Morocco

• Liver with olives

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 15 min.Difficulty: easy

  I was invited for a dinner by my Moroccan friends for. While we were drinking and waiting for the "main chef", we became pretty hungry. So one of the guys said "lets make a starter" meanwhile. I was expecting something fast, small and light, but he made liver :) Yes, it was fast and it was delicious. But pretty filling too, so I had nearly no space for the main dish then :)

  

• Beef tajine with green peas

  Cooking time: 15 min. / 1 hod. 10 min.Difficulty: easy

  This tajine I learned on a traditional Moroccan market in a restaurant made of clothes where they cooked various kinds of tajines not only for shoppers but for vendors as well. Vendors could even cook their own using the kitchen. It was quite fun as I asked for tajine with green peas, so I had to shell them myself. I had to buy the meat too, as there was not meat on the market. The butcher saw a white girl, so he sold me some low quality beef, which I was told buy two local guests who I invited for the lunch as soon as they put the first piece of the meat to their mouths. Next time I have to be more careful.

  

• Authentic Moroccan couscous with beef and vegetables

  Cooking time: 25 min. / 2 hod.Difficulty: easy

  In our fast moving world it is quite hard to imagine preparing real couscous as they do in North Africa. The real one takes a few hours to prepare. Couscous in Morocco is a festive dish served on Friday. One of the reasons for long preparation is a slow cooked meat (usually beef or lamb). The second, most important one is slow moisturising of dry couscous by hands and then slow steaming above meat and vegetables in a special pot called couscoussier. Thanks to this slow process the couscous is well done, filled with smell of meat and vegetables and nicely loose.

  

• Amlou - almonds and argan oil spread

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 10 min.Difficulty: easy

  Fresh pieces of bread dipped into amlou were fore sure my favourite breakfast in Morocco. If you are a peanut butter lover, you will love amlou too. It is smooth and nicely sweet, made of ground almonds, argan oil and honey. Traditional recipe is quite runny compared to peanut butter. As they do not spread it on bread, they dip the bread into amlou.

  

• Chicken tajine

  Cooking time: 15 min. / 30 min.Difficulty: easyvideo

  Another tajine recipe. More precisely a dish prepared in traditional Moroccan pot, tajine. As there are so many possibilities what can be inside. This recipe I learned in my favourite small restaurant on one of the most beautiful beaches in Morocco, Lagzira.

  

• Moroccan style omelette

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 15 min.Difficulty: easy

  Moroccan omelette, that is something. When you are eating it, you have a feeling it is pretty light. It is probably thanks to the tomatoes added. This omelette I learnt from one girl in a village in Atlas mountains. The eggs were from their hens. So yummy. Moroccan omelette is very tasty everywhere I tried it, but at this place was even more special.

  

• Fish kefta - Moroccan fish balls

  Cooking time: 30 min. / 10 min.Difficulty: easy

  For this delicacy, I didn`t hesitate to travel to 5 km distant village. Sardine kefta was my favourite. Grilled straight on the street, mashed with a knife and stuffed into a fresh, still warm bread. With chopped onion and chilli sauce, irresistible combination. And price? 4 dirhams! :) (year 2016)

  

• Tkalia - Zesty tripes with olives

  Cooking time: 15 min. / 30 min.Difficulty: easy

  Large pieces of tripes hanging from hooks at the butcher`s shops are inherent part of meat shops in Morocco. Tripes dishes are very common there. They use lamb, goat and beef tripes too. In combination with other offals or separately, like in case of this recipe, which is called Tkalia.

  

• Vegetarian tagine berber style

  Cooking time: 10 min. / 30 min.Difficulty: easy

  Morocco is not a paradise for vegetarians. So vegetarian tagine doesn`t belong to typical Moroccan dishes. But this doesn`t mean they do not exist at all. I was so lucky I bumped into a place they made it and it was a traditional berber style.