Moroccan Cooking 101: Harira!

If you've kept up with this blog or with my Facebook albums, then you may know that I have tried to embrace the extra time that life in the Peace Corps has afforded us to engage in many activities: from traveling to gardening (update: we have a few sprouts!!), from music to exercising, to perhaps most importantly, cooking. I've spent lots of time learning to cook and bake with fresh and healthy ingredients and I've learned many new techniques in the kitchen (if you're interested, I keep an ongoing cookbook which you can download here).

But as much as I've learned about cooking many different types of foods, surprisingly I haven't cooked a lot of Moroccan food! I think because we eat Moroccan food when we visit other people in the community (which happens fairly often), I haven't felt the need to spend time cooking traditional dishes in our house. But recently I've had several female friends who have tried to teach me some of the typical dishes made here. I've done well cooking alongside them, but had yet to try anything on my own. UNTIL TODAY!!! And HOLY HARIRA, this stuff is GREAT!! 

Chickpeas and lentils and chicken and amazing spices.... so good!

I present to you my first (and hopefully not last) successful Moroccan cooking endeavor! Harira is a very traditional tomato-based soup, often eaten during Ramadan to break the day's fast. There are many variations between recipes, some of which I noted in my recipe below. It's quite a long cooking extravaganza, made a bit shorter with the use of a blender and a pressure cooker, but for me it was well worth it. I made mine a bit thicker and chunkier than what I've eaten in other homes but I'm not gonna lie, it's one of the best I've eaten. If you make it, please let me know what you think!!

Harira
Serves 6-8 people (depending on how much you pile in the bowl!)

Ingredients
1/2 lb of raw chicken with bones (I recommend removing the skin)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped (I used a blender for this)
1 large onion, grated
1 handful of dry chickpeas, soaked overnight
6 large tomatoes, peeled/cored/pureed (I used a blender for this)
Spices: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1-1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp dry lentils, sorted and washed
3 tbsp tomato paste mixed into 1-1/2 cup water
3 tbsp uncooked rice (you can also use vermicelli noodles but the cooking times may vary a bit)
1/2 cup flour

Directions
1) Soak chickpeas overnight, then rinse and drain. To prepare ingredients before you begin cooking, do the following: Sort/wash lentils. Peel, core, and puree tomatoes in a blender. Chop parsley and cilantro finely. Puree celery in a blender. 
2) In a large bowl, combine the finely chopped cilantro, finely chopped parsley, pureed celery, grated onion, drained chickpeas, pureed tomatoes, and spices.
3) Put the chicken into the bottom of a large pressure cooker. Brown on medium heat for 2-3 minutes (you can use a little vegetable oil if you'd like to keep it from sticking, but if there's some fat on the chicken you should be fine without it).
4) Add mixture from #2 along with 3 cups of water. Cover with pressure cooker top and turn heat to high until pressure is reached. Then reduce heat to medium and cook 20-30 minutes.
5) Release pressure. Add lentils, tomato paste mixture, and 4 cups water (if you want thinner soup, you can add a bit more water here). Cover again with pressure cooker top and turn heat to high until pressure is reached again. Then reduce heat to medium and cook for 30 more minutes.
6) Release pressure and add uncooked rice. Cover again with the pressure cooker top and turn heat to high until pressure is reached again. Then reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes.
7) In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup flour with 1 cup water. Be sure to whisk it well and check the bottom of the bowl to make sure that all of the flour blends together.
8) After 15 minutes on pressure, release pressure. Taste and season if needed with salt and pepper (I didn't need to add anything). Reduce heat to a constant simmer. Pour in the flour/water mixture slowly and in a thin stream, while stirring constantly to thicken the soup to your preference. It should thicken very quickly. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
9) Enjoy it!! And save some extra for me :)

The newest members of our family

Don't get too excited! The newest members of our family are living creatures but they're  not very huggable or likely to learn any tricks. But they will (hopefully) be delicious!

