Traditional Moroccan lunch
Morocco is the Ocean, the sand, the dunes, the desert, the mountains, the forest, the prairies…But it is most of all welcoming and warm-hearted people. The last ones wouldn’t hesistate to open their doors, to give you the best lunch ever. I was, during my trip to Morocco, invited to live a unique adventure which you can’t have in any luxury restaurant. At the entrance, it’s a little traditional house but which has all the facilities of a villa from the 21st century : plasma screen, air conditionner, home theater… By the way, I found really amusing to have the latest air conditionner hung to a wall built using the oldest techniques : mud and “gort”, the perfect alliance of culture and modernity ! We were numerous, so we invaded the lounge, the eating space and the tea one, which were all of three prepared in advance to welcome an homemade tajine cooked by the owner of the house. I must admit that I’ve tasted a lot of tajines but this one was one of a kind.
We first washed our hands in what I called a “movable and economic washbasin”. After, we devoured, starving as we were, first an entry : a plate of green salad with a so particular seasoning. Then, we started the long-awaited burning chicken tajine. We had to learn the moroccan technique: take a little piece of bread (a local bread called “Beldi”) which you hold with three fingers (the thumb, the index and the major). You then soak the bread in the sauce with some chicken, onion and a mysterious food black and sugary which I can’t unfortunately remember. And finally, you eat. During the lunch, a little girl of the house, named Arwa held me company : she talked me about her stories, her age, her birthday’s party… Of course, I needed the help of our a local moroccan guy to make me understand her. After our succulent tajine, as the tradition wants, we drunk the tea. The man of the house proposed us two big cups (one with sugar, one without). He asked which one we wanted. Almost everyone took the cup with sugar, nobody had the bravery to confront the real and unique Moroccan tea as it. The hosts didn’t forget to bring us homemade pastries to extend the pleasure of this lunch.
