Tagines and Sunsets

 Saturday, March 21

 

This morning, we were picked up by Amal and dropped off near Riad al Riad, where we were given a cooking lesson. Our original itinerary listed a cooking class at a training center, but it being Eid holiday, the center was not open. Resourceful Mariam found an alternative for us, and we were not disappointed. 

Hennaed hands, ready to cook. Our teacher on the left.

We made chicken tagine and two side dishes, the eggplant dish and the green pepper dish we’d eaten many times during the trip. What impressed me was how simple it was, and how casual the amounts used of each ingredient. I know the reader wants to know the recipe, so here goes, more or less:

• Soak a pinch of saffron threads in a couple of tablespoons of water, ready for the step to come
• Put about ¼ of a chopped onion in the bottom of a tagine. 
• Add a piece or two of skinless chicken. 
• Finely chop a clove of garlic and dump it on top of the chicken. 
• Finely slice ¼ of a preserved lemon (peel only) and place the slices on the chicken/garlic
• Pour the saffron water over the lemon peel/garlic/chicken. 
• Sprinkle on a small amount (less than ¼ t) each of ginger, turmeric, and cumin. 
• Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over the lot.
• Cover and cook for an hour.
 

Almost ready

 

Olive oil to finish

Note that Moroccan tagines are always cooked over a gas flame. At home, with my Costco tagines and my electric stove, I would put them in the oven at maybe 350°.

 

Ready for cooking. We each put a different spice in the hollow of the lid, so we'd know which was ours after cooking.

 

Cooking is exhausting

While our tagines were cooking, we wandered about the Riad, exploring the rooftop and peaking in rooms. This would be another great stay in Marrakech, a step up, maybe, from Riad Naya (our first Marrakech riad) and a step down, maybe, from La Clé d’Or. Riad Naya and this Riad al Riad are a few minutes walk apart, in the heart of the medina. Perfect location. 

Rooftop lounge with mirrors

Conserving rain water. Our Riad Naya had this system too; catch rain in a plastic sheet above the courtyard and let it run down a pipe into the fountain below.

Decoration idea: old djellaba fabric in embroidery hoops

Our meals were delicious of course, and we're all planning to make preserved lemons when we get home. We were each given small tubs of spices — the above plus black pepper and paprika — to take with us. 

Finished dishes

Moroccan dessert: orange slices with cinnamon

We had the rest of the afternoon to explore on our own. I returned to Riad Naya to pick up the hat and sleep mask I’d somehow left there. Mustafa was warm and welcoming.

We waited out a sudden rainstorm in a café above Jemaa el Fna, then some of us wandered deep into the medina, past the tourist rows and into places locals might shop. One of the beauties of Google Maps is that you can go “off-map” freely, knowing Ms Google will guide you back when you need her.

Jemaa el Fna after the rain

I don't know what this is, but it's pretty

Spices, herbs, oils, lotions

Spices in barrels and cones

Not so dressed-up neighbourhood

Palm leaf market

We went back to our riad briefly, then set off for our last dinner together, in a big, bustling rooftop restaurant above the square. Tonight, we had a tangia, a change (somewhat) from a tagine, a stew slow-cooked in an earthenware pot, traditionally in the ashes of a hammam fire. From the roof, we had a magical view of a stunning sunset over the roofs of Marrakech.

 

Elevator up, mirrored ceiling

Sundown over Marrakech

Great minds?

Mariam said goodbye tonight. She led us through the crowds, then returned to her Marrakech home, while we returned to our riad for our last night in Morocco