A Magical Day in Tangiers, Morocco

On August 24, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn morocco6 Comments

During our trip to southern Spain several years ago, we made a point of making our way across the Strait of Gibraltar to visit Tangiers, Morocco. We took the high speed ferry from Tarifa (near Gibraltar) to the port of Tangiers, where we were met by our guides to start what would be a truly memorable day and definitely one of the highlights of our entire trip. Tangiers is a unique African city as it has been the doorway to Europe for centuries and therefore has a varied population, although it is still mostly Muslim.

We started our day by visiting a neighborhood market, which was extremely busy with locals buying a variety of fresh foods. It is hard to describe the market in Tangiers other than to say that the colors and aromas overtake you at every turn. There are merchants with spices piled to the ceiling, olives of every possible variety, exotic fruit, butchers with meat on display, and every variety of fish imaginable caught fresh from the Mediterranean Ocean. As we walked among the merchants, we were given samples of olives, dates, candy, and more. It was truly a magical experience. After leaving the market, we were off to the Kasbah or Medina, the fortress and oldest part of the city.

Walking the streets of the Kasbah was like walking back in time. The cobblestone streets and grand arches led to a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean. It is off the coast of Tangiers where the Mediterranean Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet. Before we left the Medina, we were treated to our own private performance by a snake charmer. Having seen snake charmers on TV and movies, we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but it turned out to be fascinating as the charmer played his flute and waived his hand in the face of the King Cobra. We weren’t, however, prepared for what came next as they wrapped a live snake, not a King Cobra fortunately, across our shoulders so that we could take some pictures.

From there, we left the city and headed down the coast where we enjoyed gorgeous views of the Atlantic Ocean and a nearby lighthouse. After a short time, we stopped to ride camels on the shore of the Atlantic. It was a little touristy, but at the same time, how many people get to say that they’ve ridden camels on the beach. From there we visited the pre-historic Caves of Hercules, which is a beautiful geological attraction. It is famous because it has an opening in the shape of Africa to looks out onto the ocean.

The Coast of Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean

Once we got back to Tangiers, it was time for a late lunch, which was good because we had definitely worked up an appetite. We had quite the meal in a tiny, family owned, restaurant, that was authentic Moroccan chicken served in a tagine with hot tea. The food was incredible and the family that served us couldn’t have been any nicer. After lunch, we were taken to the shops of some local artisans with the hope that we’d buy some authentic Moroccan products. We visited a spice shop where we did purchase some saffron, cumin, and marjoram at prices you could never find in the States. At the carpet weaver’s shop, carpets of every description were laid at our feet as we enjoyed some more tea, but as tempted as we were, we decided not to buy one.

Finally, we took the ferry back to Spain and our wonderful day in Morocco came to an end. Although we hope to return to Morocco and spend more than just a day, we were very happy with the day that we did spend there.

Getting Fresh Food at a Local Food Market

On January 25, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn morocco, Photo Challenge4 Comments

Regardless of where you live, getting fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and other items from local farmers is definitely worth the effort. During our time in Germany, we came to rely on the market to get fresh produce, but also to pick up flowers for our apartment. Even here in Colorado, we will go to the farmer’s market almost every weekend during the summer to take advantage of getting items that are being harvested at that time. Unfortunately, we don’t have access to the variety of items that seem to be available in Europe and other places, but we enjoy going to them whenever we can, even if we aren’t buying anything.

One of the most diverse markets that we visited was the one in Tangiers, Morocco. The variety of colors and smells were almost overwhelming with the spices, fresh produce, seafood, and meat that would be trimmed in front of you. You could even buy bones for soups and other parts of the animals as nothing goes to waste. Even though we didn’t buy anything, we were able to try several things as we walked through the stalls from olives to a fresh tangerine. Each owner was very proud of the items that they had to sell and were definitely keen on making sure that you knew anything you wanted about what they had on display.

Although every stall was unique in what they had to offer, it was amazing to see the similarities in the way that they arranged their items for sale. Each would put their items out in ways where the colors would contrast one another and naturally draw you eyes to certain items. This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is Variations on a Theme and the entirety of the market in Morocco was definitely just that.

Moroccan Chicken with Potatoes, Apricots, and Harissa Sauce

On August 30, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn morocco, Recipes7 Comments

One of our favorite memories of our trip to Morocco was having lunch at a small, family-owned restaurant where they cooked us chicken in a tajine. Tajines themselves are quite beautiful, but they are also functional for cooking one pot meals. We bought a tajine while we were in Morocco, but it was too small to actually cook a dinner so we recently bought a full-size tajine. As we continue to try to replicate meals that we have had during our various travels, we decided to cook a Moroccan chicken dinner. There were some fairly unique ingredients in the recipe that we decided to use and modify, but we were actually surprised that we were able to find them in our local grocery store. Typical of Moroccan food, it was both sweet and spicy and it could easily be modified to suit any taste. The original recipe called for chickpeas, but our family has an allergy to them, so we substituted potatoes, which made it a little hardier. We were very pleased with the results and found the dinner to be very delicious. Because it was just the two of us, we made only cooked two chicken thighs, but the recipe could be increased to serve a larger family. Also, if you don’t have a tajine, you could simply use a Dutch oven instead.

INGREDIENTS

Two Chicken Thighs – skin on
1 tbsp Canola Oil
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Yellow Onion – peeled and sliced thinly
1 Garlic Clove – finely chopped
1 tbsp Ras Al-Haunt
1 Large Pinch Saffron – soaked in a 1/4 cup of warm water
1/2 Cinnamon Stick
1 1/2 cups Canned Diced Tomatoes (15 oz can) – drained
3/4 cup Dried Apricots – sliced in half
1 Large Red Potato – cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup Creme Fraiche
1 tbsp Harissa
Salt and Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the oven is preheated, place the tajine into the oven to start heating. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down and cook until the skin is golden brown, approximately five minutes. Turn the chicken over and continue cooking for another two to three minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and let it rest. Reduce the heat to medium and remove all but one tablespoon of oil from the skillet. Add the onions and cook until soft and semi-translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about thirty seconds, then add the ras al-hanut and cook for another thirty seconds. Add the saffron with the liquid it was soaked in as well as the cinnamon stick, tomatoes, potatoes, apricots and bring to a simmer. Remove the tajine from the oven and transfer the vegetables and liquid from the skillet to the tajine. Nestle the chicken thighs on top of the vegetable mixture, put the lid on the tajine and return it to the oven. Cook in the oven for forty minutes. While the chicken is cooking in the oven, mix the creme fraiche, harissa, and salt and let stand in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. Plate individual servings of chicken and vegetable mixture. Garnish each serving a tablespoon or two of the harissa sauce.