are you well/Is it going well'? Also Labas? Which is asking 'Are you not bad?' And sometimes many more questions. The typical response is similar to our 'How Are You?' where an in-depth and even honest answer is not necessarily the goal, but the politeness of asking is what is important.

But the ultimate in Moroccan greetings is one I haven't seen from others in Arab or any other cultures.  When Moroccans are too far away to greet each other as I have described, they wave or raise their hand and then touch their right hand to their hearts. THEY TOUCH THEIR RIGHT HAND TO THEIR HEARTS!

It is absolutely the sweetest and most lovely human gesture you can imagine and it KILLS ME!  I was in a taxi today and the driver saw a friend on a motorcycle at the stop light: smile, say hi, hands on hearts.  I was walking to the post office and our local mini-market guy was standing outside for a breather and from across the street I gave him a little wave and hello and he nodded + hand on heart.  It is constant and instantly fills you with warm fuzzy joy when you see it.  That's how it's done in Morocco.

Feeling Idle...

With the end of the Eid vacation and a week spent in this apartment due to the great sickness of 2011, I have to say I'm getting a bit stir crazy.  Too many idle days on end and I start going a little nutty. My biggest outing today was a petit-taxi ride to the copy center across from the university to pick up a book and drop off another. Lunch was a big deal today because the chicken ladies were open and I made a Chicken Marsala-esque pasta dish which was a hit.  Now I'm off to meet with the American Language Institute to talk about some potential collaboration, and then on to Derija class, where a couple absences, the sheer complexity of the language, and the French fire-hose instruction means I will be staring into the middle distance in no time...just like the camel on the right!

Cultural Spying and the End of Food Poisoning 2011

The week vacation has now officially been consumed by food poisoning for Ryan and me making many pots of herbal tea, bland, sick-friendly food concoctions, and the only real venturing being to the Supermarche.  I'm happy to report the patient is making a full recovery, and we also got to indulge in lots of movie watching and childhood sick day comforts like Cinnamon Toast!  I did some cultural spying from the window and other observing at the grocery store where lines of people waited as grocery carts of sheep were processed into manageable portions by the butchers. They even set up special waiting room-like seating right in the dairy aisle.  We were also treated to a giant full moon that lit up the night sky and was so bright it washed out all the neon signs on the street.

Cultural Spying: This photo is just post ecstatic hugs and kisses and greetings as families and friends are meeting up to celebrate Eid. Notice everyone is dressed up and looking GOOD!

Here these guys just unloaded a slaughtered sheep (by palm tree) the man in blue is holding a big knife and they are working out the payment situation.  The fella in white is wearing a blood splattered apron type shirt and bloody white rubber boots. He might be a roving sheep processor with some knives in that backpack.

In another context, looking out the window and seeing a man wielding a knife would be disturbing...but here, and now, it makes sense.

The two TV channels that show Mecca were going off! We could watch over the course of the day as more and more pilgrims made their way. All those little dots are people!  Below the image is a ticker of the different prayer times depending on the country.

I mentioned before the guys who cruise around with a donkey cart going through dumpsters to score reusables. Usually they take water bottles and recyclables, but when I walked back from the store they had a new timely item to score. The entire cart was filled with discarded sheep skins, layed out to dry in the sun while they make their rounds.  From my observation deck I did see a few people shouldering a big mass of fur that they heaved into the dumpster.  These guys are hitting it big today!

Below are some sheep skin furs drying on a roof near the French School.

Also near the school are some of the fading blooming bushes that are everywhere in Agadir. They are all oranges, and pinks, and purples.

No matter how hard you try, you can never experience the moon in a photograph they same way you can in person...

Cinnamon Toast!

Happy Veteran's Day + Three day weekend!

The Sick House

What happened? In the span of 12 hours we both went from two healthy energetic people, all jazzed about Eid and a week vacation to catch up on things, to two sicklings. Something hit us and now that I think about it, I have noticed a lot of sniffling going on around town.  For instance, waiting at the counter at the copy center...I tried to keep my distance from some clearly unwell fellas (but if you don't jockey for position you get left in the dust...and this is just to make photocopies!)  and we were up close and personal.  At least we have some recovery time. In the meantime, enjoy some of these snapshots of life on the outside of the apartment...

 The tile work will make you die from happiness...

More of the Mosque in Casablanca...it is strangely so modern, ancient, and timeless all at the same time. 

It is such a well realized space.

Wandering in Rabat

Peppermint sticks grow out of the ground in Rabat! See, this place is magical.

Eid Mubarak!

