A Food Tasting Tour in the Heart of Marrakech!

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: [00:01:00] Welcome to another episode of Destination Morocco podcast. We are in the middle, at the heart of Jemaa el-Fnaa. We are in an area, what they call the "Olives" area, Zeitoun. And in today's episode we have a local guide, Mr. Ahmed, and we're gonna do a food tasting. So it's gonna be a lot of fun, a lot of goodies. So I'm definitely looking forward to today's episode.

I want to eat a lot of food and taste a lot of food as well. So when you come to Marrakesh, when you do this in the square, if it smells good, eat it. Mr. Ahmad, welcome to Destination Morocco podcast. Thank you. Would you please let the audience know about what to expect in this episode? 

AHMED: [00:02:00] Normally, you are in Marrakech and you are in one small part of it, which is above two in the entrance of the biggest market.

Semmarine. And this is the market of olives because, Marrakesh or the souks of Marrakesh, have many sections. And this is one of the important sections. And Morocco is a Mediterranean country. That's why we have olive trees, and olive trees are blessed because they are mentioned in the Koran.

That's why, here, the locals are faithful, to eat them, to cook with them, and to treat them with the many different ways. Because we have many ingredients, and each part of Morocco, they prepare them differently. As we have some ones, we cook with them tagines of meats, or chicken tagine, or we eat them directly in the morning.

 Olives are some fruit, [00:03:00] vegetables. People use them and preserve them for a long time to eat them and to survive with them. Because the Berbers, they had difficult conditions of life in the mountains. That's why they preserve many things. We're gonna tell you also about something, the Berbers, they preserve them to survive in delicate cases like bad weathers and bad conditions.

And olives are one of the important vegetables and famous, that's why we are here right now, to explain to you different kind of olives and why the colors are different. And which color is for tagine of chicken, and which color is for tagine of meat, and what kind of color we eat them directly in the morning.

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Perfect. Let's dig in. Okay. 

AHMED: You are in the shop number 10. "The best one!" Yeah. Then, why the colors are different, because, it depends the time we pick them. If we pick them early, then the [00:04:00] season of olives starts October, November, and the olives are green. That's why if you take them and you put them in a pot and you add water and you add salts and some juice of lemon, and you preserve them, then you will have this color. . 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: So this is our next stop. the second stop that we talked about earlier. Yes, exactly. And we are at the pastries, the Moroccan pastries. There's different types of pastries here in Marakesh. Some are traditional and some are modern. Mr. Ahmed is gonna go over the details and explain to us the difference in terms of sweets that are traditional versus the modern ones. And also the occasions [00:05:00] where do we have the traditional versus the modern sweets. Mr. Ahmed, would you please explain to the audience what you have in your hand right here. 

AHMED: Welcome again. Those are three traditional pastries. This is, you know what we called it in our dialect, Ghriba. And this is Chebakia, because the form is twisted.

And this one, we call it Fekkas. The three of them are made by flour first, and some dried fruits like almond and walnut, sesame, sugar and honey. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Okay. The question that I have for you, I'm familiar with these, what are the occasions that we consume these in a Moroccan traditional house?

AHMED: Who creates those pastries in Morocco. [00:06:00] Those pastries belonged to the Jewish tradition first. Then, as the Berbers were from the mountains, the Arabs, originally are from the Middle East, which is Sahara, then but the Jewish are from everywhere.

Then they had many creativity and many rituals to live some events, and especially how to make the pastries. This one in the center, we called it Chebakia. This one specially, it's made by the Jewish and one special event, which is religious events.

They called it Mimouna. And this Mimouna, this ritual or this religious occasion exists only for the Jewish of Morocco. Because there is many Jewish all around the world, but you know the Jewish of Morocco, they only celebrate Mimouna in Morocco. Yeah. Mimouna exists only in [00:07:00] Morocco.

