760 Days comes to an end…

Dear Readers,

The end of our 760 Days in Morocco are not yet here (still quite a few months to go), but at this time I’m going to discontinue blogging about it.  My heart is not in it anymore and my original intention has been lost- it feels like a burden and like work I don’t want to complete.  I want to focus on some other things that have fallen by the wayside because I focus too much on the blog.  When I first started the blog I didn’t think anyone was really doing what I intended this blog to do, but so many out there are, and I hope the side links help you find them all.  The blog will not go away- it will still be here, just without any new additions (oh, except one guest post coming soon because the lovely lady writing it has put a lot of time and effort into it and I think it’s a going to be a great asset to the blog). Thank you all for the support over the past few months, and to those of you who I’ve connected with personally I hope we will keep in touch.  Be well.

Salam Alaikum,

Living in Morocco

Stat Q: Are electronic goods expensive in Morocco?

What an excellent and timely question to appear in the stats.  I just read an excellent post over at Evelynn in Morocco about daily economics which touches upon this.  Additionally, one of the great things about Morocco is that things like electronic goods come in every size variety and price point so that almost everything can be affordable.

For example, refrigerators and washing machines come from tiny (seriously, I’ve seen washers than probably wouldn’t wash more than three t-shirts) and basic to fancy with all the frills, while things like computers, cell phones, and mp3 players also offer a variety of models for various budgets- but are on the more expensive side.  Almost all of these things can be bought used as well and vendors on the street will even provide an extension cord to demonstrate it works before you buy. 

They key is to really shop around and don’t buy the first thing you see.  For example, we bought a half-size refrigerator for 700 DH (about $100 USD at the time) found in a dusty corner at a small appliance store.  Later, we found the very same model for twice the price at Asswak Assalam in Marrakesh.  Also, some of the smaller stores selling more decorative items also stock electric hot plates- an alternative to a gas tank and stove.  Toaster ovens, space heaters, irons and hair dryers are all good examples of size and price variations.

Trinkets & Customs

Inspiration breeds inspiration.  The other day, MarocMama and I had a Twitter convo about oranges which she then wrote about in her blog.  Her story about trying to get them through United States customs inspired me to write a post about that very thing- customs.  When you come to a place like Morocco where shopping is plentiful, cheap, and often whimsical, it’s hard not to amass a suitcase full of treasures to bring back to the United States.  While we have yet to collect much more than a couple of trinkets, we are starting to make our list of Moroccan reminders we want to bring back with us.  To give an American home a touch of Morocco I’d like to have some artwork, one of those sequined quilted tapestries and matching pillows, a set of tea glasses (we already have teapots), a few other traditional wall hangings and of course spices, argan oil products, and plenty of kese and savon beldi to keep up our weekly hammam routine (in a steamed up bathroom of course).  I want a little salt & cumin double tagines as well as a few smaller tagines for serving olives and dips, but I’ve yet to hear of anyone other than Martha Stewart and Paula Wolfert successfully transporting a cooking sized tagine back without breaking it.  The list goes on and I’ve already reserved one full suitcase just for these items as well as gifts for family and friends.

I went through customs once already with quite a few goodies in my bag- a teapot and glasses, t-shirts, dates and figs, a box of sugar bricks and tea, chebekia and briaouts- all without incidence.  I was nervous about the dried fruits, but the agent said they were fine and didn’t even inspect them.  I was also nervous about the fake Louis Vuitton bag I was carrying because there are strict rules about the amount of these products you can bring in.  I was so nervous that I left my real Coach bag back in Morocco for fear they would take it away from me!  Instead, the agent struck up a conversation with me about them and even told me about her similar purchases in Japan.  She got hers for half of what I paid for my poor quality obvious fake and I felt a momentary twinge of jealousy.  Among my parents goods were two bottles of Moroccan wine and a bottle of imported Vodka as well as all the typical t-shirts and other souvenirs one might bring back to grandchildren.  No reported incidents there either. 

At any rate, it’s smart to check the United States Customs and Border Protection  website, especially the Travel pages to check on all items allowed and not allowed before traveling back to the United States from Morocco.  Take it from MarocMama- it would be a shame for a lovely bag of mandarins to go to waste!