This is my first shot at gardening, something that I've been wanting to do since we came to Morocco. Since we can't have a dog here, I figure I need something to tend to other than Justin - and I am really craving some of the fare that we can't get locally. If all goes well, in a few weeks we'll be seeing the start of spinach plants (on the left), basil (in the rigged up greenhouse covered in plastic wrap), and some herbs for cooking (thyme, rosemary, and oregano). 

Keep your fingers crossed for me! Green thumbs don't run in my family but I'm hoping that I can succeed nonetheless. I'll share updates either way!

Cooking and food in Morocco

I just finished writing my monthly letter to pen pals in Connecticut (I do this as one of Peace Corps' three goals, to educate Americans about our host country - you can read this previous blog post for more info). This month's letter was all about food in Morocco - and it got me thinking a lot about how living here has really changed my relationship with and perspective towards food and cooking.

If you read my blog post at the beginning of this year, then you may have seen that I've lost a lot of weight since moving to Morocco (close to 50 pounds at this point). And Justin has lost over 30 pounds. Now granted, both of us gained a lot of weight in the months leading up to our departure from America--mainly because we were trying to enjoy the food and drinks as much as we could before we left! But even so, a lot of this weight loss has come from having a more active lifestyle and adjusting the way that we cook and eat. I wanted to talk about a few of the things that have changed:

Use of Meat vs Vegetables
In Morocco, meat is expensive, relative to other food. For example, a pound of tomatoes might be the equivalent of $0.60, while a pound of chicken (is about $1.50 and a pound of ground meat is close to $5.00. So it might be for this reason that people eat far less meat than in the U.S. - or maybe it's also a difference in cooking styles. The biggest difference that I've noticed is that here, people do not seem to plan their meals around the meat. I remember often planning meals in the U.S. thinking about what meat I might make, and then adding sides/sauces/accompaniments to go with that meat. Here, people plan the meal itself (most typically a vegetable or bean-based meal) and sometimes meat is added into the mix, sometimes not. For example, on Fridays, families eat a massive plate of couscous that is LOADED with vegetables (photo example below)... sometimes meat is placed on top or in the middle, it's eaten last, and only a small amount is consumed per person.

I've found that while Justin and I don't typically eat traditional Moroccan food (I have yet to learn how to make couscous Moroccan-style), we have adopted the approach of eating far less meat. We get protein from eggs, beans, and other legumes and we eat meat only a few times a week, and that's probably still more often than many Moroccans. 

Processed vs Simple Foods
This is the big one for me. I think often about my lifestyle before moving here and how weekday dinners often consisted of a mix of takeout and frozen meals. Here, it's rare that I use a single "processed" ingredient in cooking - if I want tomato sauce, I have to make tomato sauce; if I want an American-style bread, I have to bake it; if I want lasagna noodles, I am rolling them out from scratch. I know that when I return to the U.S., I won't have nearly as much time for cooking as I do in Morocco.  But for me, finding a middle ground that will allow me to still prepare healthy, vegetable-focused meals, and not rely on lots of processed stuff, will be crucial. That's a big goal for me to begin figuring out as we move closer towards the end of our service in the fall.

Low Fat vs Full Fat
I have to say that it's been nice to live in a place where I'm not constantly bombarded by the diet wagon - low fat, low calorie, the newest diet fad, etc. I was explaining to a Moroccan friend recently about the pressure that people face in the U.S. to eat "healthy" and we were discussing what "healthy" really means. Is it worth it to eat low-fat foods that have lots of added chemicals, or high amounts of added sugar and salt? I'm not a doctor so I can't really say for sure what the answer on this is, but I've been eating full fat yogurt, milk, and butter for the last year (in moderation) and I feel healthier than I have in a long time. 


