Morocco Monday

Life here is so different from anything I have ever experienced, and I want to share it all with you. So I had the idea to post something about the culture, food, lifestyle, etc. in Morocco every Monday.

Morocco is one of those countries that I knew existed, but never really gave much thought to before finding out we would be living here (much like Romania before I got my mission call). I'm ashamed to say that I probably couldn't have even pointed it out on a map! So every day so far has been an adventure, learning about the customs, tasting the new foods, seeing the beautiful architecture and colorful clothing. Everything is still so new, and I hope I can remember how it feels to be experiencing it all for the first time when it is all more familiar than Wal-Mart and Sonic to me (oh, how I miss my cranberry limeade slush).

There is so much to share, but if I pace myself, maybe it won't seem so overwhelming. So for this installment of Morocco Monday, I am going to introduce you to Couscous.

Perhaps you have eaten couscous before. It is a grain dish consisting of round granules made from semolina flour. It is a staple here, and when you refer to couscous in Morocco, it is much more than just the grain. It is meat (usually chicken or beef) and vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, turnips, cabbage and squash on a bed of steamed couscous. It is delicious! The kids first tried it at school (much like Friday pizza day in American school cafeterias, Friday is Couscous Day here). Then I had our maid, Amina, (yes, I said "maid" -- another post for another day. Patience, all will be revealed in time :)) make it for us, and we all love it!

Amina made couscous for us again today, and she showed me how to prepare the grain. I had bought a couscoussiere, a traditional steaming pot for couscous, but didn't know how to use it. It surprised me to learn just how involved it is to make. I had assumed it was similar to making rice, but it is not. It involves moistening the granules, rubbing oil around in them, then steaming. Then you remove it from the couscoussiere, and knead some more water in, and then steam again.

You don't serve couscous on individual plates with forks. It is eaten from a communal dish with your hands (Braden is in heaven when we eat this!), or maybe a spoon, if you prefer. You use your spoon to pour a little bit of the broth from the vegetables and meat onto your coucous, and it makes it easier to pick up and swallow.

Couscous is just one of the delicious new foods we have experienced here, and just like our beloved Romanian dishes that we still make years after returning from Romania, it is going to be a part of our family life from now on.