As far as coming into Morocco, I’ve had a few comments and questions on the blog about that.  Both times I’ve come in, I’ve been waved right through with bags (remember, the first time we had 7!), yet I’ve seen other people’s bags being searched.  To my knowledge, my parents weren’t searched either.  Both their bags and ours were packed with goods and products without any regard for what the actual rules or laws might be.  I’ve heard books might be scrutinized and confiscated, and I feared my precious kitchen knife would definitely be taken away if found (though it was still in its original packaging).  I wonder what they would have thought of the Sunbeam electric mixer in our suitcase the first trip back or the multiple pairs of Levi’s on the second?

If you’re a little smarter than me, you might want to check the Moroccan Customs website before you pack your  bags for Morocco.

So, here are a few questions…

  • What trinkets, souvenirs and artifacts did you buy and bring back from Morocco?
  • Did you leave any behind that you still wish you’d brought back?
  • Has anyone brought back black market DVD’s or computer programs?
  • Are laptop computers powered up and searched upon reentry?
  • Have you had any issues with bringing goods back through United States customs?
  • Have you had any issues with brining goods into Morocco?
  • Any other advice, scary, or funny customs stories?

Score! Zara in Morocco

A few weeks ago I came across a post on Hijabtrendz about these cute little Al Amira style winter hat from Zara.  As soon as I saw it I said “oh man, I so want that, but alas I’ll never get it from here in Morocco”.  I assumed the store was a UK brand because I’d never heard of it before, and many of the hijab bloggers are in the UK.  That was dumb because when I bothered to read the About section on the blog (just now), I found it’s by an American blogger! 

One of each, any color please!

Anyhow, as most people do when they see something they like, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  I’d love to have one for the winter when I already top my hijab with a winter hat and scarf when it’s really cold.  Finally, this morning I decided to look up Zara and see if I could maybe order it online, have it sent to the United States and just retrieve it when we return.  I couldn’t find the piece on the website, or a place to order online.  However, I poked around to see where there were stores and to my surprise, there are quite a few in the United States- great, but I’m still not getting the hijab.  Or am I? 

I scrolled over one of the categories (I can’t remember which now) and a bunch of countries came up including Morocco.  Then it dawned on me to check the store locations for Africa.  There was Morocco (and Tunisia) with four locations in Casablanca (2), Marrakesh, and Agadir.  Since we’re planning to be in Marrakesh for the new year, I’ll definitely be looking for the Zara store and the cute little hijab hat.  If I don’t find it then at least I know I tried!

Zara store locations in Morocco:

  • Agadir: Marina Agadir Quai West, 84000 Agadir, 212 28820469
  • Casablanca: Blvd. Al Massira - Mesou, Casablanca, 212 22362337 and Med V – Terminal 2, 20240 Casablanca 212 225 39927
  • Marakesh: Pl. Marr. Av. Mohamed V – Ima, Marrakesh, 212 24423925

Photos from Hijabtrendz.com.

Talk Morocco

I found myself unusually busy this morning and I’m just getting around to turning on the computer and seeing what’s going on.  To my delight, I learned that Talk Morocco launched today!  It’s way more interesting than anything I have to say here today, so check it out.

What is Talk Morocco?  From the editors Hisham Khribchi and Jillian C. York:

Just a few months ago, Talk Morocco was merely a vague concept the two of us had tossed around. Though we are both dedicated writers and activists for free speech, we also both have full-time jobs and so at first found taking on such a project overwhelming at best, impossible at worst. Yet here we are.

So how did the idea first come about?

Our format was inspired in part by the Creative Syria forum which Jillian (a Syriaphile) discovered a couple of years ago and which deserves to be acknowledged for the role it has played in uniting Syrian bloggers. We can only hope Talk Morocco will do the same for the Blogoma (Moroccan blogosphere).

The prominence of new media has offered the Moroccan public new ways for expression that were unimaginable just decades ago, when under tight state control over mass media, the only outlets available to convey news and views were either official or partisan press. Although a new species of investigative print media appeared in the market in the past two decades, a wave of seizures and restrictions has limited Morocco’s once distinctively active independent press.

But in its wake came the Internet: In a relatively short amount of time, a lively Moroccan blogosphere has grown increasingly influential, circumventing an obsolescent system of censorship. Bloggers posting in Arabic, French, Spanish, Berber and English deal with different social, political, economic and religious issues that have marked the country’s recent history. In covering the Blogoma for Global Voices Online, we have noticed the rapid growth of this sphere of free speakers. At the same time, we saw a lack of interaction between groups of bloggers who aggregated in virtually separate realms according to their field of interest, location, language of expression, political or cultural background. Moreover, bloggers, the newcomers into the media landscape, seldom interact or share the same platform with professional journalists and authors who once exclusively dominated the space.