And after that, the Chebakia become very popular in our country. It become one of the traditional pastries. We make it in Ramadan especially. And we have it in the first meal after the sunset as an Iftar. As we need sweet things as energy. And we mix the salty, which is Harira, the soup, we're gonna see it later. And the sweet, which is the Chebakia. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Welcome back to Destination Morocco Podcast. We are still doing the food tasting. We are back in the Jemaa el-Fnaa Square, as you can see, the [00:08:00] background noise, music, drums- it looks like it's getting crowded, then it's gonna get a lot more crowded than what it is right now. So we are at our third stop tonight, and it's the dry fruits stop.

So we have Mr. Ahmed, local guide, he's gonna explain to us the importance of dry fruits in Morocco, and why it's really important as well to include it in the food tasting tour. Mr. Ahmed, take it away. 

AHMED: Thank you. You are front of one stand of dry fruits. The dry fruits are very popular here in our country, and also especially in our culture, because normally, one of the celebrations it's the New Year, which is Arabic, we call it Hijri. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: So it's the lunar year. Yeah, the lunar year. 

And the lunar calendar is about [00:09:00] 29 days to 30 days.

Yes, exactly. So it's shorter than the regular year. It's about 11 days shorter every year. Yes. 

AHMED: Then, one of the rituals that we prepare some cookies, for example, the famous one is this. This is flour made or rolled like a snake, and mixed with some ingredients, like anis, and some other like sesame and sugar. Sesame seeds.

 We cut them and we take them to the public oven, which is communal, and we bake them and we bring them home. Then after that, the father goes to buy different dry fruits, and he gives them to the mother, and the mother makes them, and share all of them [00:10:00] between all the members of the family. With the democracy.

I see! 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: So basically, growing up, I've seen the dried fruits and also we use them for special occasions. Sometimes again, just like we talked earlier, just when we have guests, like in the afternoon we give them mint tea, then we give them some dry fruits or Moroccan sweets, traditional or modern.

So this is no different, and it's really popular. Also, they're very popular especially in weddings. Can you tell us a little bit more about the dry fruit and the importance of them in weddings, and also what's included in that little package in that mix? 

AHMED: The dry fruits and especially the dates and the almonds and the walnuts

are often present with some other elements as a gift from the groom to the bride, in the wedding. And especially the [00:11:00] dates. Why? Because they are blessed and mentioned in the Koran as a dry fruit. That way, we take them as a symbolic gift. Like we have other things like sugar, milk and henna.

They are also symbolic. Then also the dates are symbolic. Often also are present in Ramadan, by the way. As a first thing we eat after the breakfast. Iftar. And also figs. The dry figs. Dry fruit, as I told you we take them, we present our love to the person who is organizing the wedding or any events, then we represent for him our love by many kinds of dry fruit. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: The other thing that we do, especially when it comes to weddings, we do stuffed dates.

Those are special dates. They cannot be the small dates, but if you look at, [00:12:00] right there, you can see the Madjool (dates). And those are used to be stuffed with other fruits, in weddings and stuff like that. And they get really tasty. 

AHMED: The dried fruit sellers become more creative. They add many, many flavors to many dried fruits, especially the almond. You could add cheese.

Oh wow. Yeah. Switch in salted cheese and normal cheese. Sesame and the thyme, and honey or sugar. This is caramel. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Yeah. Sugar, or honey. Yeah. Okay. Makes sense. So 

So basically, besides the regular tradition, now, people are becoming more [00:13:00] creative and they add more stuff to what normally used to use for weddings and special occasions. So This concludes our dried fruits, and the next stop [00:14:00] will be the soup, Harira, the soup. The next stop is gonna be the Harira, which is a famous Moroccan soup, specially made in Ramadan. But also in Marrakesh, it's really made throughout the year. And people love it whether in Ramadan, from outside Ramadan. Personally, I love it outside Ramadan, 'cause I get to get more than just one bowl. Welcome back to our next stop of the food tasting. This stop, we're gonna taste the traditional Moroccan Harira, which is also called vegetable or vegetarian Harira. And it's a stable in the Moroccan kitchen, especially in Ramadan. And then after that, we're gonna do a little bit of tasting of Msemen, which a lot of people call [00:15:00] Moroccan pancakes.

