morocco

Yummy Bites In Morocco

In Chefchaouen, we found this cafe serving freshly toasted bread with light Chaouen cheese drizzled with local honey.
This is followed by coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice to wash it down. Aaaa...hh is all I can say.
For the two of us it costs 60 Dh.
You can do it cheaper if you buy your own cheese, honey and bread and DIY.




This is Marcelo posing infront of our favourite joint for the above
breakfast place.
The cafe is diagonally opposite the post office on a slope. With your back facing the Post office, it's on the right.



In Rabat, we were excited that they have a similar pancake as what we eat in South-East Asia.
In Singapore it's called roti prata and in Malaysia, roti canai. In S.E. Asia it's served with curry but in Morocco, it is eaten with cheese, honey, a sprinkle of salt or a drizzle of olive oil.
This was the best we tasted in the Medina in Rabat. Locals were hanging out very early in the morning for them which was a good sign.



In Meknes, the olive oil is sooo amazing that it lifts the flavour of even the simplest of foods.
The fried egg swimming in the olive oil from olive trees that are over a hundred years old turned this into a gourmet dish.





A side trip out of Fes to escape the pestering kids in the medina, we went to Sefrou and this chargrilled chicken sandwich was the redeeming part of the whole trip. The chargrill smell on the juicy chicken pieces were so tender and flavoured with a sprinkling of salt and cumin.




The tajines in general have been good but the fries introduction to the dish must make this a fusion dish.?
We found Thami in Fes in the market area. I read about Thami on the net and this is another addition to his credit. We nearly miss the train for it. Marcelo looked disappointed in his much anticipated second serve of the dish after he voted the first serve as the best tajine in Morocco.
Then he realised lunch was too close to our train departure time but I assured him that we will make it. We made it with a sprint to the train, much to the amusement of the locals.
If you ever eat there, insist that he cooks it. Our second serve was prepared by someone else and not as impressive.
Some of the best foods were had through our conscious search for the real Moroccan foods.
We had this Tajine near the Hassan mosque in Casablanca.
Not happy just to eat at the restaurants close to the mosque, we ventured a little further into a neighbouring suburb and the table was messy and looked a little scary for the faint hearted but one of the customers quickly wipe the table clean for us.
This is one of the many times we experienced the warmth and hospitality of the locals outside the tourist area. We thought he worked there but he did this for us.
The dish was delicious and the orange juice stand next to it served freshly squeezed orange juice.

Marrakech is the place for food and shopping. I am not talking about the famous square. I'd give it ten for atmosphere but zero for taste at those stalls. The better dishes are found in the local restaurants pass the arch on the left side of the post office and cheaper too.
Marrakech is also the best place to eat chicken or pigeon pastilla which is a filo pastry pie with a savoury filling of meat, onions and almond and then a sprinkle of icing sugar and cinnamon at the top to add a twist of sweetness to the dish. Cafe Bahia near the square has a good pigeon pie but the place doesn't look very clean.


This one from Cafe Agdal in the Nouvelle area was DELICIOUS. and so was their creme caramel.







The creme caramel was part of a set meal which included a salad and a tajine for 60 Dh which is less than A$10.
They serve the chicken and pigeon pies too in Essaouira but they are over priced.







However, we did find a great Couscous place on our last day there. Cafe restaurant Chez Kherfa on Rue Laalouj served a dish called Royal couscous which would please any King or Queen.
It took awhile for the dish to appear which is a good sign - the tender beef and chicken with eggs, vegetables and a hint of sweetness from prunes, figs and raisins in the light couscous made us devour the whole thing in 5 minutes.





Fresh mint tea which is very sweet and so refreshing!

Bits and Pieces

To impress the Moroccans just tell them you have tried Mechoui. The innards and bits of a lamb's head.
The orange juice is to die for in Marrakech but always check your change they tend to short change you.
The fish place in the market of Essaouira overcharged us and we asked them to break down the cost and they had to return us some money. Fish is fresh but very salty.
Water is generally cheaper in the supermarkets than the medinas.
Magnum costs A$5 in the restaurants close to the desert but it was worth every cent in the 50 degree heat.
Coffee made with local milk is super tasty like really good hot chocolate because of the fat in the milk. Worth the calories. Nouvelle area in Fes is a good time out place for a coffee if the medina gets a bit too much.

My challenge to make a tasty scone.

It could have been anything. It didn't have to be a scone. A pie, a sausage ANYthing and it didnt even have to be related to cooking. My husband thinks its an obsession when I start something and he can just see my ,"she is thinking about a project" look.

After trying my colleague's scone, it reminded me of my trip to the organic market in Collingwood in Melbourne. Scones made well just tasted so good.

This hols I said to myself I have to try to make them just as good if not better. My previous attempt was as my mum used to say, good for pelting at attackers. Or chewing into a frisbee. This time I told myself, I will get it right. So I got the recipe from my colleague and tried it with lemonade, cream and flour. Result? I had to empty the lot in the bin or run the risk of going for some major dental reconstruction.

This morning after researching on the net,watching how it was done on Youtube and also gettting hints from Women on the farm club, I decided I should give it another go. With tips from English kitchens, American Irish and also a Japanese site, I think I've got it this time.


But as usual I thought I might deviate from the recipes. As I reached for the flour from the pantry, I realised that the previous attempt was made with plain wholemeal flour and that might have explain the flatness of the scones if I can call them that.


So this time I just feel it is going to be good....

My Scone.