If you're interested in learning about the types of foods that Justin and I eat here, I keep an ongoing cookbook with all of our favorite meals. You can download a PDF of the latest cookbook by clicking here. It's a work-in-progress but I am excited that I'll leave Morocco with a thick stack of papers that might help to continue to improve my lifestyle back in the U.S. If you have recipe suggestions or other thoughts about this blog entry, please leave them in the comments section below! This is a topic that I've become really passionate about while living here, so I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Mountains and camels and pumpkin pie, oh my!

Greetings and happy December! Justin and I are settling back into Tiflet after a few weeks of traveling - first with friends from the U.S. in Morocco and Spain, and then with Peace Corps Volunteers in a small town in southern Morocco for an authentic Thanksgiving celebration. I was very happy to have lots of travel and adventures this month, because this same time last year I didn't do much more than stare unhappily at the cast on my leg! Thankfully, this year we were able to spend the holidays with new and old friends and take on new experiences, explore new places, and eat lots of yummy food :) Enjoy a few photos from our Moroccan adventures below - photos from Spain will come in another blog post soon!

Justin and I and snowy mountains! Never thought I would see this in Morocco!

Our friends from the U.S., overlooking Ait Benhaddou

Camel trek in the desert near Zagora! My ride for the afternoon :)

I'm not sure if this is just me, but I swear that Justin and his camel
have the SAME facial expression :)

I have been wanting to ride a camel for a while, so you can see I am very excited!

Camel shadows on the desert

Our Thanksgiving feast, some of which required key items to be shipped
from the U.S. (thanks to Justin's parents!). Stuffed chicken (no turkey to be found),
vegetable quiche, cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole,
sweet potato casserole, stuffing, and gravy. I think I'm still full from it!

Even some authentic apple and pumpkin pies!

A very happy group of Peace Corps Volunteers, about to partake in the meal.

Morocco 101: Eid al-Adha

Today is the third day of Eid al-Adha, one of the most important celebrations in the Moroccan calendar. "Eid" means "Festival" and "al-Adha" means "of the sacrifice." We spent the day with one of our good friends and his family, so I thought I would use this blog post to talk a bit about the day and also include a few photos from our experience (don't worry, nothing too graphic!).

So what is this sacrifice?

Eid al-Adha honors the story of the prophet Ibrahim (or as many may know from the Bible, Abraham), who was commanded by Allah (God) in a dream to sacrifice his first-born son Isma'il (Ishmael), as a test of his faith. Ibrahim blindfolded himself as he could not bear to see the sacrifice of his son, and as he cut Isma'il's throat and removed his blindfold, Ibrahim was astonished to see that Isma'il was unharmed and instead, he found a slaughtered ram in his son's place. As a reward for his faith, Allah granted Ibrahim the good news of the birth of his second son, Is-haaq (Isaac).

Wait, didn't Abraham sacrifice Isaac in the story?

This is slightly different from the story that many may know. In the Torah and the Christian Bible, Isaac is the son that Abraham was about to sacrifice, whereas in the Qur'an, Ibrahim (Abraham) was about to sacrifice his first son, Isma'il (Ishmael). The theological importance of the distinction is that Jews trace their descent from Isaac and Christians believe that Jesus was a descendant of Isaac, whereas Muslims believe that the Prophet Mohammed was a descendant of Isma'il.

Special Practices during Eid al-Adha

Preparing for Eid
To prepare for Eid, Muslims are encouraged to put on new or best clothes available, and to ensure personal cleanliness (people get haircuts, sometimes women will do henna). Muslims pray in the morning of the first day as a congregation before performing the sacrifice.

Justin and I in traditional clothes (the sheep, in his birthday suit)

The Slaughter
Muslims who can afford it purchase an animal prior to Eid to be slaughtered after the morning prayers. Those who cannot afford a sheep buy a goat or a less expensive animal. Justin and I guesstimated that there were about 10,000 sheep in our town the night before Eid, and we could hear the "baaaaaaaa's" echo through the night! After the morning prayers on Eid, the head of the family slaughters the sheep, or in some families, a butcher comes to the house and performs the ritual.

