Driving through the desert from Marrakesh to Essaouira, we crossed through a barren landscape. As we got closer to the coast, the landscape became spotted with trees. The land was still barren enough that a young boy standing on the side road didn’t have to move to capture our attention. His hair was bleached from the sun and his skin a deep brown. He looked about six or seven years old. He stood patiently and made no gestures. A large smile took hold of his face when he saw us pull over. He ran up to our car, holding a reused plastic water bottle filled with amber oil with both his hands. A bit of plastic bag was tied around the bottle opening to keep the contents from spillilng. For 25 dirhams we bought a full bottle of pure argan oil. The boy tramped off, excited and relieved, to wherever home was hiding.

Moroccan’s swear by the medicinal properties of argan oil, which is indigenous to Morocco’s Atlas Mountain Region. The oil is loaded with poly-unsaturated fatty acids, such as Tocopherols (Vitamin E), and Omega-6 and Omega- 9 fatty acids, which are known for having restorative and protective properties. It is used in a wide range of skin care products, including soap and hair and skin oil. I bought an argan oil-based product in Morocco on my last visit and it works wonders on my daughter’s curly hair.

Argan oil can also be used for cooking and has a nutty taste and smell. I didn’t perpare food dishes with my bottle of argan oil, but I did taste it. The taste reminded me of a cross between light olive oil and deeply roasted peanuts, which is to say complicated and hard to describe. Zamouri Spices has culinary argan oil for sale as well as body-care products.

For those of you who prefer department stores to online shopping, argan oil skin care products are now available to consumers in the States. I’m sure Kiehl’s Superbly Restorative Dry Oil smells better than the pure stuff we bought on the side of the road. Keihls uses oil cultivated by the women’s Targanine Cooperative in Morocco’s Atlas mountain region. As a fair-trade product, hopefully it will keep young boys and girls in school instead of peddling bottles on the roadside. If that’s not reason enough to give it a try, the packaging is from recycled plastic.

Have you tried argan oil? Leave a comment and share your testimonial, recipie, or treatment with others.

You may know that bessara is a fava bean soup eaten in Morocco, particularly in the north. And, you may notice that is a picture of orange lentils on the right, not fava beans. But, bear with me.

My Armenian sister-in-law makes a soup of orange lentils which she calls “Priests’ soup.” Each time I served it to a Moroccan, they swore it was bessara. So, by happy accident I found a way out of the soaking and mashing that a real bessara recipe requires. Even my father-in-law, who used to eat bessara for breakfast when he was a kid in the Rif, thought this soup was bessara. So here follows the recipe for fake bessara/priest’s soup.

Ingredients

• Bag of orange lentils, also known as red split lentils or ulundhu.
• 1-2 chopped onions
• Olive oil
• Salt, cayenne pepper, and cumin

1. Rinse lentils.
2. Put lentils in a large pan and cover with water. Boil. Skim foam off top of boiling lentils and add more water as needed.
3. Sautee chopped onion in olive oil until it is soft and golden.
4. When the lentils are cooked, which takes about 20 minutes, they will be mushy. No need for hand mashing, yea!
5. Stir in the caramelized onion. Add salt to taste.
6. Serve with fresh bread and olive oil, cumin, and cayenne pepper as condiments.

If there is one food that is associated with Morocco, it is couscous. I’ve seen couscous salads marketed in grocery stores as “Moroccan couscous salad.” However, my family only eats couscous prepared in one way: Seven Vegetable Couscous. Its a great Sunday meal or on any day when you want to gather family and friends around the table.

Seven Vegetable Couscous is surprisingly easy to make. It is called seven vegetable couscous because the number seven is considered lucky. As I don’t believe much in lucky numbers, I just use the vegetables I like (carrots, chickpeas, squash, and jalapenos) and leave out what I don’t (cabbage, daikon, tomatos).

The cuts of meat may be hard to track down in some grocery stores. I like beef shank, but have used lamb shank or even beef short ribs.

Working with instant couscous and canned chickpeas cuts down on prep time. In Morocco they use dried chickpeas which are soaked overnight and peeled before cooking. The couscous is steamed several times, making the job much more time consuming. So, if Mima Hajja (grandma) complains that couscous takes a long time to make, she isn’t lying. The version I have here has short-cuts included (hashuma, shame on me).

