Marrakech, Morocco - Day 4

Thursday, February 1, 2024

This morning we had breakfast at our hotel, Riad Azoulay where we enjoyed msemmen (a type of moroccan fry bread), goat cheese and sliced tomatoes on toast, yogurt, and fruit, and freshly-squeezed orange juice and coffee. We learned that a typical breakfast for locals includes olive oil, bread, and mint tea, but for hotel guests visiting from around the world, they obviously provide more of a spread.

After breakfast, Andi, Tory, Aden, and I walked about 15 minutes through the Medina to a neighboring hotel called Riad Sultan. Andi signed us up for a cooking class there this morning where we learned how to make several popular Moroccan dishes. The food has been so flavorful in Morocco that we thought a cooking class would be a fun way to see how traditional recipes like chicken tagine, zaalouk (eggplant and tomato salad), and others are prepared.

The host of our cooking class, Yasser, greeted us at the pre-determined meeting spot and then led our family through a honeycomb of narrow alleyways until we reached Riad Sultan. He welcomed us inside his family’s hotel and offered us hot mint tea to sip on as he finished setting up. We didn’t book a private class, but fortunately no one else had signed up for the lesson so it was just the four of us cooking today.

The custom of greeting guests with mint tea is deeply engrained in the Moroccan culture. It is a sign of hospitality, and can be seen as offensive if guests refuse it. According to tradition, only men are suppose to prepare Moroccan mint tea for others, and it is poured from high above each small glass to allow the tea to oxygenate and release all the aromas of the tea. Watching a Moroccan man pour mint tea for his guests is like a form of art as the brown liquid leaves the tea pot in a long, smooth stream. Mint tea is always served with sugar cubes. It’s the sign of a good pour when there’s bubbles in the glass.

Usually the cooking class starts by going to the market to buy fresh produce, but Yasser said their local market was damaged during the September 2023 earthquake. Now, their closest market is 30 minutes away which is too far to travel during the four-hour class length. Instead, Yasser picked up groceries ahead of time for us to use.

Today, we prepared chicken tagine and a variety of Moroccan salads including potato salad, sweet carrots, tomato salad, and zaalouk (which is steamed eggplant and tomatoes). We started by discussing the various spices used in the dishes, and Yasser told us how important grinding your own spices is to having flavorful food. Common spices used in Moroccan cooking are cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, ginger, and a mixture called “35 spice.” Yasser said all Moroccan families have their own secret recipe for “35 spice” and it’s often the go-to spice when a woman isn’t a very good cook. That’s why, he said, his aunt who was assisting us with our cooking class today, refuses to use it. Ha!

In addition to spices, Moroccan cooking also uses fresh garlic and preserved lemon. I’d never heard of preserved lemons before, but they are a key ingredient in Moroccan cooking. Yasser explained that they make their own by slicing lemons in half and then pickling them in a brine of water and salt. His family only makes them a few times a year because they take months to ferment at room temperature. When the lemons are ready to use, they only remove what they need from the jar with either gloved hands or a wooden spoon because bare hands carry bacteria and a metal spoon will oxidize the lemons still left in the jar. Moroccans use preserved lemons — sliced, chopped, or minced — in many dishes such as soups, stews, and of course, tagine.

After a lesson in spices, the four of us began dicing onions, garlic, tomatoes, carrots, and eggplant and incorporating them into various dishes. We did all the prepping; Yasser was adamant that this was our cooking class so he could only direct us. His aunt helped us as well, but she was more of a silent participant because she did not speak English. While we cooked, we talked to Yasser about life in Morocco, our families, cultures, and foods we all enjoy. He was so easy to talk to, and really great with Tory and Aden, too.

Most Moroccans are Muslim, and Fridays are designated as a holy day of prayer and rest for them. After their midday prayers, Moroccans gather together with friends and family to eat couscous and tagine. They typically only eat couscous on Friays as part of this tradition. Yasser showed us the pot in which they cook their couscous — different than the way we make it, Moroccan couscous takes two hours to boil over the stove using this special pot.

Once all the food was prepped, Yasser put the tagine pot directly onto the burner to cook. “Never put tagine inside the oven,” he told us, “always cook it on the stovetop.” The tagine cooked for a total of 90 minutes. I thought it was interesting that we didn’t add spices to the tagine until the end of the cooking process. If we add them too soon, Yasser said, they will lose all their flavor.

While the tagine was cooking, we prepared dessert. Yasser asked Aden to open two containers of yogurt and scoop them into a bowl. Unbeknownst to him, Aden hates dairy products and practically gags at the sight of yogurt. Andi, Tory, and I couldn’t help but laugh as Aden timidly put his spoon in the yogurt cup and started spooning it into a bowl. Fortunately, Yasser kept calling it “cream” instead of yogurt, so Aden wasn’t completely appalled.