And it's also a part of the traditional Moroccan breakfast. It can be used by itself as a breakfast, or parts of eggs and other ingredients, for the Moroccan table, for breakfast. Again, Mr. Ahmed, welcome back. Thank you. It's been an amazing tour so far. Thank you. And we're very grateful for you.

 So, if you would please explain to the audience what we're gonna do for the next maybe 10 to 20 minutes. 

AHMED: Okay. Now, this one is about Harira, which is Moroccan Italian soup, which is made by lentils and chickpeas, fava beans. Fava beans. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: And, little spaghetti. Little bit of spaghetti.

It's like a short, yeah, pasta. I really forgot the name of it, and what else? 

AHMED: [00:16:00] And coriander. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Cilantro. 

AHMED: Yes.

Coriander and parsley are often in the Harira, and they are special taste. And tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce. Yes. And spices. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Without cumin. No cumin. 

AHMED: What about flour? Flour is to make the texture of the soup.

It gives you texture. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: A little flour, it's not a lot. Yeah, the flour normally is added as a last ingredient to the soup. It gives it that thickness. That's what holds really the soup, is the flour that is added at the end, before it's really cooked.

So it gives it that texture and (choukran) flavor as well. 

AHMED: Sometimes people prefer to [00:17:00] have this bitter, for a little sour, that's why they add lemon. Vinegar. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Okay. Now the question that I have for you, Mr. Ahmed, I know it's completely a hundred percent vegetarian, but I know in some cultures, our culture, some traditions in some houses, they also make it with small, chopped, small pieces of beef. 

AHMED: Yeah, sometimes. Yeah, exactly. And sometimes they just the bones.

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: The bones, yeah. So basically they just, some, they just add the bones, just the flavor, just to add a little bit more flavor to the soup. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah. Okay. What else? 

AHMED: Yes, me personally, I called it salty butter, which is Smen. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Smen.

Yes. Mr. Ahmed said that he uses Ghee butter, which is one [00:18:00] of, we use it quite a bit in Morocco because it's a strong flavor and taste. We use it as well for other dishes, like couscous. Just a little, 

AHMED: to have just the flavor.

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Yes. Okay. This one, I mean, it's very popular in Ramadan. Yeah. But also, as you can see, you can have it anytime, any day outside Ramadan, in the square of Jemaa el-Fnaa, anywhere in any other city, it's really popular. And it's normally served, depending on the area, the neighborhood, if it's, like right now in the Medina, the heart of Jemaa el-Fnaa, it's just served with dates like, we have right now, or sometimes it's served with Chebakia. In this case it's not available here, but we've seen Chebakia earlier during the tour. So those are really the stable of the servings, of the Moroccan [00:19:00] Harira. Personally I like it outside Ramadan because I can have as many bowls as I like, and there's no restrictions.

So this is really, good. 

So why should people do a food tasting tour versus a cooking class? 

AHMED: If you are making food, is not same like you are testing it, then, you make your experiment rich. That makes your ideas about Moroccan food large and big. And you try all what concerns, the salty, the sweet, and to know the way of cooking, and to try from place to place. That give you more richness, and make your knowledge about Moroccan kitchen very important.

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: So basically, you are for [00:20:00] the food tasting versus the cooking class. Yeah. Okay. I mean, these are two options that you can, we let the guests decide. For me, I like both of them, for me, this has been a really good experience. Why? Because I get to see, I'm still in, in the square, in the vicinity of the square. And we're seeing -Oh, choukran. Thank you. Oh, it smells really good.