The seasoning is simple; just enough to bring out the flavors of the other ingredients. Some recipes call for more complex seasoning mixtures, but I find salt, pepper, tumeric, and butter are enough.

Ingredients

• A few pounds of lamb or beef shank or shoulder
• 1 stick of butter
• A few pints of water (add more as needed)
• 1 tablespoon of tumeric
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 onions
• Vegetables. This part is really your choice. Using tomatos, carrots, and cabbage or squash gives the dish a nice color. But, my husband likes it with just chickpeas and carrots. Traditional vegetables include:
  • Tomatos
  • Carrots
  • Cabbage (quartered)
  • Daikon
  • Squash (zucchini cut into halves or quarters length wise)
  • Potatos (not so traditional)
  • 2-3 jalapenos for those who like it hot
• Some fava beans (about a cup – your option)
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 box of instant couscous
• Alternative preparation option: raisins

Preparation

1. Start with a few pounds of lamb or beef shank or shoulder. If you have to substitute, look for meaty cuts on the bone. In a large pot or pressure cooker, sautee a chopped onion in butter (save a few tablespoons of butter for preparing the instant couscous later). Add the meat cuts and brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste and about a tablespoon of tumeric. Cover meat with water (at least a few pints) and put a lid on the pan. Cook until the meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bone. This takes about an hour in a pressure cooker. Add more water as needed.
2. Once the meat is done, add in some vegetables and legumes such as canned chickpeas, fava beans, tomatos, cabbage, carrots, potato or daikon, and squash. Simmer vegetables in broth until tender.
3. Meanwhile, prepare a package of instant couscous according to package directions. This should take about 5-10 minutes. Trader Joe’s has a good instant whole wheat couscous. Don’t skimp on the butter.
4. Serve vegetables and meat on a platter over couscous. Enjoy the food and impress your friends and family.

Easy Alternative: Couscous with Raisins

For a little extra deliciousness, take a cup of the broth and simmer with a handful of raisins and some carmelized onions. You can skip the vegetable part entirely and serve the raisin and onion mixture with meat on top of couscous. Or you can serve the raisin mixture along side Seven Vegetable Couscous as a condiment guests can add as they like.

Try it? Like it? Hate it? Leave a comment below to let me know how the recipe worked for you.

My first pot-luck in Morocco, I decided to contribute chocolate chip cookies. I struggled to convert fahrenheit to celsius (note to bakers: 350F = ~177C), beat a chocolate bar into chips, and explain, using the little French I knew, the difference between baking powder and baking soda. My cookies came out flat, but well-praised. I yearned for the grace of Aisha’s chicken tagine. She arrived carrying it, prepared in advance by her maid, in a pressure cooker. A few moments reheating on the stove, and it was perfect.

The following recipe for chicken tagine is one I have made at home several times. I cook everything in a pressure cooker, SEB being the preferred brand in Morocco, but any large pot will do. All measurements are approximate, so adjust seasoning and cooking time to suite your own taste. Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (you can use fava beans for a tasty vegetarian version)
• 1 onion chopped
• crushed garlic to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tspn salt (add more to taste)
• 1 tbsp powdered ginger
• 1 tbsp tumeric or lesser amount of crushed saffron
• 1 tspn of cumin
• 1 jar green olives
• 2 preserved lemons. Discard the insides and cut the remaining rind into slices. Note: you can make your own preserved lemons or buy preserved lemons online. You can also find them in a middle-eastern speciality grocery or even in Whole Foods near the olive bar.

Preparation

1. Sautee onion in olive oil.
2. Add garlic and sautee lightly.
3. Add chicken and lightly brown. Cook with legs down.
4. Add tumeric or saffron, salt, and ginger.
5. Cover chicken 1/2 to 2/3 with water. Cover the pot 2/3 of the way with a lid and cook on medium high heat unti the chicken easily pulls away from the bone with a fork.
6. Add olives, preserved lemon rind slices, and cumin.

Traditionally this is served over a bed of french fries. However, I like to cook some potatos and carrots in the chicken broth and serve everything together like a stew.