Our solution was Talk Morocco, aimed at bringing together these various groups around subjects of common interest. Talk Morocco will provide a platform for established and unknown bloggers, journalists and authors, Moroccans and non-Moroccans, English speakers and non-English speakers, to comment on subjects relating to Morocco and the diaspora.

We chose the first topic–that of free speech in Morocco–for a multitude of reasons, but most of all for how it represents our project on the whole. We, as bloggers and Moroccophiles, recognize the important role of the Blogoma, and believe that one key element of free speech comes from inclusiveness: of different opinions, different people, different voices. And since freedom of expression is, as we see it, a precondition to achieve all other forms of freedoms (thought, religion, association, academic and scientific freedoms), we thought it was appropriate to put forward this fundamental issue as an opening topic for discussion. Recent news coming out from Morocco has been (unfortunately) comforting us on our choice.

We hope that Talk Morocco will effectively connect the dots between different breeds of Moroccan bloggers and be a junction point where bloggers, journalists, and authors can come together and have enlightened and informed discussions on matters related to Morocco.

Sincerely,

Jillian and Hisham.

I, for one, am looking forward to reading all the essays and seeing what conversations come about on the first topic: Knocking on the Palace Door:  What will it take for freedom of the press to establish itself in Morocco? 

This is just the first of many Talk Morocco discussions so be sure to subscribe before you leave, and you can follow Talk Morocco on Twitter and Facebook.

The past couple of days…

On Friday morning we woke up around 6 a.m. to a shakedown right underneath our window.  At first it was terrible screams, those I imagined of someone being stabbed.  The yells got louder, begging for neighbors to wake up and help.  Then skin to skin blows could be heard and the slapping of bare feet against the pavement.  The yells turned to screams of agony, more cries for help and other voices saying “pay the money you owe”, then with a few final screams there were a few moments of silence before a female voice called out and more people entered the street to see what was going on.  Finally, the footsteps and commotion faded down the street and left my heart racing while I begged my husband to tell me what he saw out the window.  There was no bloodshed, stabbing or anything like that- just a few blows to the back of the man who owed money. I wondered why my brother-in-law was always away when these things seemed to go on in the neighborhood.  I imagined the very same scenario in a neighborhood in America, one more likely to have a gun shot or two go off in the middle of it all.  I couldn’t fall back to sleep, but thought more about all the violence I’ve seen in Morocco and all the violence I see happening in America via Fox News, CNN and the CBS Evening News here.  And, even though I’ve seen and heard far more physical altercations since I’ve been in Morocco, I feel so much safer here knowing guns are not allowed in this country. 

The rest of Friday sort of passed by without much of a do about anything, that is until my husband brought home a lovely treat in the evening- strawberries.  The first of the season, they are still relatively small, but so red and sweet.  They come in little containers at first with a proud stamp indicating they are a product of Morocco.  As the season develops, strawberries will be piled high on wooden carts to be bagged in quantities of one’s own desire.  They will get bigger, more juicy and sweeter and they will still be a product of Morocco.  One of my most lovely memories of Morocco will be the sight of one of those carts filled with glistening strawberries in Mohammedia during our first visit there.  We bought a bag full for 10 DH.  And, here’s a little tip- when you buy the strawberries in the little plastic container, don’t throw the container away.  It makes an excellent little vessel for organizing a drawer or shelf perfect for holding little trinkets.  I often keep on in my vegetable crisper in the refrigerator for keeping all my little chilies or lemons. 

Finally, on Saturday we took a much-needed trip to the hammam since we couldn’t go the week before and it’s too cold to take a shower in the house (yea, you can read that as we did not have a shower for a whole week- that’s life sometimes).  The ladies all asked if we slaughtered a sheep by slicing their necks with their fingers and making the motions of barbecuing the brochettes.  I even managed to have a conversation with my casella about whether or not we make the sacrifice in the United States.  We came home so bright faced and fresh feeling, we decided to tackle an errand downtown despite the bus issues we had earlier in the week.

How silly of me to be so optimistic.  We immediately took a petit taxi to our destination in the medina because the buses wouldn’t be going where we needed to be, but I thought surely we’d find a bus back this time.  After our errand, we had a redeeming lunch/dinner in at Pizza Ricca where I discovered the double fromage panini with mustard.  They are back in our good graces, especially after bringing us additional frites when the measly portion they brought us at first didn’t cut it.  We left this time with a good meal in our bellies, and a reasonable price paid for it all. 

