Food journal Marrakech

Still in the relaxed holiday mood, I would like to share my food photo journal of my Marrakech getaway earlier this year before the pandemic. Here they are!

Bread with spicy olive and hot harissa.

Top: chicken pastilla/bastilla, crispy filo pastry with chicken cinnamon filling, sprinkled with sugar and almond. Bottom: briouatte/briwat, deep fried filo pastry with minced beef inside. In Morrocan cuisine the use of spices, especially cinnamon is in abundace, even combined with hearty flavour like pastilla for example.

Fresh tomato salad with shallot, paprika and parsley.

Breakfast at the riyad where I stayed. It was partly french inspired, you see croissant, butter and local touch with jams from fig and strawberry , Moroccan herbal tea, Msemen (flat bread) and naturellement freshly pressed orange juice.

Beside the much use of spices, Moroccan cuisine is known for its slowcooking. The following three pics proof it. Chicken tagine for lunch during a day out hiking in Ourika valley. It was piping hot when this was served in the terracotta tagine (tagine is the name of the terracotta pot).

Couscous viande, steamed couscous with super tender beef chunks and vegetables. On the right there is the clear and very rich broth as accompaniment. This one was really good.

Chicken stew with lemon in brine and orange blossom sauce, garnished with in cinnamon poached pears. This was a spice sensation in my month. Of course the chicken was super tender after hours of slow cooking.

Les desserts! Kunafa (baked string pastry) with crème patissière, caramelized dried fruits and perfumed with orange blossom. Heavenly! Kunafa or Kunafe is a string pastry, easily found in the Middle-East, Maghreb region, Turkey, Greece and Balkan region.

Orange pieces with cinnamon powder and almonds. The combination might seem strange to those who are not use to it, but it is interesting. All the flavours and structure go along well.

Besides fresh orange juice, Morocco is rich of pomegranate. One day I bought this pomegranate juice in one of the souks.

A display of sweet pastries in a pastry shop. One can buy it per piece or by weight. The pastries are good for by the tea.

Let me close this post with a picture of happy me with that lemon and orange blossom chicken stew 🙂 More interesing stories are coming up.