Growing tired of medina life we decided to take a Moroccan cooking class. We said goodbye to the large satellite dish lined buildings of Marrakesh an headed to the Moroccan suburbs.
With each spice came a bit of history and use typical use of the ingredient.. In the case of saffron each pestle come from a tiny blue flower that only blooms for a 2 hour window before it dies. It takes around 200 flowers to make a single gram which is why it is more valuable than gold. For the more expensive and exotic items we were informed on how to spot importers
Following the provided GPS coordinates we were lead through a series of dirt roads to find ourselves in the back yard
of a quiet gated house. A Frenchmen waved us in and we parked.
Our day begins with a lesson about making the famous Moroccan Frisbee bread we have been enjoying with every meal.
We were then left to our own devices to
recreate the item. While my dough looked good at the start it fell a
bit flat and didn't rise as expected. Tim was more successful in
this endeavor.
Next up was a spice workshop. The
instructor walked us through the various spices important to Moroccan
cooking. Each spice was introduced us to with a blind smell test. Still congested from my African cold I was a bit handicapped but in the end was able to identify quite
a few mainly because I cheated and peaked. We both managed to take the same shot of each other while the other was not looking.
Once we had the spices down it was time
to apply them to our main course. We followed the instructor as we
dumped spice after spice in our dish. Today's recipe was a
beef tajine with pears and caramelized orange peel.
Once we finished assembling our dishes
we were told that they would need another hour to cook. They took
this time to give us a crash course in Moroccan salads and breakfast balls.
Once everything was complete we set off
to eat our creations.
To our surprise both of our dished
turned out quite tasty. Whether or not we can recreate these results at home
is debatable. The class ran into the mid afternoon and after we grabbed some desert it was off to Casablanca.
The drive was quite pleasant. We were
now on a well maintained toll highway that featured a top speed of
120 km/h which was a nice departure from the last few roads we have
faced. Since we were already through the mountains we mostly passed
green farm land.
Earlier in the week we had researched
the possibility of seeing a Moroccan Botola league soccer
game. Our only opportunity for this was tonight in Rabat. We
had planned on stopping at our hotel and then driving off to the
capital but as we approached Casablanca we realized we would not have time
for our detour. Instead we drove straight to Rabat. It took us a while to
find the stadium but we ended up procuring police protected parking not far from the entrance.
Having no idea where to buy tickets we
approached a police officer and inquired about tickets as best we could. He pointed at a building way across the way and told us we could buy
tickets there. Noting our discouraged look he stopped and talked to one of his superiors. We were then waved towards the stadium and asked for a bribe. We lacked any physical ticket but we were in the stadium.
Although the official start time was at
8pm the game had started an hour earlier. We had arrived at half time
with the score already 1-1. The stadium was mostly empty but there
were a few sections packed with rabid fans. The halftime show was a
technological marvel.
The second half started and we quickly
realized the level of play was similar to men's league games
we participate in back home. We wondered how
large of a bribe it would take to make it on the field. Not far into
the half the first red card was presented. The crowd went nuts.
Then the flairs and smoke bombs
appeared.
After the second red card was issued a
fan lit a firework and proceeded to point it in the busy crowd. He
was promptly beat unconscious and the game continued.
There were hundreds of police all
around but they mainly served a symbolic role as the spectators did
whatever they wanted.
The game ended in a 1-1 tie and we never saw any goals which was unfortunate The streets of Rabat were clogged with angst ridden teenagers upset from the result. We dodged them as best we could while exiting the city. The main
highway ramp was closed so we had to navigate the side streets to make our escape. Casablanca was fairly quiet by the time
we arrived.
We found our hotel and headed to the
room. This was the first western style hotel we have stayed in and
the view was quite nice.
Most of the restaurants were closed but
we managed to find a fast food boutique called Big Choice that was
still open. The menu was impressive.
I went with the molotoff, complete with 3 burger patties and a bunch of things I could not identify. It was
interesting...
We have a flat screen TV as
well. The resolution has really helped with our Qur'an studies.
We squeezed a lot in today and we are
both tired so it is time for some much needed sleep. Tomorrow we take
on the storied Casablanca.