After a walk around the medina for a little while, we stopped for glace (ice cream) at Cherahzade (my new favorite place for ice cream) and walked to the buses.  We felt we had such a wonderful day, and I tried to keep telling myself that no matter what happened with the buses it would not ruin the great time we had.  That was until an hour and a half later after we tried several blocks, got rejected by several taxis, got a taxi stolen from us, didn’t see a single bus in all that time and finally found a grand taxi going to Al Kamra- the day was somewhat ruined.  As soon as we got home and popped two headache pills, we marked the calendar with “no trips to the medina for the rest of December” just as a little reminder.  Man, I’m going to miss that panini!

A weekend like that certainly deserves a day of rest and relaxation which is what I hoped today would entail until we were awakened by a beggar band banging their drums and clapping their hand symbol up and down the street.  Once they faded, I fired up the computer and found the most heartbreaking story of another Moroccan love story interrupted by the law of the land:  Morocco-and an ode to a romantic lesson learned from a Moroccan judge by Essaouira Walking.  I’ve felt your pain, just hang in there- it’s totally worth it in the end.

P.S. Submit your suggestions for the Best of Morocco Blog Awards on MoroccoBlogs.com.

Travel by Train

Trains are by far the best way to travel throughout Morocco.  They are inexpensive, have frequent timetables, get you to most major cities in Morocco, and you can watch the varied landscapes of Morocco pass you by as you travel from one place to the next. There’s even a first class cabin if you want to travel in style, but I’m not sure what more they afford you other than a little bit bigger seat.  Otherwise, the second class cabins are clean and comfortable with just a few exceptions of some train relics still on the tracks.  While they can get crowded, you can more often than not find a seat.  The double-decker commuter trains from Rabat to Casablanca (I think they actually start in Kenitra) are crowded to standing room only during the mornings and evenings- rush hour. 

Unfortunately, mishaps can occur when riding the train.  On one of our first train rides to El Jadida, we were stopped for an unusually long time, but not at an actual station.  After about 20 minutes, people started milling about and eventually reported that our train had struck a man.  Though he didn’t die from his injuries as far as we know, this isn’t the first and only incident of its kind. 

The good news is you can easily travel on the trains with a big piece of luggage or even two.  We actually brought seven with us when we arrived, but we were travelling at night when the trains are empty.  It took three of us, and we had to stack them in the pass throughs and stand with them the entire time of course, but at least we were able to manage it.   

Taxis are always at the ready when trains pull into the station, mostly petit taxis, but at some stations like in Tangier and Marrakesh grand taxis are abundant as well. 

Unlike the city buses, the train system in Morocco has a well-developed website with information, train schedules, and customer service phone line (though you probably have to speak French or Darija). 

On long journeys, there are sleeper trains which offer private cabins with beds that travel overnight.  I can hear them pass in the distance when everyone is sleeping and the night air becomes still.  I’ve always wanted to travel on one, but with my luck I’d be up all night and when I got to the destination I’d have to sleep through it!

The company also offers monthly commuter passes that offer little, but at least some discount on regular travel if you are going to be traveling from one place to another on a regular basis.  They are a little restrictive in that the passes are only good for point to point destination such as Rabat to Casablanca and whatever stops are in between, but you can’t use them on a train trip to Marrakesh for instance.  There may be other types of travel passes, but I’m only familiar with the commuter pass since we purchased them during our short stint working in Casablanca.

On our recent trip home from El Jadida, we started out on the city to city buses, but found it hot, crowded, and cramped.  At the stop in Casablanca, we opted to take a taxi to the nearest train station and ride back to Rabat by rail.  It was a good decision even with the extra cost of the taxi, which by the way, is only 10 DH from the bus station to Casa Voyagers.  We found a cabin style car, where little cabins have bench or individual seating and a closing door.  Most trains have open cabins with individual seating 2×2 which is a little better in my view.  But, then again, when you’re in close quarters you can meet and talk with the most random people.

And, on most journeys a little refreshment cart that passes by with over-priced snacks, drinks (hot coffee, tea, soda and juices), and pastries.  But, if you’re rushing on the train and hungry, at least you have an option.  In some places, enterprising individuals also roam the carts selling cookies, cakes, chips and drinks at reduced prices too.  I found this most often on the northern trains between Tangier and Fes. 

Some of my favorite Morocco photos were captured from the windows of the train.