We took the tagine and side dishes up to the rooftop terrace to eat. It was a gorgeous day outside — 70 degrees and sunny skies — and we enjoyed having an entire rooftop dining table all to ourselves.

The chicken tagine was excellent — the best we’ve had during our time in Morocco — and the side salads were tasty as well. I’m the only one that liked the zaalouk (eggplant and tomatoes) and tomato salad, but everyone was a fan of the sweet carrots and potato salad.

Our dessert was baked phyllo dough “chips” sprinkled with cinnamon, sliced strawberries, and cream. Yasser instructed us to layer strawberries and cream between two phyllo dough chips and eat them like a sandwich. The dessert was light and refreshing, though a little messy.

After lunch, we thanked Yasser for a wonderful cooking class. We learned so much about Moroccan cooking and even picked up a few chef’s skills from him.

When we told Yasser that our next destination was the Sahara Desert, he asked if we have scarves to take with us. I have one, but Andi and the kids do not. “Oh, you will want a scarf for protection against the intense sun and sand,” he said. He was adamant that we buy them in Marrakech so they are cheaper and that we pay no more than 70 Dirhams ($7 USD) for a scarf. “If they tell you 100 DH, you say 10 and be prepared to walk away. Make them chase you down the street until you get a fair price,” Yasser said. “It is not rude,” he said, “that is part of the dance of negotiating, and is a part of our culture.”

On our walk back to our riad in the Medina, we stopped in one of the shops to buy three desert scarves. The worker was so friendly and nice, demonstrating how to tie the scarf around Tory’s head for maximum sun and sand protection. When it came time to negotiate, the man asked for 500 Dirhams. Andi offered 250 DH ($25 USD), and the man accepted. We thought $25 for three scarves was a fair price.

Since the Bahia Palace was directly across the street from the shop, we decided to check it out. This is rated as one of the top attractions in Marrakech, but honestly, our family was a bit underwhelmed by it. The Ben Youssef school and Secret Gardens we visited on Tuesday were much prettier.

Bahia Palace is one of the largest palaces in the Medina. Built in 1894 by Ahmed Ben Moussa, the grounds feature a courtyard, gardens, and several buildings which display detailed artwork and architectural detail.

After visiting the palace and an ATM, we returned to Riad Azoulay to do school work. Andi sat in the lobby of the hotel and worked while the kids and I did lessons on the master bed in our room. Everyday that I open Tory’s math book and there isn’t a pre-algebra lesson to teach staring back at me, I’m thankful!

Afternoon snacks left by the housekeeping staff in our hotel room:

The kids begged to have dinner at Riad Azoulay again - they love the pasta so much. Truly, our riad has had the best food and service of anywhere we’ve eaten in Marrakech this week, so Andi and I were fine staying in for another meal. Tonight’s dinner was harira (moroccan soup), chicken tagine with vegetables and couscous, and tiramisu for dessert. Even though we ate chicken tagine for lunch today during our cooking class, tonight’s dinner of the same basic ingredients had different flavors. It was really delicious, and once again we retired to our room for the night with very full bellies.

Unfortunately, I came down with a head cold today and wasn’t feeling so great tonight. Andi and Tory offered to go a pharmacy to buy me some medicine. Yesterday, I thought my sinuses bothering me might be a reaction to all the smog and dirt in the air, but now it feels like I have a full-blown cold.

Most of the shops in the Medina were closed by 9:00pm, so the staff at Riad Azoulay recommended Andi catch a taxi at the square and go into the more modern part of Marrakesh. A ten minute drive brought Andi and Tory a shopping mall in Marrakech featuring clothing stores, a grocery store, and a pharmacy. “You mean to tell me this was here the whole time?!” Tory exclaimed. Yes, there is more to Marrakech than what’s inside the fortified walls of the Medina (old city). There is also a regular, bustling big city here with modern amenities like shopping malls and grocery stores.

The elevator buttons really had Tory and Andi puzzled. Negative floors?

After driving all around town to five different pharmacies, Andi and Tory finally found one that was open late into the evening. They bought me some sinus / head cold medication and some Vitamin C tablets.

Andi said their taxi driver was the nicest man, and was so helpful in finding a pharmacy. He wasn’t going to give up, and even went with Andi inside the store to help Andi translate to the pharmacist what he needed. Traveling teaches us again and again that the world is full of good people. People have been so kind to us here in Morocco — from the taxi driver, hotel employees, tour guides, and our cooking class instructor — everyone has been genuinely warm and welcoming to our family. We are leaving Marrakech tomorrow feeling so enthused about this country, its people, the colors, smells, and flavors. It’s absolutely incredible here! Looking forward to visiting more rural parts of Morocco now as we travel east toward the Sahara Desert.