3 cups of SR flour

1 cup of lemonade

3/4 cup of milk (I think if I am using cheese, cream will be a bit too much)

1 handful of low fat cheddar cheese

10 stalks of chives chopped finely

1 egg

Sift the flour, add in the cheese and chives.

Fold the flour with the beaten egg and milk and then add the lemonade.
Instead of patting the dough, I scooped them with a ladle onto a tray with grease proof paper. I remember the tip was not to "play" with the dough too much cos then it gets hard.

Put into a preheated oven of 190 C and bake for 10 minutes and turn the tray around for another 5.

Yummy scones!!!

Farmers' Market

Eat ing fresh!

Around about 7.30 in the morning, I head to the Trash and treasure markets to see Ly, who grows her own vegetables. Whether its choy sum, bak choy or lettuce, they are all lovely and fresh like a wedding bouquet only these are so edible.

I usually get a variety of greens and they stay fresh the whole week.

Then it's off to the Farmers' market for wood fired bread, seasonal fruits and herbs, free range eggs and yummy mushrooms.

The mushroom man I call him leaves his place in Shoahaven at 4 in the morning after doing his pick of Swiss browns before heading to Canberra. I don't think it can get fresher than that. The green labels indicate that the farmers grew them and the white means that they have source them elsewhere.

The range of produce is superb and you can treat yourself to home made cakes and quality chocolates to olive oils, cheeses,organic vegetables,nuts and fresh seafood.

The free range eggs are firm and yellow and such a good source of protein and it feels good to know that they are laid by healthy chickens.

What I love to do is crush some fresh garlic as soon as I get home, fry them in some olive oil and cook a hot breakfast...

First the few cloves of garlic with a tbsp of olive oil,
then in goes the handful of sliced mushrooms cooked on the side with no oil so it has a chargrilled flavour and infusing the smell of the garlic at the same time.
Cook for a minute or so...
Add in a large chopped tomato so that the juices mixes with the garlic.
Then the 3 eggs with a dash of milk, a splash of water, a tbsp of mixed herbs from my garden-thyme,rosemary and vietnamese basil ...
followed by a sprinkle of cracked pepper and salt.
The steam from the water helps make the eggs fluffy.
Cook till it is almost done, then turn off the heat and the warmth of the pan will keep cooking the eggs a little.

Sometimes I add sheep cheese or low fat riccotta,olives and tomato paste so it tastes like a pizza.

Served with warm, crusty wood fired bread like spinach and fetta or sundried tomato or whole grain linseed bread, Ooh La la.

Marcelo would make some Cap. or Latte and we would sit outside our porch listening to Nat King Cole's Spanish crooning or Sarah Vaughn silky, soothing Jazz while the smells of garlic and coffee tantalise the senses.

Pineapple Tarts for the New Year.

Every one loves a TART.

Firstly, I just like to explain why they are so moreish and so popular amongst many during the festive season. If they are baked well like my sister's, then the savoury pastry melts in your mouth as your tongue comes into contact with the base and then when the pastry breaks away the sweetness of the pineapple topping gives it a wonderful contrast in taste and in texture.

Pineapple, as far as I understand from my visit to Taiwan is that it sounds like "Wang Lai" which means ' wishes come true' in the Hokkien/Fujian dialect. That is probably why you see pineapple mobiles hung outside of some Chinese households hoping that all their wishes will come true. That is also why pineapple is served in biscuits there. As far as Singaporeans are concerned, there is a huge population of descendants of people from the Fujian province but if you ask them why they have pineapple tarts during Chinese new year, their answer would probably be.. "I don't know. I eat them because they taste damn good."

I bake them because my Malaysian, Indian friends and my hubby like them. Rani, my girlfriend asked if I could bake her some last Christmas to serve to her friends but she and her visiting family devoured the lot themselves.

My sister Carol prepares her pineapple filling from fresh pineapple but I don't have the patience and so I use 2 large cans of pineapple, drain the juice, add sugar,cinnamon stick and a few cloves, a few drops of lemon and microwave the filling for about 30 minutes and they taste pretty good to me and my friends. :)

As for the pastry, there are two versions I make, one is harder and the other is a softer pastry that has more of a shortbread texture. It is time consuming and I don't eat them much myself but to see my friends appreciating them during the festive season is good enough for the time spent. The softer version is my sister's secret recipe but as usual I never follow them too closely. The ones below is the softer version and totally decadent!
I like to think it does make a lot of difference if you use good butter and free range eggs.

From the oven ....

To the table.....

and enjoyed with a cuppa mint tea.

Next week I might try baking some cookies for the new year...

Bak kwa

Chinese new year is on Valentine's day this year and only a month away so I decided to start preparing for the new year before I get too busy. I don't miss the sweets and cakes much but I do miss the get togethers back home.

Here, I usually have a few friends over for either afternoon tea or lunch. Some years the weather is too hot to cook I'd rather just vege out. However, I try to make bak kwa as Marcelo loves them and I don't see them sold here. Even if it was, I'd rather make them myself as it is done to our taste.

I first made it two years ago when I searched on the net for the recipe and tried to make a healthier version and the verdict was: it ain't bak kwa if it is too lean. I never follow a recipe religiously as some ingredients are not readily available and having cooked for so many years, it's easy to find ingredients to enhance the flavours of whatever I am cooking.

The recipe from Chowtimes from Canada calls for Kam cho which I have no idea what that is so I used a tbsp of fennel seeds which also has a liquorice taste to it and a tablespoon of coriander seeds to give it a crunchy texture. I'm sure it would taste even better if it was chargrilled which I did last year but seeing there is a fire ban at the moment, this is as close as it gets. I have frozen a batch and will grill it on Chinese new year.