Today is the start of Eid Al Adha an important Muslim holiday that many of our Moroccan friends compare to Christmas in terms of how 'big' or important the holiday is for the people.  It celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael to show his devotion to Allah.  Today, to remember that near-sacrifice, most families sacrifice a sheep (or goat or other animal) and use the animal for their holiday meal.  Families gather (with many people traveling back to their hometowns) to be together and there is A LOT of food, and celebration.

Some of our observations in Morocco...

-Over the last two weeks more and more fat furry sheep have been seen riding in the backs of trucks, in carts behind mopeds, and a large make-shift sheep market city has been built north of our house with sheep milling about in clusters and people walking around making purchasing plans.

-Friday when I went to teach, campus was a ghost town! There were only about 15 people here and there. Lots of students on the side of the road waiting with a bag to be picked up.  My classroom was locked and no students came, so Happy Eid and see you next week!

-We've seen many people filling the trunks of their cars with suitcases, bags of food, and packages of bottled drinks.

-Today we've seen people dressed to the nines! Women in abayas made with fancier material with a lot of shimmer to it. Hijabs with sparkles and rhinestones.  Men wearing the traditional Moroccan cloak but in a sleek, shiny black material with detailing in silver. One woman had on an incredible deep purple abaya with neon hot pink tights that matched the lining of her pockets and bright yellow pointed Moroccan slippers. FANCY!

-The people who double park to hit up the amazing bakery near us are coming in droves and children are all dressed up in slacks and dresses with their hair combed with gel. They run up and down the sidewalk with excitement while their parents buy baked goodies.

-People seem really happy and there is a lot of cheer and 'Bon Fete' type exchanges in French and Arabic.  Everyone is excited for this annual holiday.

My colleague said the meal is very meat-centered what with the sacrifice of the sheep and all...and he mentioned they use everything, starting with the innards, with barbecuing being the main mode of preparation.
Today when I looked out the window over the kitchen sink I saw a sheep being ushered through the gate to a neighbor's backyard. A woman had a handful of hay to entice it and the men were making sure it didn't dart off into traffic.

One of my biggest lived hypocrisies is that I enjoy eating meat, but I don't want to see the animal from which the meat comes get killed. I know about the Omnivore's Dilemma and all...this is an area where I knowingly and purposely turn a blind eye to the reality...and this is something I should probably think through more. As Americans, we rarely have to see where our meat comes from, or how it got to us in its tidy little clean form.  I can now eat a whole fish with head and skin served on a dinner plate, but I don't know if I could grab some live chickens or a sheep and get it from field to table like most people here can!

I just can't imagine it if most Americans killed their own Thanksgiving turkey, or procured their own Christmas ham by slaughtering a pig in their backyard. Eid Al-Adha has me thinking about a lot indeed!

Breakfast Time...Cookie Time

Sometimes cookie time happens at breakfast...and all other times...

Cultural Diplomacy and Autumn Foliage...Agadir Style

Today some colleagues made their way to town and we had an official meeting with the Dean of the University.  It was very nice with velvet curtains, leather couches, coffee service, photos, and lots of great talk about collaboration, cultural exchange, and synergy.  The meeting took place in French, so there were spots where I just nodded earnestly, and others where I could totally understand everything they said and could reply 'Absolument' and it was actually appropriate. I even understood when the Dean said Morocco and the US have a strong relationship stretching back to when Morocco was the first country to acknowledge United States independence from Britain!

I had my English speaking colleagues translate how thankful I am for this opportunity, how welcome I have felt, and stressed how much my contacts have gone above-and-beyond in all ways to help us and that I look forward to our collaboration here in Morocco and in the future....etc....Then watched hushed translations of what I said.  More photos and it was off to the police station to get a long list of requirements for our resident cards.

Today is our first day of RAIN! We had a brief storm a week ago that had turned back to sunny blue skies by morning, but this is a real drencher.  I realize this city functions under the assumption the weather will be nice. Most of the cafes are open-air with a sun cover and are pretty empty as it is a national sport to sip coffee and chat for long stretches at a time...but not in the rain. The guys who drive donkey carts and find reusables in the garbage are nowhere to be found, and the buzzing of motorcycles and mopeds has been reduced to an occasional brave soul with a passenger holding a plastic bag over their heads.

I'm off to dinner and might just have to take a taxi...I don't have an umbrella in this town!

I've been meaning to post the Agadir equivalent of all those golden and fiery autumn leaves I've been seeing from friends' pictures.  Happy last stretch of autumn!