Cooking at the Kasbah
Moroccan week is over and, overall, it was very successful! Most of the dishes I chose to cook were stews, not sure if that’s because those are the dishes I just happened to pick out, or because that is what the majority of Moroccan entries are. The only non-soup/stew that I made was the wonderfully (and sinfully) delicious Chicken B’stila – keep reading for the details!
Moroccan flavors: saffron, sweet Hungarian paprika, cilantro, parsley, turmeric, ginger.
Dinner No. 1: Tagine B’Ga’Raa Sghira Wa Matisha Mieb’sa
Lamb Stew with Zucchini, Potatoes & Sun-Dried Tomatoes
This was a rather delicious stew. Aside from the perfectly tender bites of lamb, I’d say the highlight was the sun-dried tomatoes – they really made the dish pop. This stew was spiced with saffron, turmeric, cilantro and parsley.
Rating: 4/5
Dinner No. 2: Tagine Bil Hoot
Fish Stew
My first go at cooking mahimahi seemed to go rather well. I don’t think I overcooked it (too much)! This stew was spiced with cilantro, sweet Hungarian paprika, saffron, ginger, cumin, and garlic – which gave it a full, rich flavor. But what really gave it a kick was the green olives! One ingredient I left out was a tablespoon of preserved lemon pulp (which I didn’t have 6 weeks to wait on), I’m not sure how much of a difference it would have made, but I tried to substitue with a bit of grated lemon rind.
Rating: 4/5
Dinner No. 3: Sebha Del Hdaree
Ratatouille with Dates
This seemed like a pretty typical ratatouille, spiced primarily with rosemary, a bay leaf, and sweet Hungarian paprika. It contained onion, red bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and the best part – dates. The dates really helped round out the flavors and give it a smooth sweetness.
Rating: 3.5/5
Dinner No. 4: B’stila B’djej
Chicken B’stila
Holy mother of god. This was like eating baklava stuffed with spiced chicken, onion, and eggs. It was like dessert for dinner. The whole pie contained about a cup of powdered sugar! Between the cinnamon’y-sugary, savory slow cooked chicken filling and the flaky phyllo wrapper – it really just melted in your mouth. The pie all by it self was a 5/5 – but! accompanied by Israeli couscous and caramelized carrots – Adam gave the whole meal a record-breaking 6/5!!
Rating: 6/5
Dinner No. 5: Chorba B’hodra
Saffron-Vegetable Soup
A hearty beef soup with strong saffron flavor. There were a ton of great vegetables in this one – onion, tomato, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, celery. Thickened up with lentils and Israeli couscous. A rather good ending to the week!
Rating: 3.5/5
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That’s it for Moroccan week! Only three more cuisine weeks left this year – next up is Thai! I do love me some good Thai food, so it should be a fun week!
- Vietnamese – DONE!
- French – DONE!
- Irish – DONE!
- Indian – DONE!
- Jamaican – DONE!
- Ethiopian – DONE!
- Greek – DONE!
- Cuban – DONE!
- Moroccan – DONE!
- Thai – NEXT!
- Polish
- Japanese
5 Comments | Post a comment
Nice. I’m moroccan , but I see that you didn’t prepare the COUSCOUS :)
@Omar Berrayti – Haha.. no, the couscous was most definitely out of a box from the international aisle! Did my meals look authentic enough otherwise? :)
Yes, there are :) especially the BSTILAH :) but for the TAJINE, I think you have to presnt it in the TAJINE (see it in the link )
but anyways they look awesome :)
Did you visit Morocco before ?
http://www.certiferme.com//imgs/contenu/recette_photo/upload/tajine-de-poulet-et-d-agneau-avec-des-pruneaux-et-des-abricots-secs-15031215141431.jpg
@Omar – As for the Tajine, I didn’t actually cook it in one ;)
I have not been to Morocco yet, but it’s definitely on the short list!
I hope you come to visit Morocco :) You are welcome in our country !