Alessandro and I got back from our whistlestop tour through Morocco just under a week ago. My bags are unpacked but the mountains of laundry staring into my face every time I step into my room remain untouched. And don’t get me started on the photos we took. Let’s just say I got a little excited with my new camera and ended up taking over 1500 photos during our 2 week trip. But I am hoping to find some quiet time on one of the next weekends to sort through them so I can share some pictures with you of our beautiful trip.
And beautiful it really was, from the bustling souks in the old Medinas of imperial cities such as Fez and Meknes to waiting for the fishermen to bring in their morning catch in Essaouira on the Atlantic coast to watching the stars while sleeping in the desert close to the Algerian border, this trip had it all. And if we forget for one brief moment the various gastro-intestinal issues every.single.one of our group of 16 had to battle at some point during our trip (sorry if this is too much information), I have only positive things to say about the food. Thanks to years and years of eating my mum’s Couscous and Tagine dishes I knew I liked Moroccan food, but eating it freshly prepared in Morocco brought my appreciation to a whole other level. I loved the subtle spicing they used to bring out the best in the ingredients used (despite dishes like Tagine being prepared using up to 45 different flavours) and totally fell in love with their flatbreads fresh out of the communal oven hidden deep inside the Medina, the flaky puff pastry like pancakes doused in honey we were often served for breakfast as well as subtly sweet and crumbly cookies, made with ground almonds and orange blossom water and dusted with some icing sugar which were served together with tooth-achingly sweet mint tea to end another big feast.
I cannot wait to get back into the kitchen. While eating in hotels and restaurants for the past 2 weeks was fun (and delicious!) and I love love love Moroccan food, my head is full of new to me flavour combinations I want to try and there is a long list of recipes on my phone I want to tackle as soon as I can (dark chocolate and cherry brownies anyone?). Besides, just as I have unpacked my bags from Morocco it’s almost time to pack my bags again, this time for a much longer trip though … At the end of October I am relocating to Italy for six months to work in my firm’s offices in Rome so the pressure is on to finish my ample baking supplies so I don’t have to send any bags of flour or sugar on a trans-European trip (and I am loathe to throw away perfectly edible ingredients).
REAL SIMPLE FOOD 