The men getting the sheep ready for the slaughter (don't worry, I didn't post a photo of that!)

Charitable giving  

As with many other Muslim holidays, in Eid it is important to give to the poor, through money or through sharing meat of the sacrificed animal.

The Hajj
One of Islam's revered observances, Eid al-Adha corresponds with the end of the Hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that annually draws 2 million Muslims.

Greeting Friends and Family
It's important during this time to visit friends and family and to wish them a "Mbrouk L'Eid" (Congratulations on Eid).

The Foods

Breakfast
Families eat sweets and cookies for breakfast, along with traditional bread-based fares. Here are some of the foods that were on our breakfast table!

Milwi, a traditional pancake type dish. Also called msemen in some places.

Lots and lots of cookies!

Post-Slaughter Meal
It's Moroccan tradition to prepare organ meats such as the liver and the heart on the day of the slaughter. What seems to be typical is wrapping pieces of the liver and heart in a fatty film that surrounds the stomach, skewering these on kabobs and grilling, and then eating with bread and spices.

Making kabobs with the family

The spices: cumin, salt, and hot pepper (here they call it sudaniya).

The finished kabobs... pretty tasty!

Other Meals
The days following the slaughter are very meat-heavy, as families continue to eat the remainder of the animal. Almost no parts of the animal go to waste - even the head and legs, these are roasted and eaten in the days following the slaughter.

And there are a wide variety of cooking methods, from roasting to grilling to slow cooking in tagines or otherwise.

Sheep head and legs roasting on the fire (I won't be eating this!).

This was our second year to celebrate Eid al-Adha (last year was during our training period). I found that it's a really great feeling to be experiencing things a second time around, to compare our experiences from town to town and year to year, gaining a better understanding of how customs and traditions can differ even within the country. And once in a while, having an idea of what to expect can be really nice when each new day in Morocco can bring us something very unexpected!

On an unrelated note - Thinking about everyone on the East Coast with Hurricane Sandy approaching. I hope that the damage is minimal and passes through quickly! And doesn't mess too much with Halloween :)

Morocco 101: Ramadan

Today is the second full day of Ramadan in Morocco. Justin and I are only going to be in Morocco for the first 4 days of it (we leave on Wednesday for a vacation) and then we'll be back for the remaining 2 weeks, but we are trying to experience as much as we can in the beginning! I thought I would use this blog post to talk a bit about Ramadan and our experiences so far.

The most well-known aspect of Ramadan for non-Muslims is the month-long fast between sunrise and sunset. For the last month or so, just about everyone we know or meet has asked the same question...

Are we fasting?

The answer is yes - sort of. Justin and I have committed to fasting while we are in Morocco, out of respect for the community and to try to get a sense of Ramadan from a closer perspective. However, since we are leaving on Wednesday to travel out of the country for 2 weeks, we'll be starting with a mini-fast of just 4 days, and then we'll try to resume fasting when we return. It's been really interesting to hear people's responses when we tell them that we are fasting - Some seem happy and proud of us, others are confused as to why we would fast if we are not also praying, and most warn us that it will not be easy! But people seem to really love Ramadan - they say that it's a beautiful time when the community comes together and experiences something very special. And just in our first day, I felt like fasting was something that mentally tied me to the community - As I walked around yesterday, I felt that I shared something in common with the whole community, which is a pretty cool feeling when you are living far away from home. And the flip side of fasting is that you have an amazingly delicious meal to break the fast each and every night. Some pictures from our first break-fast meal are at the end of this blog post!

As I mentioned above, Ramadan has started in Morocco - but exactly when it started is not as simple a question as you might think...

When does Ramadan start?

Well, that's a funny question that has been baffling me.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and as with all months in the Islamic calendar, its start is based on the sighting of the new moon. There appears to be a lot of disagreement over the starting date of the month.