And I get to see different parts of the square, the north side, the east side, the west side. That's what you get in this experience. In the cooking class, it's a little bit less, but also you make that food a little bit more personal to you. Because

you go to the market, you shop the vegetables, the meat, and then you go back to the riad then you cook it. And that's gonna be your lunch or dinner afterwards. And again, it's a really unique experience. If you have a chance to do both, I would recommend both. But if you [00:21:00] have a chance to do just one, see which one fits you best. Especially when it comes to scheduling. The food tour, normally tasting is done

later, in the evening- earlier in the evening. And then the cooking class is normally done, I would say, around midday/early in the afternoon as well. Can you tell us, this smells really good, and this is what we call Msemen, which we just talked about. Can you tell us, I mean, I can smell different flavors.

Yeah. I have three. You have three. They're really cut. (Thank you for that.) Can you tell us what we have in front of us please? 

AHMED: Okay. Then, this is, you know what we call it: Msemen. And it's Moroccan pancake. Then, we have it like a breakfast. We have it like a snack. And also, it's often present in Ramadan on the table with Harira, Chebakia, dates and other food.

Then Msemen could be normal one, and you add what you [00:22:00] want. Which is sweet things like Nutella, jam, Amlou. A mixture of almond, argan oil and honey. And also you can add soft cheese. La Vache Qui Rit. But this one is salty because it's only with onion, and, paprika and some spices.

 Msemen Rghaif. Stuffed Msemen. 

AHMED: And also could be with something other like meat, ground meat. Or the fat, and also Khlii. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Khlii, which we have shown earlier when we did the olive tasting.

Yeah. And Khlii is basically the preserved meats. Preserved meats, yes. Okay. So I just tasted. [00:23:00] the Msemen, I think it has the onion. It's very flavorful. So the fats and the onion are inside, and it's really baked until it's really hot and the fat melts. And then we eat it with very hot Moroccan mint tea.

And the taste is just incredible. And that's exactly what I'm tasting right now. It's really, good. Thank you. 

AHMED: more open to, you can have another one beside, right here, otherwise, everything is perfect.

Okay. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: This is good. Yeah. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

AHMED: Who says it's, "Besseha w raha." This is our cheers. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: [00:24:00] This has been amazing. So, it's actually not a mint tea, but it's very flavorful. The mint tea is the tradition, the basic, the stable, if you would. But then we have shown there are, I think there are about 20 different flavors.

And I know this flavor comes from the mountains. 

So it's really, good. It's very healthy, and I really love it. The food is amazing, Harira is incredible. The Msemen is just outstanding. Anything else you want to add, Mr. Ahmed? 

AHMED: Here is something which is important to know. It's our tea, which is green tea with mint. Normally it's not only mint, but green tea with mint. We have different kind of mint. We have peppermint, sweet mint, and other flavors like thyme, oregano and rosemary. And each part of Morocco make the tea with [00:25:00] their favorite taste. And tea, it's our hospitality. 

Absolutely.

AHMED: By excellence. We don't drink it every day, but we drink it every time. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Welcome back. This is our last stop at Destination Morocco podcast, we're still doing the food tasting. This is one of the major stops, Stall Number 31 and 50, with Simohamed.

If you have a chance to stop by, please do. And this is our last stop for tonight. Mr. Ahmed, can you tell us what the clients could and should expect coming to Stall 31 and 50. 

AHMED: In this popular restaurant, they provide roasted meat. Roasted meat? Yes. And steamed sheep head.

Steamed sheep head? Okay. And Tangia. Tangia. Which is one of the specialties of Marrakesh. Or the [00:26:00] famous one. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: They really serve very delicate Moroccan food. Not a lot of people actually can eat it, because you really have to have a very strong stomach, but you can ease your way out to it.

I would not recommend it day one or day two, but you have to just one step at a time, because it's very strong, and it may give you some stomach ache and pain. So just be careful before you try it and taste it. It's incredibly delicious, but it requires a little bit of patience on your part.