Now that I’ve written a whole post on my point of view about trains, here are many others.  I actually meant to just create a post full of links to these, but see I somehow had a little more to say first!

What are you train experiences?  Has anyone ever travelled on the overnight sleeper trains?  Please share any tips, stories or otherwise useful information on train travel in Morocco.

Date stamped photo credit to my dad.

You get what you pay for…

It’s one of those sayings that remains true no matter what you’re trying to get or where you’re trying to go.  I mentioned the recent dip in price of the new bus company in Rabat- a price drop of .50 DH.  The new company was to have nicer, bigger buses and keep up the current routes with better service.  Huh.  Now, after how many months have I been writing about this? there has been no change except for a few freak exceptions of happening to arrive at the bus stop when an empty-ish bus comes within minutes.  Such luck would lead one to believe that things had returned to normal until the next time you’re waiting for the bus and it’s back to the same ‘ol same ol.

On Tuesday, we had an errand to run in the evening and decided to head to the medina afterwards for another errand and maybe a bite to eat.  No buses went to the place where our first errand was so of course we took a taxi right away.  We considered trying to find the bus to the medina from there, but after 2 #7’s passed us twice, we had to go with another taxi- but, with the buses a mess the petit taxis are all so busy it took us a good 25 minutes to even find one. 

Finally in the medina, we took care of another errand and tried to find some food, but none of the restaurants are open since everyone is still dining on their sheep.  Plenty of the cafes and pastry shops were open, but no place for a real solid meal.  We should have thought of that.  We resigned ourselves to a glass of juice and our favorite cake at the no name shop near Pizza Ricca, but when we passed by and saw a poor choice of treats and our favorite one not on display we kept going.  Finally, we thought of walking all the way back up Hassan II Avenue to the shawarma shops not thinking they wouldn’t be open either.  Of course they’re not open.  We cross the street to a little hanut and buy some hot dogs, juice and Lebanese bread for a quick dinner at home- we are both famished by now. 

We make our way a few blocks to the bus stop where  a few routes pick up before going their separate ways at the next intersection.  Buses come and go, but not a single #7 or #30 pass after about 15 minutes.  We notice a man standing a bit too close to the cars whizzing by with his hands waving up and down at each of the other buses passing by.  He’s yelling at them and getting more and more angry.  We sort of write him off as a little bit unstable and take a few steps away.  Finally, a #7 comes our way, but it’s a miniature bus packed to the brim and doesn’t even stop because no one could fit on it.  When a #45 appears and open it’s doors, the man starts yelling at the driver- he was obviously waiting for #7 like us because after his tirade, he was still standing in the crowd.  My husband tells me he’s ranting that he’ll be going to speak to the boss of the company the next day.

Another 20 or so minutes and plenty of buses pass us, but none of them are #7 or #30 so we finally decide we’ll have to take a taxi.  More minutes pass as we flag and flag little blue cars, but they are all full and a few just flat-out refuse to take us where we want to go.  Finally, an empty grand taxi parks right in front of us, probably to take a break, but my husband offers him a little extra to take us on and in the meantime, three others going our way make it worth his while.  Break forgotten, we are finally in a car and on our way.  Of course, there is an accident about 1/2 way home so we have to take a slight detour- oh what a night! 

So, there hasn’t been a single change to the buses since the new company arrived other than the reduction in price- whoopie do!  The buses aren’t all shiny and new save for a couple, and in fact the old buses where for the most part in better shape.  They obviously don’t run at the numbers needed for the rider demand and we now spend much more money taking taxis to place we happily rode the bus too. 

I think back to what the man was saying about going to speak with the bus company boss the following day and I realize how this is not something enough people can actually do to help make change.  In America, we have customer service desks, numbers, emails and when all else fails Twitter campaigns to voice our concerns over lack of service or quality in something we pay for.  We can work our way up from speaking with a sales associate to a manager to the manager’s manager.  As seemingly valuable customers, they will usually bend to our whims and give us what we want so we’ll come back again. 

In this situation there’s not customer service desk, number or website to complain to.  I highly doubt that man did anything the next day because who even knows where to go to complain.  If you finally do get on the bus, it’s pointless to say anything to the driver or the ticket clerk because with all the extra people complaining, I’m sure they are just as tired and frustrated as we are. And so many people have to rely on the bus because other modes of transportation are out of their budget, and life necessitates getting where they need to go- boycotting is not a luxury they can afford either.