Since Muslims live all over the world, but Islam started in what is now known as Saudi Arabia, they may not agree as to which country’s first moon sighting marks the start of the month. Some Muslims believe that a new moon sighting from their individual country marks the start of Ramadan. Other Muslims believe that the sighting of the new moon from Saudi Arabia marks the beginning of Ramadan. And yet other Muslims believe that technology should be used to mark the true date, and use astronomical calculations instead to determine the start of Ramadan.

In Morocco, it was based on the sighting of the moon here. So for several nights we stayed awake, waiting for a friend to tell us whether or not the new moon had been sighted. Seems like a tough way to mobilize a whole country to start fasting, but it works for people here!

Many of you may already know a lot about Ramadan, but here's a bit more information that I have learned during my time here.

What is Ramadan?

Ramadan is the month-long period of fasting that Muslims all over the world observe to commemorate the month in which the Qu'ran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims also believe that during this month, the gates of Heaven are open, the gates of Hell are closed, and devils are chained in Hell. So it is a very holy time, filled with special practices which are only done this month.

Special Practices During Ramadan

Fasting all month

Although Muslims fast during other times of the year, Ramadan is the only time when fasting is obligatory during the entire month for every able Muslim. From sun-up to sun-down, Muslims (with exceptions for the ill, travelers, nursing mothers and pre-pubescent children) are required to abstain from eating, drinking, or sexual relations during daylight hours.

Charitable giving

There is also an increased emphasis on alms-giving during Ramadan. Many Muslims believe that their good actions bring a greater reward during this month than at any other time of year, because this month has been blessed by Allah. 

Increased prayer and recitation of the Qu'ran

In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qu'ran. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Qu'ran by means of special prayers which are held in the mosques every night of the month.

Iftar (the break-fast)

At sunset, the family gathers for the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar. The meal traditionally starts with the eating of three dates (as this is what the Prophet Muhammad did). Then a festive meal is served after prayers. This is a time of fellowship with families, friends, and the community.

Suhoor

A small meal eaten just before dawn; the final meal before the day's fast begins.

And very important... some special foods during this time!

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the eating portion of this month. There are many special types of food that, while available in Morocco at other times in the year, are emphasized this month. Here are the 3 big ones that I have seen so far:

Shbekia: A sesame cookie which is folded into a flower shape, fried and soaked in honey, then sprinkled with sesame seeds. Justin and I have spent HOURS making shbekia with our host family; it takes a really long time but is very good!

Sellou: Made from toasted sesames, fried almonds and flour that has been browned in the oven - very sweet!

Harira: A very tasty chickpea and tomato soup. Although eaten year-round, it seems to be especially popular in Ramadan for breaking the fast.

Making shbekia with my host mother.

The shbekia "before" picture - sesame-based dough
that will be fried and then drenched in honey.

The completed shbekia! Covered in honey and sesame seeds.

The break-fast table - Ours was a little nontraditional; note the pizza in the middle!
Also pictured are sellou, fried fish, shbekia, juices, and harira to come.

Close-up on the sellou.

And last but not least, the harira!
I could eat this stuff ALL. DAY. LONG. When I'm not fasting of course :)

I hope you enjoyed hearing a bit about Ramadan. Wishing you a Ramadan Kareem, a month filled with generosity and holiness!

Language (and food) updates

It's been a long time since I talked about our language progress (here's the last one, way back in February!) so I thought I would do a short update.

This past week, Justin and I took a day trip into Rabat to help Peace Corps staff with "Language Proficiency Interviews" (LPI, for short). After the initial 2-month training period, all Peace Corps Volunteers take an LPI test that assesses their level of acquired language, ranging from Beginner Low/Medium/High, to Intermediate Low/Medium/High, to Advanced Low/Medium/High, and up to the most fluent level of Superior. To become an LPI tester takes quite a bit of training and practice, and Justin and I were serving as the guinea pig interviewees for the testers. We were of course excited to do this as it was more practice in language for us, and might help us get a sense of how our language has progressed.

