A taste of Morocco, in your kitchen perhaps?

We know you were all salivating reading Lindan's post about her time spent in Morocco. Lucky for us, she is a kind and generous soul, and she has shared some of the recipes that she prepared while enjoying cooking classes there. If you care to try your hand at preparing them, just click here to download a complete list of recipes for a typical Moroccan feast! There is one catch though - we may not be dining with you, but we certainly appreciate visuals. So please, post some photos of your creations to our Facebook page. Enjoy!

This week's classroom: a Moroccan kitchen

I’ve been in Fes for the past 10 days running from morning til night and finally sitting down to write something. I was traveling with such a fabulous group last week – 7 friends from Wisconsin travelling together who loved to cook and eat, and also loved our riad (little hotel) and everything about Fes. Of course I think it’s impossible not to love Fes.

Shopping with Lahcen Beqqi

Our first cooking classes were with Lahcen Beqqi. The first morning we went to the souk to shop for ingredients and then straight to the kitchen to make harira, zaalouk, chicken b’steeya dates rolls. For our second class we made choukchouka, and okra salad, a great couscous with vegetables (and lamb) and a cream b’steeya for dessert.

Camel butcher shop – they display what they sell

We spent our last two days cooking with Danielle Mamane, co-author with Kitty Morse of cookbook – The Scent of Orange Blossoms - Sephardic Cuisine from Morocco. After spending two fabulous days cooking with her, she invited us for Shabbat dinner and my group (none of whom is Jewish) loved it.

Lamb Tagine

We cooked in her garden – salads, including fried eggplant, twice cooked roasted red peppers, and tomato salad with preserved lemons and then cooked meatballs (cinnamon onion sauce and another meatball dish seasoned with the traditional Moroccan spice mixture) ras el hanoot (head of the shop). For dessert we made almond and walnut macaroons and dates stuffed with almond paste. Danielle also made a number of other dishes – in case any of us were hungry. Nobody is ever hungry on cooking trips!

Cooking with Danielle Mamane

Fes is the most highly populated medina in the world (about 300,000 residents) and Fes el Bali (old Fes - the 9th century) and Fes el-Jedid (new Fes -12th century) are fascinating to explore.

Buying spices to take home

The entire medina is a labyrinth of narrow streets that can only be explored on foot. Donkeys and mules are the only means of transportation – and lots of handcarts delivering goods from place to place.

In a few days, I’ll show you some of the sights of the medina.

Want to spice things up? Visit a market!

If variety is the spice of life, then spice is what gives our everyday existence meaning and purpose.

As a chef or a home cook, there a few things more powerful or versatile in our arsenal as a good spice cupboard. Take cumin for example. Its pungent flavour will add depth to a chili, or a familiar earthy tone to a curry. The seeds can be whole, toasted, or ground, and are a staple in every cuisine from Mexico to the Middle East, to India and even Portugal.

Or how about another familiar spice: cinnamon. It’s the smell that reminds of sticky buns hot out of the oven, or a sprinkle on your latte. But it’s also a great addition to game meat or a pot of slow-braised beef short ribs.

Reading about my fellow blogger Lindan’s trip to the Istanbul Spice Market has me a little envious, since it’s one of the oldest known spice markets in the world. After all, my own collection of spice-filled mason jars, probably far exceeds the traditional spice rack one would expect, filled with such treats as star anise, ajwain seeds for Indian cooking, and cardamom seeds for my family’s Pulla recipe.

But what other vacation spots have noteworthy markets? How about Marrakech Bazaar, in Marrakech, Morocco, where you’ll find carts overflowing with spices and dried fruit, among vendors of kebabs and kafta.

Or if you’re in Mexico head to Oaxaca’s market where you’ll not only find fine Mexican chocolate (the bitter kind, not the candy), but an interesting variety of munchies. Dried grasshoppers anyone?

It seems like no matter where you go, markets seem to be a place that reflect local culture better than anywhere else. They’re a way of life for the locals, but for tourists they open the doors to wonders. Even here in Canada, the Granville Market in Vancouver which has a heavy Asian influence (I actually found whole turmeric root there) and where you can get your Dungeness crab steamed and ready to eat, or Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market, a mainstay since the days of seaway imports via Lake Ontario, show who we are, the cultures we share and where we came from.

Markets may lead you to spices, but they are the roots of any culture.