We are very lucky that the buses are not our only option and that we can afford to take taxis if we want or have to.  But, the American in me is really peeved that I can’t really do much more about the situation other than continue to take taxis and the few lucky buses I can get on until things can get better.  And anyone who knows me knows, I love a good complaint letter or phone battle over a customer service issue, but I don’t even speak the language so I’m really powerless here.  All I can do is keep waiting for the bus, hoping it comes empty enough to hop on and if not take a taxi or forego my planned trip.   Moreover, I feel so terrible for the many people who have to sit and wait until the bus finally comes along because they don’t have any other choice. 

There is always hope and often an expectation that when something new comes along it’s bigger, better or more advanced than it’s predecessor.  So far and until further notice, it just isn’t so with Karama buses in Rabat.  Ugh.

My Maghreb Kitchen: Lamb Brochettes

I never really knew that kabobs were a Middle Eastern food thing.  It’s one of those things that I grew up with because my mom made us Lebanese food as part of our every day meals.  They never seemed like the other exotically named foods (well, exotic to an 8 year-old) like tabbouli or hommos.  Nowadays, kabobs aren’t some exotic food and everyone makes them all the time- in fact, they are a summer grill staple.  Of course, every culture has its method of seasoning, marinating, and cooking.  Back in the United States, I once discovered that even ground beef can be made into kabobs by shaping the meat around the skewer.  Who knew!  We used to go to this wonderful halal restaurant called Kabob Hut  in Laurel, MD about once a week (even though it was a 45 minute drive away) to have the spicy kefta kabobs- we miss them greatly!

In Morocco, kabobs are called brochettes and unlike their American counterparts that I’m most familiar with, the pieces of meat on a brochette are much smaller and there’s no vegetable between each piece.  One of the most popular preparations of brochette, especially during Eid Al-Adha is sheep’s liver grilled, then wrapped in belly fat and regrilled.  Not a fan!  Brochettes also come in all other meat forms like beef and chicken as well and are often found on many of the cafe menus- I love the chicken brochettes at Cafe Toubkal in Marakesh. 

During Eid this weekend, I watched twice as the perfect recipe for mutton or lamb brochettes were prepared in such a way that I would not only eat them there, but consider replicating the recipe again myself.  The recipe is really simple and the most work comes from cutting the meat in such small pieces. 

Luckily, on Sunday, my brother-in-law sat at the table and created mounds of meat cut perfectly for making brochettes.  Then, about half of it was bagged for us to take home.  Strange how in the United States we’d never even think of not taking meat on a three-hour journey without refrigeration, but here in Morocco, the sheep wasn’t refrigerated at all up to the point we had packed it in our bag.  Now, most of it is sitting in bags in my mini-freezer.  Anyhow, on to the recipe…

Brochettes of Mutton or Lamb
Serves 4-6
Cooking Time: 30-45 minutes preparation, about 7-10 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. mutton or lamb*
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 teaspoons red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 3 tablespoons oil

Heat up grill.  Cut meat into very small cubes, less than 1 inch square.  Chop onion and parsley very fine.  Place cut meat, onion, parsley, oil and all the spices in a bowl and mix well.  Allow meat to sit for at least 15 minutes before beginning to place meat on skewers.  Place skewers on grill and rotate after about 5 minutes until desired doneness is met.** Serve with crusty bread and a mixture of cumin and salt for dipping.

Notes:

  • *We used meat from the leg for our brochettes.
  • **We like them very well done, not tough but with a nice charcoaled edge to them.
  • I would only cook these over a real grill, not under a broiler, but that’s just my personal preference.

Thanks to MarocMama’s latest post and recipe I realized I forgot oil as an ingredient and the recipe has been amended above.

Stat Q’s: Do tagines have holes in the lid? How many days in the Moroccan year?

Some tagines have holes in the lid and some don’t.  The glazed ones I bought in America did not, but I only used them in the oven or for serving so I don’t think holes where necessary.  My first tagine in Morocco had one hole in the lid, and since I used it on the stove top and often wanted some of the steam to escape I preferred the hole.  However, when I got my new tagine it did not have holes in the lid and I still use it on the stove-top.  The necessary amount of steam still escapes while leaving the meat tender and juicy and the perfect amount of sauce for dipping bread in.

As for the second question- unless there is something I haven’t discovered yet Morocco has 365 days in the year just like the rest of the world.  The lunar calendar which is only used for charting Islamic holidays has 354 days a year.  Still this does not affect the amount of days in the Moroccan year as they don’t follow a third calendar system seperate from the rest of the world.