So how has our language progress been going? In the few months after coming to our permanent site, I think our language skills were the strongest, as we were forced to use Darija to find and set up an apartment, meet new people, begin English classes, and generally explain who we are and what we are doing in Morocco. Nowadays, we tend to have similar conversations each day - greeting friends, shopping in the market, or discussing familiar activities in our Youth Center. We meet with a Darija tutor once or twice a week (he is an English teacher at a local high school) but neither of us have studied regularly enough to make much progress outside of our tutoring sessions. 

So our progress has been focused more on improving speaking, understanding others, and pronunciation, rather than acquiring new vocabulary or grammatical structures. Fortunately we both picked up the language pretty well during our training period, which has helped us here. Justin originally tested at an Intermediate Low level and I tested at an Intermediate Mid level (though I think I should have been Intermediate Low). After our testing in Rabat this week, we were told informally (as these were not official tests) that we are both at an Intermediate Mid level - which is high enough to be able to perform all of our tasks, make friends, and work well with counterparts. And apparently we have both developed strong communication strategies to make up for language that we don't know (so if, for example, we don't know a particular word, we just find a way to talk around that word to get our point across). 

So it may be difficult to improve our language levels, but I think if I dedicated myself to studying just a little bit every few days, it could make a big difference. My goal would be to speak at an Intermediate High or Advanced Low level by the time I leave Morocco... Inshallah!* 
* that means "If God wills it" - a very commonly used phrase here!

In other news - Summer is in full swing in Morocco. We are very fortunate to be in a site that's not too hot - Today it was 115 in Fes, and for us today only about 92 at its highest, so while it's hot, it's nowhere near as bad as it is elsewhere in Morocco. Ramadan is coming up next week, which I'll write more about in the next blog post, and I'm really looking forward to learning firsthand about what it's like. Justin and I will be in Morocco for the first few days of Ramadan, and then we'll be leaving to travel for 2 weeks. More on that soon. And I've been doing a bit more cooking since we've had some spare time - Check out a few photos of the latest dishes below, and visit my recipe page if you are interested!

Homemade lasagna bolognese - even the noodles were homemade. Took SO. LONG.

Gnocchi in a tomato cream sauce! Hopefully the Italian side of my in-laws are proud :)

French fries - very easy, wouldn't do often but fun to have!

Tortillas - have made these lots but never took a photo. Very easy and very good!

My parents visit Morocco!

Here's the second installment of updates from the last few weeks. After our regional meetings in Azrou ended, Justin and I hopped on a train to meet my parents who were arriving in Casablanca! They spent about a week in Morocco with us and we used the time to catch up on many lost months, with sightseeing, shopping, partaking in wonderful Moroccan food, and of course, enjoying lots of family time together. Hope you enjoy the photos from a week that went by far too quickly!!

Overlooking Rabat's Kasbah and the Atlantic Ocean

A Jewish synagogue from the 17th century in Fes

A break from sightseeing, and enjoying some mint tea!

A musician in Rabat's Kasbah

With a guard, in front of the Mohammed V Mausoleum in Rabat

A traditional breakfast food called "milwi" - very good!

Beautiful fountain

Mom and Dad in a garden in Rabat's Kasbah

Overlooking the Fes tanneries, where leather is dyed by hand! Quite a smell but really cool to see.

Close-up of blue dyed leather

Couscous!

I have developed an affinity for taking photos of beautiful Moroccan lamps :)

In front of the Hassan Tower in Rabat

Dad does his famous Weinrich act (pretending to run into something) in Rabat

A spread of yummy Moroccan salads!

Pouring tea

Doors to the King's Palace in Fes

Called "bastilla au lait," a very tasty dessert!

Lunch with our host family in Tiflet

My Moroccan and American parents together :)