hardy little plants to say the least! I’m planning to xeriscape our front yard this year, and build brand new garden boxes, so I’ll likely have to wipe them out before they get fully grow, but maybe they’ll have enough time to grow into baby carrots before then. And somehow, they grew on through snow and frost and unpredictable Colorado spring weather. They were from seeds planted last year, ones that didn’t sprout before the season ended. To my surprise, little baby carrot heads were popping out from the surface of our garden beds back in early March. There is a Mataam Fez in Denver that provides a similar (but IMO, not quite as magical) experience. And cinnamon, a small amount, something we rarely add to savory dishes here in the US.įor the curious: The restaurant I had my tenth birthday at, Boulder’s Mataam Fez, has since closed. The recipe calls for ingredients you know, but combines them with Moroccan flare in mind. It also calls for quinoa in place of couscous (Couscous is a hand rolled pasta, so not GF, despite it’s millet-y looking appearance). It doesn’t ask you to buy a bottle of orange blossom water, which you would surely have to get at a specialty store ( or on Amazon (affiliate link), like me). It’s a one-pot wonder that has been Americanized, Instant Pot-ized, and everyday dinner-ized. Lamb, goat, cumin, paprika Roses, pomegranate, dried fruits.īut, this stew is not traditional. The flavors of Moroccan food are so different from what you find in other cuisines. I bought harissa paste and slivered almonds and actually started to use the orange blossom water. I bought The Food of Morocco (affiliate link) and searched for something reminiscent of that day. To say the least, I’ve been on a Moroccan food kick since I stole a breath of that orange blossom water in the fridge. It is, to this day, glorified as the best cup of mint tea I’ve ever had. How is it that they only spill in two directions? Did they have little spouts? Did he actually pour into glasses individually, and it is my memory that falters?) I can’t quite figure out the physics of these glasses. (In my mind, the memory is almost a dream-state. The cascade continues, until each glass is full. He makes a show of pouring the mint concoction from an ornate tea pot, starting with the top glass, and pouring until it pools over, filling the next two. The waiter stacks drinking flutes in a pyramid. When it is time for tea, it is time for the greatest show of all. We eat couscous, chicken with almonds, and b’stella pastry (a dish my dad would later take to making at home). She gracefully juggles fire from her head to her elbows and back again, never missing a beat. There are candles artfully lighting the space, but the most notable ones are balancing on a women’s body. Talk about feeling like Queen for the day. A waiter is sprinkling us ceremoniously with orange blossom water, and the droplets land on my shoulders like the sweetest rain that ever rained. Someone has given me a warm, floral-scented cloth for cleaning my hands. Silky fabrics hang from the ceiling, lining the walls and giving the room a sense of mystery. We perch on round, gilded pillows at a low table. From that cloud, I landed in a darkly lit room, sitting at a large round table surrounded by smiling faces. One whiff is all it took, and my thoughts were drifting away on a cloud of delicate blooms - soft and white, immensely fragrant. Finally I opened the bottle, just to smell. (I, by the way, adored this essay on how immigrants assimilate through food).Īn unopened bottle of orange blossom water had been occupying precious real estate in our fridge for months as I debated the best thing to do with it. Were all of these sauces another way of making the flavors immigrants were familiar with in a new environment, with new ingredients? Perhaps. I’m not a historian, though a quick look at the Wiki history of Chimichurri sauce suggests it was brought over by Spanish immigrants. It is not so much their similarity that surprises me, but the idea that diverse people, strung out across the world, all arrived at a similar solution to saucing food. The process reminded me of making a South American Chimichurri, or the garlicky dipping oil used in Ecuador, or even pesto. It combines oil with an acid (lemon juice), garlic, salt, and pepper, and heaps of herbs. It struck me, while I was adding all of the ingredients for this Charmoula to the blender, that it’s just like so many other herb-based sauces found around the world. This blog post is really about the sauce, which you could use over fish, grilled meat, or roasted veggies (and don’t stop there). The kick continues today… with this Roasted Eggplant with Charmoula Sauce. Last week, I told you all that I bought The Food of Morocco, and have been on a Moroccan food kick.
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