Don't just come here and go for this delicacy food, but just take it a little slow. Tangia, it's, we talked about it earlier, which is one of the staples of the city of Marrakech. It's only made in Marrakech. So what can you tell us in terms of the history about the Tangia? 

AHMED: It's a Jewish way to cook. Normally, the Jewish people who lived [00:27:00] in Marrakech before, they didn't have to cook on Saturday, as it's Shabbat for them. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Yeah. 

AHMED: Then they create this way. They put all the meat and other ingredients, and they take this jar, we call it Tangia, to the public oven, or to the oven of the hamman, we call it "Farnatchi." Yeah. Furnace, fireplace. Then we let it, or the Jewish, they let it all the night. And they bring it home late, the next day. And as the Jewish were artisans, Marrakechi people also were artisans, then the influence pass quick to the Marrakech artisans. And it's become a way of cooking.

And one day it's become the famous dish in Marrakech. Absolutely. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Just to clarify, when they cook it overnight, it's actually, it's not on direct fire. [00:28:00] It's farther a little bit from the fire. So just the steam, and that's how it's cooked. It's cooked very slow. And then when it's ready to be served, it's very tasty, and extremely flavorful. Low 

AHMED: heat.

Then, the particular of Tangia, it should be cooked in a low heat for three, four hours. The common ingredients are five, but other people prefer other flavors. But the common ones are saffron. Or first, you should choose the best part of the beef, which is the legs. And saffron, the king of spices, the garlic, and the cumin.

And lemon preserves, and olive oil. What about water? [00:29:00] Yeah, lemon water. Not a lot, but just a little water. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: And also there's a lot of people who like it with more spices, so they can add as many spices as they like as well. But this is the common way of making it. And as you can see, there's a lot of noise behind us,

there's a lot of background music, dancing, and it's just, it's really happening every night in the square. So now we're gonna move to the other part that they're serving at this small stall, which is the meats. Yeah. 

AHMED: Okay. What type of meat is it then? Normally most of the time is the beef. Then, they put it like in a pot, inside of another pot with the holes. And the steam goes through to the holes, for a few hours. The same is ready and tender. Tasty. As you say, people add a mixture of cumin and salts. 

This is the only ingredients we add because [00:30:00] the meat is, without anything, is tasty itself. 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: It's steamed meat, and it's steamed just the way that we steam Couscous. We use the same things in the kitchen, that's how the meat is steamed for hours and hours, slowly, until it's soft and tender. Then it's served to the public. Again, these are some of the Moroccan delicacies, and they're extremely tasteful. Very delicious.

 What else do they serve here? I see some salads. I see some olives. I see some bread. So these are the common things that will come with whatever dish you order, whether it's tea. Tea is a staple for sure. So you get a Moroccan salad, which consists of just chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and olive oil, and a little bit of [00:31:00] cumin and black pepper.

What else can you tell us about Stall 31 and 50 for the audience, just in case if they want to come here and give it a chance, and give it a shot, and eat one of the most delicious and delicate foods in Marrakech. 

AHMED: We have Couscous, which is very famous.

And we have chicken, and we have Tagines everywhere. And we have skewers or Shish Kabab, Kefta (ground meat). And we have some local sandwiches, especially the famous one with just bread and boiled eggs, tomatoes, and cumin and olive oil.

This is our local hamburger! 

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Okay, perfect. 

AHMED: People should come to discover by themself after, it will be an amazing experience. Because this place is listed as UNESCO heritage, as the [00:32:00] all world heritage.

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: This has been really amazing. I know we don't want to take a lot of time for the shop owner, for the restaurant owner, because that's how he makes his living. He's been very kind to us, very hospitable in this hustle and bustle of the square Jemma el-Fnaa. So we're wrapping up today's tasting tour.

It's been a lot of fun. It's time to go and I'm hungry. Thank you so much. Thank you.