Moroccan Cuisine

Moroccan food has been on our list of favorite ethnic foods for a long time and going there was a great chance to try all the traditional dishes we enjoy.

We definitely enjoyed the real couscous rather than the yellowish stuff that comes in a box, with directions on the side of the box to add water and wait 3 minutes. The real couscous is fine, pale, grain-sized hand-rolled pasta lightly steamed with aromatic broth and served with vegetables and meat.

We noticed that they prefer to use certain ingredients such as saffron, cumin and ginger and tons of yellow food coloring.

With a clay pot that has a conical lid and fresh vegetables, Moroccans can cook amazing “Tajines” (stew) which can be found throughout the country, although each region has a specific way of doing it or certain ingredients that are typical to the area.

We found each city we visited to have culinary influences from other countries and this made things even more interesting. In Essaouira they had Portuguese and Jewish influence, in Fes it was Andalucian and Persian, in Marrakesh from Senegal, France, Italian and Berber and in Chefchaouen, Andalucian and Turkish.

Morocco has plenty of places where you can snack. Street vendors line up and offer you exotic foods such as snails, sheep heads with boiled brains or tongues, there is plenty of ice-cream (gelato style) and delicious fresh fruit juice stands where you can grab some vitamin C on the go.

One of the pleasant surprises was that for the first time in this trip we found very good local wine. Although buying it to go was quite an adventure at times due to the fact that Morocco is a Muslim country. We definitely enjoyed sharing a glass of wine with other travelers or a few locals that could drink alcoholic beverages.

Just like in other Arab counties we had our good share of kebabs, kofta, shwarma, brochettes, etc. But we also found places like Asilah, on the coast, so close to Spain, where they make amazing paellas and Spanish tortillas, two of our favorite dishes in the whole world. We found the food to be very fresh and with no chemicals or preservatives.

All I can say is that there is no way you can go hungry in Morocco!

Gaby

Travel Day: Chefchaouen, Morocco to Malaga, Spain

In Morocco we had time constraints because we wanted to get to Spain so we could spend some time with Gaby’s relatives during the holidays. Thus after three weeks in Morocco we planned to head on to Spain. There are 3 different places where ferries cross the Mediterranean Sea to Spain from Morocco, but we chose to travel from Chefchaouen to the Spanish territory of Melilla and from there take an overnight ferry to Malaga. We traveled with Adrian, a Spaniard who we met in Chefchaouen and who decided to join us all the way to Malaga.

We were up at 5:30 the next morning and took the early bus going to Nador. We passed through beautiful alpine scenery with lakes, pine forests and snowy peaks around us. For the next 5 hours we wound through the Rif Mountains going higher and higher until we passed the snow line and entered a world of snow and mountain vistas. We passed through small agricultural villages where we seemed to go back in time and people tended to their crops and animals. The views were amazing and were constantly changing.

As we continued East the country got drier and drier and the pine forests were replaced with brush and grasses. It was a clear day and as we started descending towards the beach we could see the snow covered spine of the Rif Mountains on our left and to the right in the distance the snowy Sierra Nevada in Spain. We descended into the coastal town of Al-Hocema and from there the road followed mile after mile of untouched beach going east. The water was clear and blue and we regretted not being able to get off the bus and check out the beach.

Our bus arrived at Nador (on the border) at 4:30PM. From the bus station we took a taxi to the border. It dropped us off and from there we walked to the border crossing (exiting Morrocco), passed into the EU, changed our Moroccan Dinars to Euros and took a local bus to the port. Melilla was a small slice of Spain on the African mainland. The people looked like a mix of Spanish and Moroccan, the cars were different than those in Morocco and the signs were in Spanish.

At the Shiny new ferry building we were lucky to purchase some of the last remaining tickets for the 11:30PM ferry. We then had some time to wait for the ferry so we hung out with Adrian in a local cafeteria and chatted.

The ferry was fairly new, modern and comfortable. We found lounge chairs with Adrian and were soon asleep. When we woke up the next morning the lights from Malaga glittered in the distance. We climbed up on the chilly deck and watched the ferry enter the port of Malaga. We were excited to be back in Spain, a place we both like so much.

After customs we met Gaby’s relative Marcela, who was waiting for us in arrivals. It was great to see her.

Steve

Chefchaouen

After a long day of traveling we made it to Chefchaouen. A taxi left us at one of the doors of the Medina (the old part of town) and from there we started winding up the narrow streets to look for a hotel. There are few places in the world were I would choose to go back instead of visiting a new place, and I have to say that I would definitely like to visit Chefchaouen again.

The mixture of Moroccan and Andalucian architecture and décor absolutely amazed me and for the first time in this trip, every hotel we visited was more beautiful than the one before, and we didn’t know which one to choose.

We chose Hotel Andalucía first and enjoyed the place despite the 6C in our room and the fact that we could see our breath. The views from the terrace were beautiful and the inside of the hotel was decorated by Moroccan style furniture, painted in such detail!

We spent a nice time drinking green tea in front of the fire they lit for us in the den. The low temperatures made us decide to find a different hotel where we could rent a heater for our room, so we moved to another one.

Chefchaouen sits at the bottom of the Rif Mountains with its bright blue buildings, tiny balconies, tiled roofs, indoor patios with citrus trees and narrow lanes. Boutique hotels inspired by the riads of Marrakesh are everywhere and clusters of geraniums hanging give the town a distinctive andalucian flavor.


At times it reminded me of the Greek island Santorini with the lavender blue paintings and the indigo blue details on the buildings.

We spent days walking the paths of the Medina, which is easy to explore, with enough paths to keep you busy but compact enough to never get lost.

Gaby

Asilah

The trip from Fes to Asilah was hell. It was the end of a religious holiday and half the country was returning home from visiting family. On the first train we had seats but when that train dropped us off there were already hundreds of people waiting in the pouring rain for the second train. When the train finally arrived two hours late we were soaking wet and had to fight everyone to get on, then spent 5 hours sitting on the floor in the hallway of 1st class car because there wasn’t room anywhere else.

When we finally arrived at the train station in Asilah we could not get out because there were so many people blocking the way and people were fighting at the door. We finally had to start pushing and yelling because people wouldn’t move and I finally had to jump out of the moving train with my pack on my back to get out. It was awful.

We arrived at the train station in Asilah tired from the train trip. A guy was waiting there who offered to show us a pension he had in his house. We agreed to go with him and check his place out. We went to his house and the rooms were nice so we agreed to stay there. It was located next to the beach and the roof deck looked out over the ocean. We paid for his wife to cook us local food and Gaby cooked with her.

The weather was warmer than Fes, but it was stormy and the waves in the sea were huge. We were told that this year it rained like in the “old times” 30 years ago. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with our timing.

Asilah is a beach town of white whitewashed walls located close to Spain. It is known for its 15th century Portuguese stone fort and beautiful whitewashed old town.

Because of its proximity to Spain the town is a hot spot for Spanish travelers during the summer and many Spaniards have summer houses in the old quarter. This heavy European influence made the town feel less “Islamic” and more like a sleepy resort town when we were there in December. For me it was great because most people spoke Spanish and I could communicate with people instead of relying on Gaby´s French. We ate Paella and Tortilla Española (some of our favorite foods.)

It was quiet when we were there due to the weather and the time of year. There were few other tourists so we enjoyed the towns old world charms and whitewashed houses almost by ourselves with the locals.

We spent a couple of days wandering the areas beaches, harbors, exploring the medina and the old town. It was a pleasant and relaxed time.

Steve